Instant Pot Leftover Turkey Wild Rice Casserole

Let this leftover turkey wild rice casserole come to the rescue! Combine Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers with wild rice and other ingredients to make this leftover turkey casserole recipe. It is so easy to combine leftover turkey or a turkey breast to make this instant pot wild rice recipe that everyone will love.

It’s always worth having some leftover turkey recipes up your sleeve because you’ll have plenty left after Thanksgiving or Christmas.

If you enjoy this recipe, you might also like mac and beer cheese, cider brined turkey breast or pesto crusted salmon filets.

Let’s face it, the refrigerator is stuffed to capacity during the holidays. That means before, during and after! If you have a lot of leftovers following a big feast, you might be looking for something like this Instant Pot wild rice with leftover turkey or a turkey breast.

Leftover Turkey Wild Rice Casserole Ingredients

This tasty leftover turkey casserole recipe is so flavourful. Although a lot of the recipe ingredients can be swapped according to your palate and what you have, these are the main ones.

Garlic, onion, celery, carrots, and corn add plenty of nutrients to this casserole. Butter, chicken broth, lentils, stuffing (such as Stove Top or homemade leftovers), and cream add more flavour. Salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and sage, along with bay leaves, get the flavour just right. You will also need wild rice for this Instant Pot wild rice dish.

The turkey is typically leftover turkey or a turkey breast. If you don’t have Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers, no problem. You can buy a cooked turkey breast from most grocery stores and use that instead for your leftover turkey wild rice casserole.

Discard the skin and any bones and shred the meat with your fingers or with a pair of forks.

How to Make It

You will be pleased to know this leftover turkey casserole recipe is really quick and easy. The first thing to do is melt the butter in your Instant Pot then add the garlic and veggies and sauté briefly.

Next add the broth and then the rice, lentils, corn, and stuffing mix. Finally add the turkey on top then add the herbs and seasonings. Give the leftover turkey wild rice casserole 20 minutes on the high pressure setting. Once you have naturally released the pressure, just stir in the cream and serve! See how easy it is?

Some Variations to Try

You can make all kinds of substitutions in this Instant Pot wild rice recipe. Swap the turkey for chicken, the lentils for peas, any of the vegetables for mushrooms or zucchini, or the herbs for others. Use another kind of broth or whatever flavour of stuffing you have. It’s hard to go wrong with this highly tweak-able recipe!

Even if you expect the family to complain about ‘yet another turkey leftovers dinner’ they won’t find fault with this leftover turkey wild rice casserole!  Not only is it a Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers solution but it’s a really tasty dish.

If you want, you could pour some gravy over it before serving, to add extra moisture to the dish. Perhaps you have some gravy in your Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers. That would go great with this.

What is Wild Rice?

Wild rice has a nutty taste and firm texture. It’s a semi-aquatic grass grown in the Great Lakes area. Wild rice isn’t technically a type of rice. It is a type of aquatic grass that has an edible grain. It takes longer than regular rice to cook. Also remember the grains triple in size when cooked.

Wild rice can be served as it is, as a side dish, or combined with other grains or other types of rice. It suits pretty much any recipe where you would otherwise use a hearty kind of whole grain. This wild rice soup is another favourite way to use it. Wild rice needs to be kept in an airtight container. If kept dry, it can last for years!

Oh, and did you know wild rice isn’t wild? It’s actually grown in ‘grow puddles’ in farms. This mimics the native growing conditions.

How to Serve this Leftover Turkey Casserole Recipe

Leftover turkey or a turkey breast keeps for a few days. So there is no huge hurry to make this the day after Christmas or Thanksgiving. Once you have decided to make it though, you don’t even have to think about side dishes.

Leftover turkey and rice casserole is a complete meal in one. It has rice, protein, vegetables, and the perfect consistency. You might want to add some bread or a salad but really it’s delicious just as it is.

Instant Pot Leftover Turkey Rice Casserole

Served in bowls, this tasty Instant Pot wild rice dish is going to be every bit as impressive as your Thanksgiving meal! It’s a quick and easy leftover turkey casserole recipe that should appeal to the whole family. You will love how this Instant Pot turkey casserole smells while it cooks!

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