What to do with leftover holiday turkey? Make these easy turkey salad appetizers served in phyllo shells! Or use this salad to make sandwiches or serve it as an accompaniment to grape salad.
Use Leftover Turkey in Easy Turkey Salad Appetizers
These appetizer bites are a great way to use up leftover holiday turkey! But fortunately, they don’t taste like leftovers! Instead, these appetizers are small bites with flavors from turkey, cranberries, and almonds.
Chop the Turkey for Easy Turkey Salad Appetizers
Use a food processor, or electric chopper, to finely chop the turkey. Chopping will give the appetizers a consistent texture and taste. Just pulse the turkey until it is minced but not over-chopped. However, you can hand chop the turkey as an alternative to a food processor. Just chop it into small pieces to ensure the finished salad fits well in the phyllo shells.
Modify the Salad Ingredients
Add the salad ingredients, modifying the amounts to suit your taste. If you are not an almond eater, either omit them or substitute another nut, such as pecans. Also, you can leave out the onions and add a sprinkling of onion powder instead. Finally, you can add only egg yolks to the salad if you don’t prefer the texture of egg whites in your salad. The yolks will break down and dissolve when you stir the salad together, adding creaminess but not texture.
Versatile Easy Turkey Salad Appetizers
Add a heaping spoonful of this salad to phyllo shells to make appetizer cups. Remember, it is best to add the salad to the cups just before you serve them to keep them from becoming soggy. Other ideas for turkey salad include:
- Add it to toasted French bread slices and serve them as an appetizer.
- Place a large scoop of turkey salad on leaf lettuce. Serve it with a scoop of Grape Salad or a cup of Pumpkin Corn Chowder.
- Make sandwiches with croissants and lettuce.
- Slice apples and dip them into lemon juice. Add a scoop of turkey salad to each slice.
- Serve it in a bowl with an assortment of crackers for dipping.
- Make turkey-deviled eggs by placing large scoops in empty hard-boiled egg halves.
- Stuff it into hollowed-out cherry tomatoes.
- Add turkey salad and lettuce to a wrap and roll it up to make a sandwich.
- Place turkey salad in baked wonton cups. To bake cups: place wonton wrappers into non-stick mini muffin pan cavities and bake at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes or until crispy. Cool and add a heaping scoop of turkey salad.
Serve Easy Turkey Salad Appetizers on a Pretty Platter
Elevate your turkey appetizer bites to something extra special by placing them onto a pretty platter. Although I usually like to display food on white trays, this appetizer is pretty served on a green platter when topped with chopped green onions. This green vintage pottery tray, imprinted with pine needles, contrasts nicely with the light color of the turkey salad. Enjoy your leftover turkey with this recipe for turkey salad appetizers!
Other Appetizers
If you like these appetizers, here are some more ideas. Click on each name to link to the recipe.
- Bacon Cheese Cups
- Pimento Cheese Sausage Balls
- Pork Tenderloin Crostini
- Cheese & Hot Pepper Jelly Bites
- Cream Cheese Sausage Ball Recipe
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Pimento Cheese and Bacon Crostini
- Prosciutto Chicken Tenders
Enjoy your leftover turkey with this recipe for turkey salad appetizers!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 4 cups cooked turkey, chopped
- 1/4 cup sweet onion, minced
- 1 large hard-boiled egg, chopped fine
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup almonds, sliced (or slivers)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/16 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 boxes phyllo shells (30 shells)
- 1 green onion, chopped (optional)
Ingredients
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- Cut the turkey into smaller pieces, placing it into a food processor. Process until finely chopped. Move the turkey to a large mixing bowl.
- Place onion, egg, cranberries, and onion into the bowl with the chopped turkey.
- Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl to make a dressing. Pour it over the turkey and stir to mix.
- Place the turkey into the phyllo shells. You do not have to thaw them. Sprinkle with chopped green onion and store in the refrigerator.
Yield
This recipe fills about 30 phyllo shells.
Keep the Shells Crispy
Fill the phyllo shells with turkey salad close to serving time to ensure they stay crispy.