Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (2024)

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By Taylor Stinson | 2 Comments | Posted: | Updated:

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This is the Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini! The easy creamy pasta dish with mushrooms and peas makes leftover turkey delicious again.

Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (1)

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Ingredients and substitutions

  • Spaghetti – try egg noodles, linguine or angel hair pasta instead. You can also use any leftover pasta you might have.
  • Leftover turkey – you can also use leftover or rotisserie chicken.
  • Button mushrooms – substitute for baby portobello/cremini mushrooms or a small can of drained mushrooms. You could also leave the mushrooms out altogether.
  • Butter – use 1 tbsp. olive oil or coconut oil instead. For a low cholesterol option, use unsalted butter.
  • Garlic – fresh minced garlic is best but ¼ tsp. garlic powder would also work.
  • Flour – use your favourite gluten-free flour substitute or arrowroot to help thicken the sauce.
  • Dry white wine – while wine adds amazing flavour to the sauce, you can also use chicken broth, vegetable broth, milk or a non-sweetened milk substitute.
  • Heavy cream – half and half or sour cream will help make the sauce nice and rich with less calories.
  • Salt & pepper – to taste.
  • Parmesan – use cheddar, gruyere or mozzarella instead (just keep in mind it will change the flavour).
  • Frozen peas – peas are classic to this dish, but almost any frozen veggie blend can be used instead.
  • Fresh parsley – leave this out altogether if you don’t have any on hand or top with another herb like fresh thyme.
Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (3)

How to make turkey tetrazzini

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Step 1: Cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and reserve a cup of pasta water.

Step 2: Sauté the mushrooms.

Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms in butter until they release their liquid.

Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (5)

Step 3: Make the sauce.

Sauté the garlic in butter, then whisk in the flour and add the wine. Simmer until reduced, then stir in the pasta water, heavy cream, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Bring the sauce to a boil.

Step 4: Add everything back into the pot.

Add the pasta, cooked turkey, mushrooms and peas to the pot with the sauce.

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Step 5: Toss to combine.

Toss the mixture well to combine and cook for a few mins until heated through.

Step 6: Serve and enjoy!

Garnish with parsley and extra parmesan cheese, then serve and enjoy.

Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (7)

Recipe tips & variations

This turkey tetrazzini recipe is pretty customizable! Here are some tips for making it your own:

  • Sauce: Instead of making your own creamy sauce, you can swap out the heavy cream, white wine and all purpose flour for a can of cream of mushroom soup.
  • Leftovers: This recipe is a great way to get rid of any leftover Thanksgiving turkey, but you could also make it using leftover pasta noodles or veggies to cut down on prep time.
  • Pasta: Use different noodles like egg noodles, linguine or angel hair pasta.
  • Vegetables: You can add more veggies to this pasta dish like broccoli, zucchini, carrots, celery, peppers or green beans. Sauté up to 2 cups of extra veggies when you're cooking the mushrooms.
  • Crunchy topping: Add the pasta to a greased baking dish and top with a couple tablespoons of panko breadcrumbs, then broil in the oven until the top is lightly browned.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make it with another kind of protein?

Of course! You can still enjoy all the flavors of tetrazzini by making it with chicken. You could even make a vegetarian version by leaving out the protein entirely and adding in more veggies like onions, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, peas and more.

What do you serve on the side?

Turkey tetrazinni is a meal in and of itself – you’ve got protein, veggies and carbs all in one dish. If you want to serve something on the side, I’d suggest a nice green salad or some crusty bread.

Can you make this recipe gluten-free or dairy-free?

If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, just swap out the noodles for any gluten-free noodles of your choice, and substitute the flour for a gluten-free flour. To make it dairy-free, use vegan butter, your favourite non-dairy milk and nutritional yeast instead of parmesan (just keep in the mind the sauce won't be as thick).

Can you make turkey tetrazzini ahead of time?

You can cook this turkey tetrazzini and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days, which makes it a great option for meal prep. You could also prep all the components ahead of time by cooking the pasta, chopping up the veggies and cooking the turkey.

How do you make it with raw turkey?

If you don't have any leftover turkey lying around, you can easily cook some turkey breast in the Instant Pot. Once it's cooked, cut it up into pieces then add it to the recipe as normal.

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Storing and reheating

Keep any leftover turkey tetrazzini in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat for 1 to 2 minutes in the microwave – I recommend sprinkling some water over top first so the pasta doesn’t dry out.

You can also reheat your leftover tetrazzini in a casserole dish. Just bake it in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 325° Fahrenheit. Sprinkle on some fresh parmesan and dig in!

Can you freeze turkey tetrazzini?

Yes! Like most turkey tetrazzini recipes, this one is definitely freezer-friendly If you have a lot of leftovers or you just want to prepare this dish ahead of time, you can freeze your tetrazzini for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

Thaw the tetrazzini in the fridge overnight and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit until hot and bubbly.

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Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (10)

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Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe

This is the Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini! The easy creamy pasta dish with mushrooms and peas makes leftover turkey delicious again.

4.90 from 19 votes

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Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 387kcal

Author: Taylor Stinson

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb spaghetti
  • 2 cups leftover turkey or chicken
  • 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • Fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

  • Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for 7-9 minutes until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside.

  • Meanwhile, saute mushrooms in a large skillet with a little bit of butter for 3-4 minutes until they release liquid and are cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.

  • Once pasta is removed from pot, add it back to heat and melt butter. Add garlic, sauteeing for 30 seconds until fragrant. Whisk in flour, then add wine. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced. Stir in pasta water, heavy cream, salt & pepper and parmesan cheese, bringing to a boil.

  • Add pasta, leftover turkey, mushrooms and peas, tossing well to combine and cooking for 2 minutes or so until heated through.

