With Thanksgiving come and gone, we were left with full bellies and a fridge full of leftovers. We inherited a share of the turkey from both sides of the family, so I new turkey meal prep was the next logical step. The holidays are always full of tempting foods, so I wanted to make sure I focused on healthy leftovers ideas that were keto friendly. Still fighting the good fight against carbs!
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Healthy Leftovers Ideas
Rather than rounding up a bunch of high carb sides from my relatives, I decided to play it strategically and created a rule to ensure healthy leftovers: any food that we took home with us would have to be low carb. With extravagant Turkey Day spreads, I have to admit this was not a popular decision with my kiddos and non-keto partner. They got to go back for Thanksgiving Round 2 and eat over at grandma's house instead to help polish off the carb-loaded leftovers. Win, win!
I ended up with a massive turkey carcass to make turkey bone broth, Tupperware and Ziploc bags filled with white and dark turkey meat, and lots of ham. I made the turkey broth, which turned out incredibly thick and gelatinous; it tasted fantastic, and I immediately knew that if I heated it for just a few seconds, it would make a delicious, healthy turkey gravy.
I wanted to refresh the leftovers by adding new ingredients to the meal, so I didn't feel burnt out eating the same things over and over. If you are using leftovers for meal prep, I highly recommend doing this, so you don't get bored with your food.
The Turkey Meal Prep Recipe
As promised in last week's keto meal prep, I would have another meal prep recipe for you this week. I didn't let the holidays completely derail me, and I put my protein-packed leftovers to good use with a turkey meal prep. If you have holiday leftovers or had a delicious turkey dinner and don't know what to do with all the turkey, this turkey meal prep is a great way to liven up the leftovers.
I divvied out turkey between my meal prep containers and drizzled some of the turkey bone broth over the top. Once it was reheated, the leftover turkey was incredibly moist. If you struggle with dry turkey, adding a little broth can really help the cause!
For the side, I cut ham into small chunks and paired it with a big can of french cut green beans. In a small stockpot, I combined the green beans, ham, a tiny amount of apple cider vinegar, and a little turkey bone broth. If you don't make bone broth with your turkey carcass, you can use chicken stock instead. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the liquid cooks down. Season with salt and pepper, then divide between your meal prep containers, which will yield about ¼ cup per serving.
To go with my turkey meal prep, I also had a batch of roasted cauliflower mash. I knew it would be perfect to include with my healthy leftovers, so I put ¼ cup serving into each of my meal prep containers and drizzled bone broth on top for the gravy. So delicious and my leftovers aren't boring at all! I'm actually super excited to eat my meal prepped lunches for the week! Hopefully, this will give you some healthy leftover ideas for your own turkey meal prep!
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 oz turkey cooked
- 10 tbsp turkey bone broth
- 4 oz ham cooked, chopped
- 14.5 oz french cut green beans canned, drained
- ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup roasted cauliflower mash
Instructions
- Divide turkey into 3-ounce portions for each of the meal prep containers. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of turkey bone broth on top of each serving of turkey.
- Combine 2 tablespoons of turkey bone broth, ham, french cut green beans, and apple cider vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the liquid cooks down. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the mixture between the meal prep containers.
- Place ¼ cup of the roasted cauliflower mash into each meal prep container. Create a well in the mash using the back of a spoon and pour 1 tablespoon of the bone broth on top of each serving.
- Let the food reach room temperature. Cover each meal prep container and store in the fridge until ready to eat.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Tasha–nutritionist, recipe developer, and multi-published cookbook author.
Patti says
Thanks for posting this, I was just wishing for some divided glass meal prep containers for all these turkey leftovers and this popped up on my Pinterest feed. Appreciate it!