Slow Cooker Teriyaki Turkey
Happy Friday! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Let’s talk leftovers.
There’s probably just three camps of people when it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers: 1.) People who are content to keep eating complete leftover Thanksgiving dinners for a few days, 2.) People who try to turn all of their leftovers into sandwiches, and 3.) People who want to make their leftovers taste like something completely un-Thanksgiving-like.
Personally, I tend to lean toward camp #1. I love just scooping a bit of each leftover item onto my plate and re-heating it all again on Friday…and Saturday….and sometimes Sunday.
Yes, we always have a lot of leftovers. There’s just 6 of us for dinner, but I’m an Italian grandma at heart – I end up cooking enough for at least 12 people!
This recipe is dedicated to those who fall into camp #3. I’m strongly doubting many people eat a Thanksgiving dinner that involves teriyaki sauce, ginger and pineapple.
So throw some leftover turkey in your slow cooker with those ingredients for a next-day meal that will trick your tastebuds into thinking you’re not eating leftovers. This teriyaki turkey is especially perfect for all you Black Friday shoppers out there.
Start your crock pot early and come home to a late lunch or early dinner. Eat whenever you want – it’s a long weekend. There’s no judgement on long weekends.
Serve this over rice, or for an extra flavor boost, coconut risotto.
Crock Pot Teriyaki Turkey
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cups leftover roasted turkey, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 cup chicken or turkey broth
- 3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1-1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1-1/2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
- White or brown rice, for serving
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
Instructions
- In crock pot, stir together garlic, carrots, turkey, broth, teriyaki sauce, ginger and pepper. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours, adding pineapple during last 10 minutes of cooking.
- Serve turkey over rice sprinkled with green onions.
While my wonderful wife falls into category #1, I tend to go towards category #2. I truly love all of the random concoctions from the Foxes Love Lemons test kitchen in our house. I think eating the same thing over and over – even something as good as Thanksgiving dinner – can get boring. Make that turkey into something else completely delicious, I say, and you’ve won.
You must be reading my mind, Lori, because I just picked all the meat off the turkey (after days of full dinner plates and sandwiches) and have a bag full of turkey chunks. (And I’ve boiled the bones for stock.) There were just three of us this year and yet, somehow, I roasted a 13.5 pounds turkey. That’s right. I see crock pot teriyaki turkey in my very immediate future!
Haha, there were 6 of us with a 14-pound bird, and we had a ton of leftovers, so I can only imagine what you have! It stands up to the crock pot very well – especially dark meat 🙂
What a yummy way of using leftover turkey or turning fresh turkey into a yummy dish. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by, SpicieFoodie!
I’m usually in camp #2 however I’ll gladly switch to camp #3 to make this recipe. I cook turkey throughout the year and with just the 2 of us I always have plenty of leftovers. I see this happening the next time I cook one.
Thanks, Renee! I don’t cook turkey throughout the year, but I don’t know why not. It’s delicious and so useful in so many ways!