This leftover turkey enchilada casserole recipe is a quick, one-pan skillet meal. It’s a super tasty way to use up leftover turkey (or chicken) and vegetables in the days after a holiday dinner. Only 10 minutes of prep, and 30 minutes in total before it’s on the table!
Leftover Turkey Enchilada Casserole
You guys know how much I love enchiladas, so I’m excited to share this one-pan leftover turkey enchilada casserole with you! I make this every year with our leftover Thanksgiving turkey, along with pumpkin and roasted vegetables. I tested this enchiladas skillet with roasted butternut squash, which was wonderful, but leftover roasted Brussels sprouts, fresh spinach, or kale would also be great. The homemade pumpkin enchilada sauce is spicy and delicious, made with canned tomatoes and pumpkin, plus some chipotle peppers for smoky heat. More of my favorite enchilada recipes are my Chicken Enchiladas or these Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas.
Reasons to Love This Turkey Enchilada Casserole
This turkey enchilada casserole is one of my favorite Thanksgiving leftover recipes. It’s cozy and comforting and, most importantly, very easy to make after the rush of the holidays. Here’s why you’ll love it, too:
- Turn leftovers into a new meal: The filling is leftover shredded turkey mixed with butternut squash and other veggies. I make the homemade enchilada sauce with leftover pumpkin from making pumpkin pie!
- Only 10 minutes of hands-on prep, so you don’t need to spend even MORE time in the kitchen than you already have preparing this year’s turkey dinner.
- Everything goes into one skillet. Unlike traditional enchiladas recipes, this casserole doesn’t require any filling, rolling, or fussing. Just layer everything into a pan, and bake. Plus, it’s just as easy to clean up afterward.
Ingredients You’ll Need
It’s time to raid the fridge for your Thanksgiving leftovers! Here’s what you’ll need to make this turkey enchiladas skillet recipe. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Onion: Slice half of a large yellow or red onion.
- Kosher salt to season
- Vegetables: Use any leftover Thanksgiving veggies, like roasted butternut squash or Brussels sprouts or if you don’t have leftovers use fresh, hardy greens, like spinach or kale.
- Turkey: You’ll need four cups of leftover shredded turkey or chicken breast.
- Corn tortillas cut into bite-size strips
- Cheese: Three ounces of Mexican cheese blend, Monterey Jack, or mozzarella
- Garnishes: I love sour cream, jalapeños, and fresh chopped cilantro.
Pumpkin Enchilada Sauce
- Pumpkin: Use canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Chicken broth or vegetable stock.
- Canned tomatoes, either diced or chopped.
- Chipotle chilis in adobo sauce.
- Spices: Chili powder, garlic, kosher salt, and freshly cracked black pepper.
How to Make Turkey Enchilada Casserole
- Blend the enchilada sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth.
- Sauté the onion with a pinch of salt, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Add the vegetables and cook until heated through.
- Add the turkey and corn tortillas and stir in the enchilada sauce. Bring it to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for five minutes.
- Cheese: Remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle evenly with cheese.
- Broil the skillet until the cheese melts. Let cool, and top with your desired garnishes.
Leftover Turkey Enchilada Casserole
Equipment
- cast iron skillet or oven safe skillet
Ingredients
Pumpkin Enchilada Sauce (Makes 4 1/4 cups)
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes
- 2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce or 2 tablespoons pureed chipotle in adobo, from 1 can
- 4 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Fresh black pepper, to taste
Assembly
- 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, sliced (yellow and red would work)
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups leftover vegetable sides, such as roasted butternut squash or Brussels sprouts, cut into bite-size pieces, or 1 bunch of hardy greens, such as spinach or kale, roughly chopped
- 4 cups (15 ounces) shredded leftover turkey breast or chicken breast
- 4 6-inch corn tortillas, cut into bite-size strips
- 3 ounces shredded cheese, such as Mexican cheese blend, Monterey Jack, or mozzarella
Garnishes (choose one or many!)
