Leftover Butter Turkey Curry is a fantastic way to use up leftover Christmas turkey. It’s a mild family-friendly turkey curry that everyone will love!
Easy Turkey curry has got to be one of the most popular ways to use up leftover turkey from Christmas dinner.
It’s certainly something that we eat most years.
But the kind of curry you make with your leftover turkey will depend on what you usually like, and how spicy you like your curries.
While I can’t claim that this recipe for butter turkey curry is authentic, it’s certainly tasty, and a great creamy turkey curry for kids.
Is Butter Chicken Like Korma?
Korma and butter chicken, or in this case turkey, are similar in the sense that they are mild, family-friendly curries that are creamy, fairly fatty, and popular with kids and families.
But the flavours are quite different. Butter chicken is thick and buttery with a sweet tang, korma is creamy with an almond butter flavour.
In terms of colour, korma is usually more yellow, or a light golden colour and butter chicken is more orange/red.
But it will depend on the recipe that you use, or where you buy your curry. Some are more similar in flavour than others, depending on the specific ingredients.
Of course, my butter turkey curry isn’t an authentic Indian Butter Curry. It’s just the simply delicious buttery flavour that my family enjoy.
Ingredients for Butter Turkey Curry
This recipe for leftover butter turkey recipe has tons of ingredients, which can be overwhelming. But if you cook spicy food a lot, chances are you’ve got most of them.
And you really just throw everything in, so while it looks like a big list, it is an easy recipe for butter turkey curry.
Leftover Turkey – you can also make this recipe with uncooked turkey, just dice and brown it, and then remove it from the pan and return it as you do in this recipe.
Natural Yoghurt – Full-fat, don’t be tempted to use low or fat-free, it will curdle.
Garlic
Ginger – You can use grated root ginger, but I always cheat and use ginger puree. I get mine in a squeezy tube from Aldi.
Garam Masala
Turmeric
Cumin
Chilli
Salt
Ghee – If you don’t have ghee, use butter instead, but not margarine.
Onion – I use red, but brown is fine too.
Coriander
Fenugreek Seeds – you can grind your fenugreek seeds, or use ½ a teaspoon of ground fenugreek instead, but to be honest I just throw them in whole.
Chopped Tomatoes
Double Cream
Light Brown Sugar
Some of these ingredients are used in both the marinade for the turkey and the curry sauce. I’ve just listed them once.
You can get the full quantities and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Leftover Butter Turkey Curry
Making butter turkey curry with leftover turkey is so easy.
If you can, marinate the cooked turkey overnight. I have made it much faster, just marinating for about an hour, which works, but the meat will have a better texture and flavour if you can leave it for longer.
All you need to make this leftover turkey curry is a heatproof dish, I like to use a large cast-iron dish, but a deep pan of any kind will work, and some kind of blender to smooth out the sauce. I use a stick blender directly in my cast-iron dish.
You can get full instructions in the card at the bottom of this post.
How Can I Thicken Butter Curry Sauce?
To be honest I find that this sauce is fairly thick. If anything, I sometimes add a little more water to thin it out.
If your leftover butter turkey curry is too thin, simmering it for longer should be enough to thicken it up.
What to Serve with Leftover Curry
There’s a lot of sauce in this curry.
I’ve done this on purpose because I love it with lots of bread and poppadom to dip. It’s also ideal if you don’t have much turkey left, as the sauce is really filling.
I serve my curry with leftover turkey with naan bread, rice, poppadoms and dips like mango chutney.
Other Ways to Use Christmas Leftovers
Some of my favourite ways to use up my Christmas dinner leftovers include:
- Leftover Turkey Pasta with Cranberry Sauce
- Turkey Pasta Bake
- Egg fried Rice with Leftover Turkey
- Leftover Turkey and Ham Pie
- Turkey Stroganoff
- Risotto with Leftover Turkey
- Leftover Turkey Ragu
- Leftover Turkey and Mushroom Pie
- Patatas Bravas – for your leftover roast potatoes
- Bubble and Squeak – for leftover veggies
Leftover Butter Turkey Curry
Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- 400 g Leftover Turkey Breast ((Diced))
- 3 Tablespoons Full-Fat Natural Yoghurt
- 2 Cloves Garlic ((Crushed))
- 1 Teaspoon Ginger Puree ((or 1-inch grated root ginger))
- 2 Teaspoons Garam Masala
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
- Good Pinch Salt
For the Sauce:
- 3 Tablespoons Ghee
- 1 Red Onion (Sliced)
- 3 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)
- 1 Teaspoon Ginger Puree
- 2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 2 Teaspoons Garam Masala
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 1 Teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
- 400 g Chopped Tomatoes
- 50 ml Water
- 2 Teaspoons Chilli Powder
- 200 ml Double Cream
- 2 Tablespoons Soft Light Brown Sugar
Instructions
- Place the diced cooked turkey in an airtight tub with the yoghurt, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, chilli and salt, stir well, seal and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
- When you are ready to make the curry, melt 2 tablespoons of ghee in a deep heatproof cooking dish or pan (I use a cast-iron dutch oven).
- Add the sliced onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, coriander and fenugreek and stir well.
- Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the chopped tomatoes with 50 ml of water and stir well.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from the heat and blend, either using a stick blender, or by pouring into a blender, and returning to the cooking pan when smooth.
- Bring the sauce back to a simmer.
- Use a slotted spoon to scoop the turkey into the cooking pan and disregard any yoghurt marinade that’s left in the tub.
- Add the chilli, cream, sugar and the last tablespoon of ghee and stir together.
- Simmer for a further 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Serve with rice and bread, directly from the cooking dish.
Notes
- If you have more or less turkey, that’s fine, I’d still make as much sauce because it’s super yummy!
- Swap ghee for butter if you don’t have it.
- I use a cast-iron dish, and a stick blender, so I can blend directly in the pan. If you don’t have a stick blender or a deep cooking dish or pan, you might need to remove the sauce to blend it, before returning to your cooking pan.
- Get more tips in the post above this card.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
You won the award for the best Butter Turkey recipe in my research today. Mainly because of:
Insists on full-fat yoghurt
Admits to cheating with Ginger
Ghee advice
Not hung up about whole spices
It’s a good recipe. I might add some dried Fenugreek leaf (Methi Kasur in Asian shops) to give that extra authentic Indian taste.
All for some dried fenugreek leaf! Glad you liked the recipe.