One of my favorite parts of the holiday turkey dinner is the leftovers! It is always fun trying to come up with new ways of using turkey leftovers in such a way that the leftover meals are just as interesting as the original. Before trying something new though, I had to enjoy my favorite way to use turkey leftovers, the turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich . Once I had satisfied that craving it was time to move on and given that both the turkey and cranberry sauce were done with texmex flavours I was thinking along the lines of turkey and cranberry sauce tacos or better yet quesadillas. Though the cranberry sauce already had jalapenos in it, it was not spicy enough for the heat that I want in a quesadilla so I added some more to the quesadilla along with some cilantro as it is one of my favorite herbs and a texmex staple. The turkey and cranberry sauce quesadillas turned out really well! The sweet, tart and spicy cranberry sauce worked surprisingly well in the quesadillas along with the turkey and the gooey melted cheese. I will definitely be making these again!
Turkey and Cranberry Quesadillas
Thanksgiving turkey dinner leftover quesadillas.
ingredients
- 2 (8 inch) flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese such as jack or cheddar
- 1/4 pound turkey, cooked, shredded
- 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
- 1/2 jalapeno, finely diced
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
directions
- Heat a pan over medium heat, place one tortilla in and top with the half of the cheese followed by the turkey, cranberry sauce, jalapeno, green onion, cilantro and the remaining cheese and tortilla.
- Cook the quesadilla until golden brown and the cheese is melted, about 2-4 minutes per side. (You can place a plate on top of the quesadilla in the pan and then flip it onto the plate and slide it from the plate back into the pan to easily flip it without loosing the contents.)
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Mmmm! These sound delicious! I love the bright colors as well. Holiday leftovers are the best.
Fun twist on the quesadilla!!
holy good lord almighty. those sound so good.
Those look amazing! I love your flavour combinations.
Great idea for left over turkey! Looks delicious.
just lovely!!
Perfect for leftovers. I think we have some turkey in the fridge still!
Nice quesadilla! I love cranberries and turkey… though I’ve been on a pomegranate and turkey kick lately, too.
Cranberries everywhere! Your last several posts incorporated cranberries. I’m beginning to think you bought a five pound bag of cranberries. hehe
Those look fantastic! I need to make a turkey just for the leftovers 🙂
What the heck!!!!! These look totally awesome. These are on my list to make. Great new flavor combination.
Looks delicious, and so festive!
Looks yummy!
Great idea! I wish I had leftover turkey!
Amazing and eye appealing..
Now that is one good looking and colorful dish and I am sure the taste matches the look!
You’re on to something here sir – I love this!
-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.com
Those look very tasty!
This looks like a great way to use up leftovers!
What a great use of leftovers, looks amazing
I’ve come up with a lot of turkey leftover recipes, but I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this one! Great photo. YUM!
You are genius Kevin, This looks delicious!! Wishing you a heathy and happy New Year Kevin!
Those sound so good. Like the combo of spicy, salty, and sweet.
Oh, what a lovely combination!
Cheers,
Rosa
I don’t turn nearly enough things into quesadillas, this looks great!
this quesadillas really look good and moist!! too bad I throw my leftover turkey away after so many days! Now I know what to do with it!! Happy New Year to you Kevin!
Please don’t throw away the left over turkey. You can always make turkey soup with the bones & veggies (onion, carrots celery tops), spices (salt & pepper, garlic, any thing else that you like) and lots of water.. Simmer all day in a slow cooker. After using a colander to separate the solids and the liquid – broth. Then you can add in the leftover meat and spices and what ever veggies you like to the broth. Simmer a couple of hours again to let the veggies cook and all the flavors to meld. If you can’t make the broth right away. freeze the bones in plastic storage bags to use later. If you’ve made the broth, but don’t have the time to make the soup, put the broth in quart jars (or other large containers) and freeze.
Love the look of those Kevin!
you’re right! leftovers should be as tasty and interesting as the original meal! great job there!
Ooh – I love the look of these. What an original way to use turkey leftovers. We have (finally) finished our bird so I’ll have to wait ’till next year to try this out!
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Those look amazing. Anything with cranberry and turkey and cheese is always delish!
what a great take on the classic turkey/cranberry sandwich! I would have tried to sneak mayo in somehow 🙂
This looks great! I love your pictures!
Now this is a perfect combo! Very clever to take up a level and into a quesadillas.
Kevin – you are definitely a master with leftovers! Sounds great and I love the picture!
I wish I liked Mexican food a bit more, you always make really delish looking Mexican stuff! Although technically, I don’t know if this counts as Mexican…
Kevin, I must add my voice to the chorus – this is a truly beautiful creation. My congratulations!
this is the epitome of beautiful, healthy, delicious food. fabulous.
The prettiest quesadilla I have ever seen!
You can never go wrong with quesadillas! These look great!
Leftovers are my favorite too 😉 These sound like a great way to use up leftovers. I also can’t wait to try your cranberry sauce with the jalapenos. Delicious! Happy New Year Kevin!
This is a great way to use up leftovers! I like the idea of sweet, tart, and spicy in one!
I made this tonight for dinner — my husband and I loved it!
Love this combination! Quesadillas are such a quick delicious meal, especially with clever ideas like using turkey leftovers!
mmm these look so good! there is a crepe truck in my neighborhood that makes this crepe with those same flavors…love it!
This looks great, really innovative… You have a great blog full of creative recipes!
Turkey, cranberries, and melted cheese is a great combo. I love this treat after the holidays.
I’m wishing I had some more leftover turkey, then I could make these. I don’t think they’d be the same with just cranberries. Ho hum.
Mmm, those look really good. I wish I had some turkey to make them right now.
This looks again like a meal you would find in a restaurant. I like the mix of flavors.
i love this turkey leftover idea!
Finding turkey utterly dry and boring, I wish now I cooked with it more so that I can try this recipe!
I just made this, and you are my new hero.
Those look SERIOUSLY good! I wish we had cranberries and turkey here in Costa Rica :o(
Just made these tonight with our Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. HUGE hit!!! The kids wolfed them down and so did the hubs! Thank you!!
My mouth started watering, mmmmmmm