  • Garnish with parsley and extra parmesan cheese, then serve and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Swap out the heavy cream, white wine and flour for a can of mushroom soup instead. It’s a great way to cut down on prep time!

Use 2 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken instead of leftover turkey.

Store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 325° F.

Freeze your turkey tetrazzini for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350° F.

Nutrition

Calories: 387kcal (19%)Carbohydrates: 36g (12%)Protein: 28g (56%)Fat: 13g (20%)Saturated Fat: 8g (50%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 76mg (25%)Sodium: 517mg (22%)Potassium: 502mg (14%)Fiber: 3g (13%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 616IU (12%)Vitamin C: 11mg (13%)Calcium: 143mg (14%)Iron: 2mg (11%)

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Created by Taylor Stinson

Hey there, my name's Taylor! I’m the founder of The Girl on Bloor, a food blog where I share healthy meal prep recipes for busy people. I'm a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto on (you guessed it!) Bloor Street. I've got 10 years experience meal prepping, along with a Master's degree in journalism, and you can find my work across the internet featured on publications such as Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Women's Health, Reader's Digest and more. I also run the awesome 5-Day Meal Prep Challenge, which is a free email course and Facebook group where I share my meal planning strategies and easy meal prep tips and recipes. Be sure to check out my free beginner’s guide to meal prep and follow me on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to get my latest recipes and meal prep tips!

Reader Interactions

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Did you make this recipe or want to share your thoughts? Make sure to leave your review below and tag me on Instagram #thegirlonbloor so I can check it out!

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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Brandon Pulkrabek says

    Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (15)
    Made it exactly like the recipe except I had frozen peas with carrots so I used that. It was fantastic. Not too watery or liquidy. Sauce held to the noodles. Really enjoyed. Thanks Taylor!

    Reply

    • Taylor Stinson says

      I’m so happy you enjoyed, Brandon 🙂 Thanks for leaving your review!!

      Reply

Best Ever Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe - The Girl on Bloor (2024)

FAQs

What is Tetrazzini sauce made of? ›

The basis of Tetrazzini sauce is a béchamel sauce. While a basic béchamel is made with just butter, flour and milk, for Tetrazzini, we dial up the deliciousness by adding chicken stock (for flavour), cream (for richness) and cheese (a good thing in anything!).

Why is Tetrazzini called Tetrazzini? ›

It is supposedly named for Italian opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini, and was made by the chef at her hotel in the early 1900s.

What is turkey Tetrazzini made of? ›

Try this American classic turkey casserole—turkey Tetrazzini—a hearty pasta bake that includes sautéed mushrooms, a cheesy creamy sauce, leftover turkey, peas, and egg noodles.

What does tetrazzini mean in Italian? ›

Tetrazzini is an Italian-American dish made with diced poultry or seafood and in a butter, cream or milk and cheese sauce flavored with sherry or white wine, and combined with linguine, spaghetti, egg noodles, or other types of pasta, sometimes topped with breadcrumbs or cheese, and garnished with parsley or basil.

Who invented turkey tetrazzini? ›

The book San Francisco: A Food Biography does a deep-dive into the history of the dish, noting that the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, helmed by Chef Ernest Arbogast in 1905, is the person who was so inspired by Luisa Tetrazzini that he created the dish and named it after her.

What is the difference between tetrazzini and a La King? ›

It turns out the difference is that Chicken Tetrazzini has cheese in it and Chicken à la King does not. In the 1950s, you would open a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, a package of frozen peas, carrots, a can of sliced mushrooms, some Velveeta cheese, and chicken or turkey and voila...an abomination!

Where was turkey Tetrazzini invented? ›

There are various stories about the origin of the dish. One story, probably the best known, has it that the dish was invented by Ernest Arbogast, then chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California, where the singer lived for many years.

Where is Turkey Tetrazzini from? ›

It is definitely an American dish. It is believed to have been named after Luisa Tetrazzini, a world famous coloratura soprano who performed at the Tivoli in San Francisco in 1905. Turkey is the first big tip off that this is not an Italian dish.

What is pasta called in turkey? ›

Manti is usually eaten as a main dish. Minced chicken and quail meats are also used to prepare mantı in some regions of Turkey. Homemade pasta is called "erişte" in Turkey.

What is spatch cooked turkey? ›

Spatchcocking is a non-gimmicky way to get you to perfectly cooked turkey—fast. Also known as butterflying, the technique involves removing the backbone and flattening the bird for cooking.

What is cream pasta sauce called? ›

Types of pasta sauce with cream and butter
  • Alfredo. A good alfredo sauce starts with generous amounts of both cream and butter to create a thick, wholesome sauce that pairs well with a long noodle such as linguine. ...
  • Brown butter sauce. ...
  • Burro. ...
  • Cacio e pepe. ...
  • Carbonara.
Feb 2, 2022

What is pasta and tomato sauce called? ›

Marinara sauce is tomato-based and is seasoned with classic Italian flavors like basil, oregano and garlic. It's an incredibly versatile sauce; use it to make lasagna or chicken parmesan, serve it with meatballs or even just use for dunking mozzarella sticks.

What is a chunky pasta sauce called? ›

Marinara sauce is only cooked for about 30 minutes, not enough time to break down the tomatoes, so it's chunky and a bit watery. In addition to the base ingredients, other spices like oregano, black pepper and red pepper flakes can be added for more flavor, as is common in the United States.

What is traditional pasta sauce made of? ›

Marinara sauce, or pasta sauce is a slow-simmered sauce that is often made with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. In America, we often refer to marinara as a meatless, tomato-based sauce. Spaghetti sauce is essentially any sauce that you put on spaghetti.

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