Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole

This recipe is based on a chicken and stuffing recipe from the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook, and is a huge favorite in our house. We always travel on Thanksgiving, so I rarely get to cook a turkey dinner, let alone get to enjoy the leftovers, but even if you’re in the same boat as me, this slow cooker recipe is worth running out and buying a turkey breast to roast just so you can make it. 

In fact, I tend to get a turkey breast, cook it in my slow cooker one day, and then put this recipe together in my slow cooker the  next day, so I’ll add on my recipe for slow cooking turkey breast at the end of this column in case you’d like to do the same.

Warning: This recipe is NOT low-fat. In fact, with a (ahem) cup of butter in it, just consider it an extension of the Thanksgiving Day gorging and enjoy it with your leftover green bean casserole and cranberry sauce on the side!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and happy cooking!

Ingredients
2 ½ cups chicken stock
1 cup butter, melted (I use about ¾ of a cup)
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
4-oz can mushrooms, stems and pieces, drained
¼ cup dried parsley flakes
1 ½ tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
10 cups day-old bread cubes (½-inch pieces) – I cut this up the night before and let it dry out overnight in a large, uncovered bowl
2 eggs
10 ¾-oz can cream of chicken soup (I always feel bad about the cup of butter and use a low-fat cream soup to try to even it out)
4-5 cups cubed, cooked turkey

Directions
1. Combine all of the ingredients except the bread, eggs, soup and chicken in a saucepan, and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the eggs and soup. Slowly whisk the mixture into the broth until smooth. Pour liquid over the bread and toss well.
3. Layer half of the stuffing mixture in the bottom of your slow cooker, followed by half of the cut turkey. Repeat the layers, pressing the top layer of cut turkey down into the moist stuffing mixture.
4. Cover and cook on low for 4.5-5 hours. Do not overcook or it will dry out!

NOTE: If you have leftover stuffing from Thanksgiving, you could use that for some (or all) of the dried bread cubes, but because this cooks in the slow cooker for several hours, you should still use the full amount of liquid from the recipe!

Bonus Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Recipe

And now for my quick slow cooker recipe for a turkey breast:

Ingredients
1 turkey breast
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 envelope dried onion soup mix (I sift out the actual onion pieces and just use the spice powder)
½ cup orange juice
Salt and pepper

Place the turkey breast in the slow cooker. Whisk together all of the ingredients and pour over the turkey. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, being careful to not overcook.