Make Ahead Turkey Dinner Casserole
Don't feel like cooking for hours and hours on Christmas Day? Me neither! Skip the hassle, and try this delicious, make-ahead turkey dinner casserole. The best alternative to a traditional Christmas dinner!
Equipment
Ingredients
- Roasted Turkey
- 1 kg Turkey breast - bone in skin on if possible
- 1 kg turkey thighs 2 thighs
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tbsp of mustard powder
- 1 tsp each of dried sage dried oregano and dried thyme
- Stuffing
- 8 Cups of day old bread cubed or torn into small pieces Sourdough is my favourite for flavour.
- 1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning
- 1 tsp. celery salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 small white onion finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks finely chopped
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1 cup warm unsalted chicken broth
- Mashed potatoes
- 8 large baking potatoes peeled and cut into small even pieces 1”
- 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
- I cup of milk with 1/4 cup of butter
- 1/4 plain greek yogurt
- salt and pepper to taste
- Gravy
- Turkey drippings
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup potato water
Instructions
- Step 1 (prep and cook turkey)
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Season your turkey meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in a roasting pan
- Melt the butter and then mix in mustard powder, dried sage, dried oregano and dried thyme.
- Let butter mixture cool for 5 minutes then pour over turkey pieces.
- Loosely tent turkey with foil. Place turkey in oven and immediately turn temperature down to 325 F.
- Cook the turkey 20 minutes per pound or until the turkey breast has an internal temp of 170 -175F, basting every 20 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 40 minutes of roasting.
- Step 2 (while the turkey is cooking, make your stuffing!)
- Place all stuffing ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Set aside (alternatively you can use your favourite stuffing mix to make 8-9 cups of stuffing).
- Step 3 (make your mashed potatoes)
- Place potatoes in large pot and cover with water. Add salt to water.
- Bring to a boil with lid off. Turn heat down, cover potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Drain potatoes well - you want them to be dry.
Save 1 cup of potato water for the gravy. - Warm the milk with the ¼ cup butter and add to drained potatoes. Mash really well (I like using a hand-held blender or food processor).
- Add 1/4 plain Greek yogurt to potato mixture - stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Set aside
- Step 4 (Make your gravy)
- Remove Turkey from the oven. Place turkey pieces on a cutting board and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Pour the turkey drippings into a saucepan. Heat until bubbling and add 1/3 cup flour to make a roux.
- Slowly add 1 cup of the saved potato water and whisk until smooth. Add more liquid if needed. Alternatively make your favourite gravy mix (at least 2 cups)
- Step 5 (Put it all together!)
- Remove turkey meat from bones and slice into large pieces.
- Set up an assembly station with the turkey meat, potatoes, gravy and stuffing.
- Lightly oil a large 9x13 inch baking dish
- Layer stuffing on the bottom and lightly drizzle with gravy.
- Layer the turkey meat on top of stuffing. Lightly drizzle with gravy.
- Spread mashed potatoes over turkey and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Cover with foil. Refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, bake in a 325 oven for 1 hour. Take foil off for last 20 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve casserole with extra gravy, cranberry sauce and Roasted Vegetables. You can refrigerate casserole for 2-3 days or freeze for up to a month.
Notes
You can also make this into a turkey dinner leftover dish! Just layer your turkey leftovers into your baking dish and heat!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!