
Recipe » Sandwiches » Turkey Panini
If you have lots of leftover food from Thanksgiving, try this easy turkey panini recipe, made with turkey, thyme, cranberry sauce and melty provolone cheese
It’s the day after Thanksgiving! My belly is full, my heart is full and our fridge is full of so many leftovers! And like many of you, I’m wondering what to do with leftover turkey. My favorite and easiest thing to do with leftover turkey is sandwiches. This turkey panini is an easy way to use up the leftover turkey and I’ll share more ideas below (because I’ve been there, done that!). Let’s start with the turkey panini and work our way to other yumminess!
To start, set out the ingredients to include in your turkey panini. There’s obviously going to be turkey and cheese and bread. Try a rustic bread like thick sourdough, focaccia, ciabatta or a whole grain baguette. You want to avoid light and airy breads because they don’t grill as easily and sometimes get flat or soggy.
I like to keep it simple with those ingredients and add some leftover cranberry sauce and fresh thyme. For the sandwich, I recommend using spray olive oil or mayonnaise to coat both sides of the sandwich. I used mayonnaise here because I like the taste of it with the turkey.
Now it’s time to layer the sandwich. Try to do a mix of white meat and dark meat in the turkey panini. The white meat is leaner but the dark meat is juicer. So I find a balance between the two. I also love loading it with fresh thyme because it just screams thanksgiving and brings out all the flavors of the ingredients.
Continue assembling the sandwich and add any other ingredients you’d like. You can throw in some stuffing, some vegetables like brussels sprouts, or even some mashed potatoes. I don’t bother adding any gravy, sauce or dressing. There’s usually some leftover gravy right on the turkey breast from the way I store it. And the mayo and cheese give the panini plenty of sauciness! If you are going to add anything, I would recommend just a little extra gravy. Stay away from mustard which can really overpower the taste of the turkey panini.
Once everything is layered on, place the cheese last, carefully close the sandwich and place it on the panini maker. If you don’t have a panini grill, you can heat a skillet large enough to fit the sliced bread. No need to spray the skillet since we already have mayonnaise (or olive oil) right on the outside of the sandwich. You’ll want to cook the turkey sandwich for 2 minutes per side, gently pressing down on top of the sandwich with a spatula as you cook. This will ensure even cooking.
The sandwich is done when it’s golden brown and the cheese is melted. This turkey panini will satisfy your cravings for leftover turkey, solve any problems for what to do with leftover turkey and make your belly so happy. It has a perfectly golden crispy crust, juicy tender turkey on the inside and a mix of salty provolone cheese with sweet and tart cranberry sauce that makes for a tasty easy meal after a big holiday feast.
If you ended up with lots of leftover turkey, here are some other great recipes of what to do with it. Try a couple of the recipes below from my favorite bloggers. And if it’s still too much turkey, you can certainly freeze the turkey and store it for up to 3 months. Just be sure to remove all the bones so the turkey meat is ready to go and be used in any of the recipes below. This will be a lifesaver when you’re looking for last minute meal ideas!
I hope you try the turkey panini and I hope you try those other amazing recipe ideas and not be left worrying what to do with leftover turkey. But hey, in the end, that’s a good problem to have, so gobble gobble gobble!
If you make this healthy-ish feelgood Turkey Panini recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
If you have lots of leftover food from Thanksgiving, try this easy turkey panini recipe, made with turkey, thyme, cranberry sauce and melty provolone cheese
Storage: I would recommend consuming the sandwich right when it is made. However, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for one day. To reheat, place is back in the panini maker or in a toaster oven for 1-2 minutes until it's warm and the cheese has melted.
Substitutes: For best results, follow the recipe as is. However since it's a leftover turkey sandwich, there is so much room for customization to make it your own.
Equipment: It’s so fun to make sandwiches in my panini press. I have the Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler – pretty much a magic appliance in the my kitchen that does so much! If you don't have a panini grill, you can use a skillet and cook the sandwich for 2 minutes per side, pressing down with a spatula as you cook.
1 Comment
Amy
November 24, 2018 at 6:09 amMade the sandwich yesterday. The whole experience of adding the cranberry and the rosemary was a rise to great taste.