Butter Turkey Curry
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Looking for an irresistibly delicious turkey curry recipe? Every year after our Thanksgiving feast, we save the leftover turkey for this recipe. It’s become a tradition in my kitchen, and my family LOVES the flavor!
Alanah says, “Love love love, I’ve made this so many times it’s easy and very tasty, my whole family loves it xx ★★★★★”
Put your hand up if you LOVE butter chicken! I thought you might. That’s why I made us this butter turkey curry. This curry with turkey is a staple in my house whenever we have leftovers from Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Whether you’re seeking a lighter protein for a comforting curry or aiming to make the most of your Thanksgiving leftovers, this dish is the perfect solution. I love that I can turn leftovers into a completely different meal.
Why you’re going to love butter turkey curry
Whether you’re looking for a way to give leftover turkey a new taste, or after leaner way to enjoy a warming curry, there are many reasons to love this turkey curry. This is why my family loves it:
- Comfort: The curry sauce in this recipe is based off my butter chicken recipe that I’ve been making for YEARS – it’s the most delicious, rich, and creamy butter chicken sauce! So good you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful. At your kitchen counter.
- Use up leftovers: Eating Christmas or Thanksgiving leftovers can feel monotonous at times, but this turkey curry recipe makes it feel brand new. It’s a leftovers recipe for people who don’t like leftovers!
- Lean protein: The bigger pieces of pulled turkey make this so much better than a ground turkey curry!
- Easy peasy: It’s a breeze to whip this curry up! Like many curry recipes, it’s quite forgiving and you can adjust the spice blend according to your tastes.
- Crowd-pleaser: Everyone will love this! My daughter gives two thumbs up, so it’s safe to say it’s also kid-approved.
Tips for the perfect turkey curry
Whipping up this turkey curry recipe is simple, and it only takes a total time of 35 minutes. Despite the ease, there are a few tricks to keep in mind to make preparation a breeze.
- Caramelized onions: Brown the onions well. They add the most amazing flavor and contribute to the sweetness of the curry, so don’t rush this step.
- Toast the spices: First, while the onions are cooking, put all the spices in a small bowl to make it easier to add them to the pan once the onions are brown. Once you’ve added the spices, give them a minute to toast up, releasing their aroma. This will help add aroma and a deeper flavor. Do the same with the garlic and ginger.
- Smooth it out: My recipe calls for the use of a blender. While I prefer to use fewer appliances where possible, the creamy texture that results is totally worth busting out the blender. You could also use an immersion blender.
- Almond butter: One thing that’s unique about my recipe is the use of almond butter. I love this as it adds a rich and creamy texture and a nutty undertone, which melds perfectly into the curry. This also means you can use less cream to keep it lighter!
- Cook the rice: If you’re serving this with rice, you can start the rice first. It will finish cooking before the butter chicken is ready, but you can remove it from the heat and set it aside until everything else is done.
What to serve with turkey curry
Like all curries, I love enjoying my turkey curry with a garnish of cilantro sprinkled on top, a squeeze of lime juice, naan bread on the side, and a steaming bowl of basmati rice – or cauliflower rice for a lighter option.
If you want to make some sides to make it a spread, this roasted tandoori cauliflower pairs perfectly. Other veggies that go well on the side include creamy cucumber salad, or sauteed asparagus.