- Sour cream
- Sliced fresh jalapeno
- Chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Move a rack about six inches blow the broiler and heat to high.
- Make the sauce: In a blender, combine the pumpkin, tomatoes, chicken broth, chipotles, chili powder, garlic, and salt and season with pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Assemble: In a large black iron skillet or ovenproof skillet over medium, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and pinch of salt cook, stirring occasionally, just until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the roasted vegetables or chopped greens and cook, stirring often, until heated through or wilted (for the greens), 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the turkey and the chopped tortillas then pour in all of the enchilada sauce and stir to make sure everything is coated in the sauce.
- Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes to heat through. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top.
- Transfer the skillet to the rack close to the broiler and broil until the cheese is melted and starting to brown in spots, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Top with sour cream, sliced fresh jalapeno, and fresh cilantro.
Last Step:
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Recipe Variations
- Vegetarian: Omit the turkey and add more vegetables.
- Use chicken instead: Swap leftover turkey with shredded rotisserie chicken.
- Ground turkey taco skillet: If you don’t have leftover turkey, brown ground turkey in the skillet with the onion before assembling the casserole.
- Beans: Add one cup of canned black beans or pinto beans.
- Avocado: Top your enchiladas with fresh avocado.
What to Serve With an Enchiladas Skillet
This healthy turkey enchilada skillet doesn’t really need a side since it’s a complete meal in one, but if you’re feeding extra people and want to stretch your meal even further, here are some ideas.
Storage
- Refrigerate. Leftover turkey will last up to four days refrigerated. So, depending on how old your turkey is, this skillet will keep for 2-3 days.
- Freeze. Shred and freeze your turkey on Thanksgiving or the day after, and you can thaw it to make this dish after the holidays. You can also freeze the cooked enchiladas skillet for up to three months.
This recipe is great! I wasn’t sure how the pumpkin would taste in a savory, slightly spicy dish, but I was pleasantly surprised. I added a bit more liquid to the sauce because it came out too thick to stir into the veggies and simmer. Definitely recommend this recipe for meal prepping and clearing out the fridge before your produce turns!
I was surprised that we liked this actually, We really like the chicken version and wasn’t sure if I should do that again with turkey I had left over or this, but thought give it a try. The pumpkin sauce is quite good, I did it in the skillet and simmered awhile, longer then stated, then as I didn’t want to cook it right away put it all in a baking dish, added the lower fat cheese I had and then baked it later at 350 till hot and bubbly. I did leave out the Chipolte in Adobo ( too much spice for me) and didn’t add tortillas to it–had those toasted up by themselves. I added two medium green peppers that I needed to use with the onion. We liked this alot. Nice new way to use up some turkey. (have also enjoyed the soup, pot pies, and turkey croquettes, and chimichangas–a favorite too)
Delicious dish. I added pinto beans, black olives, zucchini and some corn. Topped with jalapenos, sour cream and cilantro – will make this again. Made it in my 10 inch cast iron skillet. With everything I added, I will make in a larger skillet next time.
This was delicious! Halved the recipe to accommodate what I had left. Made as written with delicata and brussels. I did keep the tomatoes diced instead of blended as I prefer bites of tomato.
I was skeptical but this is really good. I added cilantro to the sauce and extra chipotles. Loved it
I loved this recipe, really different way to use up turkey with the pumpkin flavored enchilada sauce with the right level of spice. I added both butternut squash and spinach to up the veggies a bit. It makes a lot!
I was skeptical, but this dish turned out to be a great way to use up miscellaneous Thanksgiving leftovers. My only complaint was that it needs texture. I think toasted pumpkin seeds would be a great topping.
Oh my goodness! Leftovers never tasted so good! My husband raved about this recipe. I used my leftover turkey, and a large batch of fresh spinach as the veggies. Instead of a blender (which I hate to clean), I used my immersion blender with the ingredients on a bowl. It worked well. I will make this again with chicken, but will keep it in mind when I bake turkey again.
THANK YOU!!! We already love the chicken version, and I hopped on here today looking for turkey ideas! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️