Leftover Turkey Salad Sandwiches

This easy turkey salad sandwich recipe is made with leftover roast turkey, hard-boiled egg, pecans, mayo, and mustard. It's the best way to enjoy leftover Thanksgiving turkey! Ready in 15 minutes. Gluten-free.

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After a major holiday, we usually eat leftovers of the holiday meal over and over and over.

It's pure laziness.

We eat Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner or Easter dinner five or six or seven times over the course of the weekend.

I wouldn't mind that, except that I'm not a huge fan of plain roast turkey. It's all I can do to eat it for the big meal, let alone eating it meal after meal in the days after the holiday.

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After Thanksgiving this year, I was hoping to find a way to use up some of our turkey without actually eating a bunch of leftover turkey with gravy.

This recipe was born.

I was thinking when I made it of the chicken salad that my mom had at my bridal shower. All I remember about it was that they thought it was my favorite, but I had never eaten it before that very brunch.

Instead of eating roast turkey or roast turkey sandwiches six times, I made this turkey salad over and over and ate it six times. It was delicious.

We've also made leftover turkey and stuffing muffins, leftover turkey quesadillas, and leftover turkey enchilada casserole.

At any rate, it had the traditional mayo and mustard in it, celery salt and onion powder instead of crunchies (which I absolutely hate in my chicken, egg, ham, or turkey salad), and pecans. Even though I hate crunchy celery and onion bites, I love the soft crunch of pecans in it. I don't know what the difference is, but I love the nuts.

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Why this is the best leftover turkey salad

This recipe is super easy. Mix the dressing, mix the salad, combine and serve. That's all there is to it!

This is not a 5-ingredient turkey salad recipe, which means it has a rich and complex flavor. You need spices to make a decent dressing, and this recipe has just the right combination.

This recipe uses standard pantry ingredients. I didn't even have to go to the store to make this recipe because I already had everything on hand. You probably do too!

Kids love this recipe because there's no raw celery, red onion, or bell pepper in it. Kids often hate raw vegetables (and I do too which is why they're not in my turkey salad recipe!) and turn their noses up at them.

What you need to make leftover turkey salad

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

• Spicy brown or horseradish mustard - I love horseradish mustard and use it almost exclusively. You can use any spicy or dijon mustard. You could probably even use yellow mustard, although I haven't tried that and can't speak to how well the dressing tastes with it.
• Miracle Whip - I like to use both Miracle Whip and mayonnaise for the ultimate in salad dressing perfection. The two flavors blend to make the perfect creamy, rich, and tangy dressing.
• Mayonnaise - See above
• Garlic powder - I think fresh garlic is overpowering in this recipe, so stick to a bit of garlic powder.
• Celery salt - If you like crunchy bits in your turkey salad, by all means, cut a stalk of celery. I both hate fresh celery and hate crunchy stuff in my turkey salad, so I stick to the celery salt for the flavor. Don't leave this out completely though. Your salad will be flat without it.
• Onion powder - See above note about raw celery. I hate to bite into a raw onion, so onion powder does the job. Also, do not leave this out.
• Hard boiled eggs, cut into cubes - See this post for how to cook perfect hard-boiled eggs every single time (no green yolks!).
• Leftover cooked turkey, shredded or cubed - You could also use leftover roast chicken or rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.
• Chopped pecans - I know I said I hate crunchy stuff in my turkey salad, but pecans don't count. They're like a soft crunch, and I love the texture that the pecans give to the salad.
• Shredded cheddar cheese - This is the little extra thing that sends this recipe over the top in amazing-ness.
• Croissants, sturdy bread, or brioche buns - These are not included in the nutritional information, but some kind of bread is essential for a turkey salad sandwich. I prefer croissants, but you can use whatever you like. You can even use a crisp lettuce leaf (such as butter lettuce or bibb lettuce) and make it into a lettuce wrap for a low carb meal.

Equipment

This recipe doesn't require any special equipment. You'll need two mixing bowls, mixing bowls and spoons, and a rubber spatula.

How to make classic leftover turkey salad

1. Mix together the mustard, Miracle Whip, mayonnaise, garlic powder, celery salt, and onion powder in a small bowl.
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2. Whisk the dressing together until well blended.
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3. Shred the turkey and place it in a large bowl.
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4. Add the egg, pecans, and cheese to the turkey.
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5. Stir the salad ingredients together.
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6. Pour the dressing over the salad.
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7. Mix well.
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8. Serve cold with crackers.
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9. Or make turkey salad sandwiches with lettuce leaves and a slice of cheddar cheese.
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How to serve turkey salad

My favorite way to enjoy leftover turkey salad is on top of Ritz crackers. I just love it.

You could also put a scoop of turkey salad on a sandwich with regular or gluten-free bread, on a croissant, in a tortilla as a wrap, or in a lettuce leaf as a lettuce wrap. You can also put your sandwich in a panini press and eat it hot.

I like to serve this salad with other cold salads like cucumber pasta salad, macaroni salad, or potato salad. I know it's November, but it reminds me of a summer picnic. You could also serve the sandwich with homemade air fryer potato chips or sweet potato fries.

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Turkey salad variations

You could, of course, substitute chicken in this recipe for a delicious chicken salad. Diced ham would also be good.

This salad is also really good with halved grapes, dried cranberries, or pomegranate seeds mixed in with the pecans. Use a handful or two.

Avocado goes with everything, so this salad is really nice with some diced avocado thrown in with the pecans and cheese.

In place of the pecans, you could use walnuts or almonds.

As stated above, if you like crunchy bits in your salad, you could add fresh celery and red or green onions in place of the celery salt and onion powder.

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How long can you keep turkey salad?

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Don't let it sit out for longer than an hour or two as the mayo could spoil.

I would not recommend freezing turkey salad. The mayo would most likely separate, and the pecans would get soggy, and it would generally be bad news.

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The Rest of our Thanksgiving Menu

We don't get creative with our Thanksgiving menu. We like routines. We like the comfort of the same old food.

• Roast Turkey
• Creamy Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
• Candied Sweet Potatoes
• Roasted Vegetable & Cornbread Stuffing
• Old-Fashioned Chestnut Stuffing Recipe
• Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole
• Traditional Green Bean Casserole
• Fluffy Cranberry Fruit Salad with Pineapple
• Homemade Orange Cranberry Sauce
• Praline Pumpkin Pecan Pie
• The Worlds' Best Pecan Pie
• Couldn't Be Easier Cherry Pie
• No Church Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

And for the leftovers, try one of these leftover turkey recipes:

• Turkey & Stuffing Muffins
• Turkey Enchilada Casserole
• Turkey Salad
• Turkey Quesadillas

You can read more about my easy and traditional Thanksgiving menu.

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