Butter Turkey Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 medium yellow onions (roughly chopped)
- 3 tablespoons chopped ginger
- 6 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 28 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1 lb cooked turkey (shredded)
- ¼ cup cream, yogurt, or coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 2-4 tablespoons coconut sugar
- Sea salt (to taste)
The Spices
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon chili powder (depending on how spicy you like your curry)
- seeds from 4 cardamom pods
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and let it cook until it is well browned, about 10 minutes. While the onion is cooking, place all the spices into a small bowl.2 tablespoons cooking oil, 2 medium yellow onions, 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ¼ to 1 teaspoon chili powder, seeds from 4 cardamom pods
- Add the ginger, garlic, and spices to the pot and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and a half cup of water to the pot and scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck on bits. Let the pot simmer, partially covered to reduce splatters, for 15 minutes.3 tablespoons chopped ginger, 6 cloves garlic, 28 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes
- Carefully transfer to a blender and blend on high until smooth. Return the curry to the pot, add turkey, cream (or yogurt or coconut milk), almond butter, and sugar and heat through. Season to taste with sea salt.1 lb cooked turkey, ¼ cup cream, yogurt, or coconut milk, 2 tablespoons almond butter, 2-4 tablespoons coconut sugar
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Notes
Nutrition
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This is a great recipe. Easy to follow, tastes great, and the leftover turkey was moist & delicious. We didn’t have almond butter so substituted peanut butter. Thanks for posting!
Where can you find cardamom pods? Is there a replacement?
They’re usually found in the spices aisle. You can also substitute 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom. If you can’t find them, you can omit them.
This was so good! I so appreciated the clever swap of Almond butter from the tradition recipe with lots of regular butter. Thanks.
I have never made Butter Chicken. These directions for leftover turkey were easy to follow and made a GREAT meal. I think the recipe is forgiving – as I didn’t have almond butter and substituted some homemade hummus and the curry was awesome (I make my hummus with garbanzo, generous tahini, garlic, lemon, and oil). I also have a 9 year old who currently refuses to eat anything ‘hot spicy’ so I subbed paprika for the chili powder. The dish was so flavorful and my spouse and I could put hot sauce on it. 4 generous servings. Just bang on delicious! Thanks for this, printed and saved in the family recipe book – right by all the other Thanksgiving favorites. Can’t wait to do this with chicken or even lamb!
This was so easy and tasty. Thanks for helping an expat Brit get his leftover turkey curry on!
Perfect! And I used veggies I needed use up
Love love love, I’ve made this so many times it’s easy and very tasty, my whole family loves it xx
Kristen, thanks for the inspiration re ‘currying’ up currently frozen leftover Easter turkey!
I’m wondering though, what type of chili powder you mean: the mixed chili powder used in Mexican dishes, or the hot chili powder that’s only ground hot peppers (aka cayenne)? We have both at home.
For what it’s worth, this Vancouver family loves all things spicy ?. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Cheers
I use the Mexican variety that you would use when making chili. But you could certainly add some cayenne as well to spice things up. 🙂
Thanks Kristen!
Now all I need is some coriander powder, and turkey curry will be good to go here. Yaaay ?
You could also use some curry powder or an extra teaspoon of garam masala to avoid a trip to the grocery store. 🙂
Wow – sooo easy to make. I had been doing this with “curry kits” and adapting them to my own kind of version of “butter chicken” but this was quick and easy and was super kid-friendly since I could control all the heat/spice levels myself. Love it —thank you!
You are very welcome!!
Hello. Will this still turn out without the Cardamom pods?
It will!
This is was sooo delicious. Made it with leftover turkey from Christmas, I didn’t think there was much flavour to start with but then when everything was added it really came together!
So happy to hear that the recipe was a hit!
Thanks for the recipe. Had a lot of leftover turkey post-Thanksgiving and this fit the bill. I used yogurt instead of coconut milk and added a jalapeno pepper to the onions and ginger. After blending (with an immersion stick) I also added some spinach for added greenery. I’d make this again.
Great call on the spinach. I bet that was really tasty!
I am SO happy I tried out this recipe! It turned out so delicious! My hubby loves it a lot! I cannot express how much I appreciate this recipe you shared to us! Thank you!
That’s so great to hear! I’m happy it was a hit!
This dinner was amazing! Topped with cilantro and served with coconut rice (used the rest of the can of coconut milk in rice cooker to make rice)
I’m so happy it was a hit!
this looks delicious! is it 2-4 Tbsp. of coconut sugar or tsp? it looks like the measurement was left out?
Tablespoons!
Is it 2-4 tablespoons coconut sugar or brown sugar?
It is! I’ve updated the recipe. 🙂