The absolute BEST leftover turkey idea is this Smoked Buffalo Turkey Dip! Classic Buffalo flavor, with the easy addition of leftover smoked turkey. Add cheese and you have one heck of an appetizer or meal. This is one of our favorite leftover turkey recipes we make. Don’t have smoked turkey to use? It is just as good with oven roasted turkey too.
Traditionally I grew up with leftover turkey used in a Green Chili Turkey stew. Which is great on its own or smothered over enchiladas. But adding leftover turkey to a Buffalo wing inspired cheese dip is a great way to use up all that meat.
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Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey
It’s inevitable, if you’re going to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving or any holiday, you’re going to find yourselves with leftovers.
And that’s a good thing. A really good thing. I’m convinced there are more fun things to do with leftover turkey, then the whole bird.
That is unless you’re making this Smoked Turkey. In that case, it’s a tie. That turkey is incredible!
Buffalo Wings Meets Leftover Turkey
One of the most genius uses for leftover turkey we’ve come up with is this Smoked Buffalo Turkey Dip.
Skinny Buffalo Dip
The best part (as if this could get any better?) was that this is a much lighter version than the hundreds of recipes you find online filled with cream cheese and sour cream. I was inspired by a “skinny” Buffalo Chicken Dip I saw on Pinterest years ago and used Greek yogurt instead of the traditional sour cream. Hubby didn’t even realize until after we ate the entire bowl! It’s “light” and nobody will ever know.
How to Make Buffalo Turkey Dip
- To make the dip, simply combine leftover turkey with cream cheese, Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, seasonings, and the very necessary Frank’s RedHot hot sauce (it’s gotta be Franks!), into an oven safe bowl and mix together.
- Place into a cast iron pan or oven safe dish and then top with the blue cheese crumbles.
- Then place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, to heat up and allow the cheese to get nice and bubbly.
Variations
A friend of mine noted she makes this (with chicken) weekly, and puts some ranch dressing and chopped celery into the mix. Sounds like a great plan and I’ll definitely try that next time. If you do add ranch, I suggest to cut the Greek yogurt in half to keep the liquid proportions the same (so it doesn’t come out watery).
If you don’t have Frank’s, you can use other medium spiced hot sauces. But Frank’s is the original flavor to Buffalo style wings.
More Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes
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This recipe was first published in December, 2013 and updated in November 2021 with new photos and details on the recipe steps.
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Smoked Buffalo Turkey Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups leftover smoked turkey, shredded (can use roasted turkey or shredded chicken. But the smoked flavor is unbeatable!)
- 4 ounces light cream cheese, softened About a half pack. You can use regular cream cheese as well.
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup Frank's RedHot (hot sauce. No substitutions. It has to be Franks!)
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon coarse black pepper
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Mix all ingredients (except blue cheese!) together in a large bowl. When everything is well combined, transfer into a small oven safe baking dish. Top with blue cheese crumbles and place in oven, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until the dip starts to bubble.
- Serve with chips or celery sticks.
Sharon Keef says
There how I do it 8oz sour cream 1 can rotel one block cream cheese one pkg ranch seasoning sprinkle scallions on top serve with corn chips or bread that been crisps oh and of course couple handfuls of left over Turkey
Mary says
Oh my gosh that sounds great. Rotel is a guilty pleasure of ours. Thanks for sharing!
Ky says
Turkey