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Turkey Enchiladas filled with leftover shredded or ground turkey and shredded cheese, then topped with an easy enchilada sauce and more cheese. It’s a delicious and creative way to repurpose your holiday leftovers!
Whether you have a lot of leftover turkey in the fridge from your Thanksgiving feast or are just looking for some ideas for using ground turkey, this enchilada recipe is for you!
They’re filled with seasoned leftover shredded or ground turkey, topped with a generous amount of cheese, and baked in a delicious enchilada sauce until bubbly and hot.
Turkey Enchilada Ingredients
- Turkey: You can use leftover shredded Thanksgiving turkey or lean ground turkey. If using leftover shredded turkey, see the section below.
- Dried seasonings: Chili powder, salt, onion powder, dried oregano, garlic powder, and ground cumin.
- Enchilada sauce: I used my easy enchilada sauce recipe, but you can my authentic enchilada sauce made with dried chiles, or your favorite store-bought brand.
- Flour tortillas: I like using flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas because they can hold up to the filling better and won’t tear. You’ll need large flour tortillas.
- Shredded cheese: You can use a Mexican-blend cheese, or a mixture of mozzarella and Monterey jack.
How to Make Enchiladas with Leftover Turkey
Have a lot of leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the fridge that needs to get used up quickly? These enchiladas are the answer!
- You’ll need about 2 1/2 cups of cooked shredded turkey.
- Add that to a large mixing bowl along with some chili powder, salt, onion powder, dried oregano, garlic powder, and ground cumin. Mix it all up with a 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce, then give it a taste to see if it needs any extra salt.
- Assemble and bake the enchiladas following the instructions in the recipe card below.
Recipe Tips
If using leftover Thanksgiving turkey, make sure to shred it into small bite-size pieces. And don’t forget to remove any bones!
Serving Suggestions
Turkey enchiladas can be dressed up in a variety of ways to suit different tastes and occasions. Here are some serving suggestions to make them a hit at any table.
Storing and Freezing
Turkey enchiladas can be stored in an airtight container in the refriderator for up to 4 days.
To freeze, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 4 months.
More Recipes
Turkey Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or 2 ½ cups leftover cooked shredded turkey (see notes if using shredded turkey)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ¾ cups easy enchilada sauce, divided
- 8 large flour tortillas
- 2 cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided
- optional toppings: diced onions, chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded lettuce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey, chili powder, salt, onion powder, oregano, garlic powder and cumin.
- Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up the meat into smaller chunks. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, until turkey is browned and cooked through.
- Add 1/4 cup enchilada sauce, stir to combine, and remove from heat. Taste and season with more salt if necessary.
- Microwave the tortillas on a plate for 1 minute, flipping them halfway through until all of them are warm and pliable.
- Pour 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce into a 9×13 baking dish, and spread it out to fully coat the bottom.
- Assemble the enchiladas by filling each tortilla evenly with the turkey mixture and 3/4 cup of shredded cheese. Roll the tortillas tightly to close and place in a large baking dish seam side down.
- Pour the remaining 1 1/4 cups enchilada sauce over the tortillas, top with the remaining 1 1/4 cups shredded cheese, and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve immediately and garnish with desired toppings.
Notes
- To use cooked leftover shredded turkey, combine 2 1/2 cups turkey, all the dried seasonings in the recipe, and 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce in a large bowl. Taste and season with more salt if necessary. Then continue following the recipe at step 5.
- Enchilada sauce: I highly recommend making your own using this easy enchilada sauce made from dried spices and herbs or this authentic enchilada sauce made from whole dried chiles and Mexican chocolate. If you’re short on time, you can use your favorite store-bought sauce.
- To store enchiladas, place them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- To freeze enchiladas, let them cool completely in the fridge. Transfer the enchiladas to a freezer safe container or freezer bag and freeze. You can also wrap the enchiladas completely in aluminum foil and freeze.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh, sweetie! These are fabulous!
My husband and I hunt turkeys every spring. Wild turkey tends to be a lot tougher than domestic, because, believe it or not, these guys FLY, and they walk a lot, too, so roasting a whole tom is not an option. I use the legs to make tamales. Cooking the legs til the meat falls off the bone takes 8 to 9 hours.
I usually make the breast meat into medallions, cut across the grain, but I still have a lot in the freezer and it’s almost hunting season again! So when I found your recipe for enchiladas, I had to try it. The only other substitution was to use half-flour-half-corn tortillas, because my husband prefers corn. Your easy enchilada sauce is perfect – I make it often. And your tamale masa recipe is the best, too!
These were very tasty. I made them with ground chicken since that’s what I had in my freezer. And your easy enchilada sauce was so easy and yummy! Thank you.
My only go to recipe. Awesome, simple and easy to make.
super great recipe I give it a 10+ thanks so much for this great recipe
Loved the recipe, it was easy and very delicious
Thank you
I’ve never attempted to make my own sauce. So glad I did. Very good. I did add small can of tomato sauce too. .I also made the turkey enchaladas using left over toasted turkey. added sm can of diced green chillies. Wow very flavourful..will do this again..thank you.Donna
Thank you so much, Donna!
I made these using your recipe for Easy Enchilada Sauce and was happy that both were able to be made with ingredients I already had on hand! The enchilada recipe itself is a good starting point and can be easily altered to your families preferred spice level, but is lovely as is!