Turkey a la King with Rice Recipe

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Are you searching for a recipe that makes another dish from your leftovers? Try this delicious turkey a la king with rice recipe that recreates a meal with your leftover turkey and vegetables, which your family will surely like!

You can serve this dish anytime, not only on special occasions but as long as you have the ingredients, you can easily prepare it.

Continue reading this article to recreate this recipe that would make a great “anytime” meal or a treat for everyone!

What Does Turkey a la King Mean?

This dish is prepared with roasted turkey and simmered vegetables in richly flavored white cream sauce. It’s a great alternative to the standard turkey sandwich but with cooked turkey and vegetable leftovers.

This is easy to make and can turn into a go-to comfort food. Also, this dish is comparable to a pot pie filling without a pie crust.

How to Prepare a Turkey

Typically, it takes time to prepare turkey for special occasions. When cooking turkey, you usually leave the bird out on the burner for roughly three hours.

But to prepare this dish, you can easily use the leftover turkey from your celebration meals. If you don’t have any, roasted chicken or diced ham would be great alternatives.

How to Season a Turkey

The turkey needs to be seasoned both inside and out. Usually, the bird is coated with butter, sprinkled with herbs, and seasoned with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

If you want your dish to have a creamier sauce, replace the salt and black pepper with 2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning, Old Bay, or Cajun spice.

How Long Does It Take to Cook Turkey Pieces?

Usually, a 12-pound turkey should be done after about 3 hours. But depending on whether your turkey weighs more or less than 12 pounds, you might have to adjust the cooking time.

Cooking Instructions

And now, let’s start preparing this creamy dish with your leftover turkey and vegetables!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
¼ to ¾ cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 celery rib, chopped
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped green pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup fat-free milk
2 cups cubed cooked turkey breast
1 cup frozen peas
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup green beans (optional)

Directions:

Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add mushrooms, green pepper, celery, onion, and beans, and stir until soft.
Check if the fresh mushrooms and other veggies are soft, and proceed to the mixture.
In a bowl, create a flour and chicken broth mixture.
Add flour and broth concoction to the vegetable mixture.
Stir in milk, and bring to boil. Stir again for 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened.
Add turkey breast, frozen peas, and salt. Adjust seasoning for the cooked turkey.
Lastly, serve this delicious dish with steamed rice!

Nutrition Facts:

1/2 cup of rice and 1-1/4 cups of the meat mixture: 350 calories, 7g fat (4g saturated fat), 76mg cholesterol, 594mg sodium, 40g carbohydrates (7g sugars), and 30g protein.

Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 2 starch, 3 lean meat, and 1-1/2 fat.

Cooking Tips

Here are some tips to keep in mind before and after creating this dish:

You should thoroughly cook the vegetables in the skillet before adding a mushroom since the natural flavor in this dish comes from sautéing. It only requires two spices to complete the caramelized veggies and the addition of the peas.
Although we recommend this with rice, this dish has versatile ingredients. You can serve it with other side dishes such as biscuits, cornbread, or puff pastry. But for a light pairing, you can substitute with spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, and cauliflower rice.

Final Note

We hope you can make this dish so the whole family can enjoy it! If necessary, you can use other types of meat in place of the turkey. This dish will still taste great since it has versatile ingredients!

We know how challenging it can be to have leftovers, but do not know what to do with them. See more recipes in our collection.