Have Leftover Turkey? Turn It Into a Ritz Cracker Casserole

When another reheated Thanksgiving plate has lost its appeal, turn that leftover turkey into a creamy casserole topped with crisp, golden Ritz crackers.

There comes a point after Thanksgiving when I’ve had enough of rebuilding the holiday meal on my plate. The turkey is still good, and there is somehow still plenty of it, yet another round with the same sides has lost its appeal. That is exactly when a leftover turkey casserole starts sounding like a much better plan. My current favorite approach takes its cue from Ritz cracker chicken casserole, swapping in cooked turkey and covering the creamy filling with a buttery layer of crushed crackers. Delish specifically suggests cooked turkey as a substitute in its version, which makes the idea especially handy once the holiday leftovers start taking over the refrigerator.

If you’ve never had a Ritz cracker casserole, the appeal is pretty easy to understand once you see one come out of the oven. Underneath is a thick, creamy mixture of cooked poultry, seasonings, and usually some cheese or vegetables. The top gets covered with crushed Ritz crackers tossed with melted butter, which bake into a crisp, deeply golden layer. Delish uses a creamy base built around condensed chicken soup, cottage cheese, and sour cream, then adds cheddar beneath the cracker topping. That combination gives you the thing I like most about this style of casserole: every scoop gets some soft, savory filling along with salty cracker crumbs that still have a little crunch.

Turkey fits into the formula surprisingly well. Since Thanksgiving turkey is already cooked, there is no raw meat to deal with, so preparation mostly comes down to shredding or chopping what you have. I prefer bite-sized pieces rather than long shreds because they distribute more evenly through the creamy mixture and are easier to scoop. White meat that has become slightly dry in the refrigerator benefits especially from being surrounded by sauce. Dark meat works beautifully too, bringing a little more richness of its own. For anyone searching what to make with leftover turkey, this is one of those rare leftover Thanksgiving turkey recipes where the meat feels like it belongs in the new dish instead of feeling like yesterday’s dinner reheated in disguise.

For a practical starting point, Delish's chicken version uses 4 cups of cooked shredded poultry for a casserole serving roughly four to six people. Its creamy mixture includes one 10.75-ounce can of condensed cream of chicken soup along with 3/4 cup each of cottage cheese and sour cream. After the filling goes into the baking dish, it gets 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and about 1 1/3 cups crushed Ritz crackers mixed with 3 tablespoons melted butter. Using cooked turkey in the same general proportions gives you a very approachable turkey Ritz casserole. Bake it at 400°F for around 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the cracker topping has browned. I’d start checking toward the end because those buttery crumbs can go from nicely toasted to darker than I want fairly quickly.

Thanksgiving leftovers also give you some room to customize the filling, though I’d resist treating the casserole as a destination for everything in the fridge. A small amount of leftover green beans or cooked broccoli can work, and peas are an easy fit. Delish includes peas in its original casserole and also suggests broccoli, greens, or mixed vegetables as possible variations. I’d keep mashed potatoes and stuffing out of this particular pan. They make the filling heavier and start competing with the texture that makes a Ritz cracker turkey casserole so appealing. The turkey should remain the main ingredient, surrounded by enough creamy sauce to keep it moist.

The topping deserves a little restraint as well. I love Ritz crackers, but piling them on too thick creates a dry, crumbly lid that overwhelms everything underneath. A fairly even layer gives you better contrast between the hot filling and those crisp, buttery crumbs. I also like leaving a few cracker pieces slightly larger instead of pulverizing the whole sleeve into dust. They toast beautifully around the edges of the baking dish, especially where a little filling bubbles up through the topping. That first scoop, with creamy turkey underneath and a properly browned piece of cracker on top, is the reason I’d happily choose this over another reheated leftover turkey dinner.

This has become the kind of Thanksgiving leftover casserole I actually look forward to making because it solves a very specific post-holiday problem. It uses a generous amount of cooked turkey, requires little additional prep, and gives the leftovers a completely different texture and personality. The same idea works whenever roasted turkey happens to be around, so I wouldn’t save it strictly for November. If I have several cups of cooked turkey in the refrigerator and a sleeve of Ritz crackers in the pantry, an easy turkey casserole with a creamy center and crisp cracker top is going to be very high on my dinner list.

- Gives leftover Thanksgiving turkey a completely different texture and flavor.
- Creamy filling helps keep cooked turkey moist, especially leftover breast meat.
- Buttery Ritz cracker topping adds a crisp, golden contrast to the soft filling.
- Uses several cups of turkey at once, making it practical after a large holiday meal.
- Easy to customize with small amounts of leftover vegetables.
- Requires relatively little prep since the turkey is already cooked.

- The creamy filling can feel fairly rich after a heavy Thanksgiving weekend.
- Too many cracker crumbs can make the topping dry and overpower the turkey.
- The Ritz topping needs watching near the end of baking because it can brown quickly.
- Adding too many miscellaneous Thanksgiving leftovers can make the casserole heavy and muddle the texture.

This is one of my favorite ways to deal with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers because the turkey actually feels like part of a new dinner. The creamy filling brings leftover meat back to life, while the buttery Ritz cracker topping gives the casserole enough crunch to make me forget I’m eating turkey for the third day in a row.

Tasty Grub

Food & Drink

Anna Painter - Delish