My turkey tetrazzini is super creamy, rich, and just about the most delicious thing you can make with leftover turkey! Tender linguine tossed with a homemade, creamy white wine béchamel sauce then loaded with juicy chunks of turkey, sautéd mushrooms, fresh thyme, and of course, a generous amount of cheese!
You’ll look forward to this dish as much as the food on Thanksgiving! And on the topic of Thanksgiving leftovers, don’t miss my turkey carcass soup! This is the first recipe my Grandma taught me to make. It’s the best turkey soup you’ll ever have, I promise!
If you’re a fan of tetrazzini I hope you’ll try our chicken tetrazzini and ham tetrazzini next! If you’re looking for a quicker version of the lovely chicken tetrazzini, check out my Grandma’s chicken noodle casserole.
WHAT IS TURKEY TETRAZZINI?
The origins of tetrazzini casserole aren’t known for sure. My favorite origin story is that it’s named after Luisa Tetrazzini, an Italian opera star from the early 1900s.
WHAT IS TETRAZZINI SAUCE MADE OF?
The sauce for turkey tetrazzini is essentially a béchamel sauce or a white sauce. We infuse our sauce with white wine, garlic, thyme, a little nutmeg, and cream cheese. It’s truly incredible and elevates this dish to new levels!
TURKEY TETRAZZINI INGREDIENTS
- Butter: Use salted or unsalted.
- Olive Oil: You can use any neutral-flavored vegetable oil.
- Cooked Turkey
- Salt & Black Pepper
- White Mushrooms
- Onions: I use yellow onion.
- Garlic: Mince your garlic fresh. The stuff in the jar had a weird taste.
- Thyme: I use fresh thyme because it’s always growing fresh in my garden. Use dried if you don’t have fresh.
- White Wine: This adds great flavor to the sauce. If you don’t want to use alcohol you can use chicken broth.
- All-Purpose Flour: This will mix with the butter and oil to form a roux and thicken the sauce.
- Milk: I like to use whole milk. It gives the sauce the perfect richness.
- Heavy Cream: Makes the sauce velvety.
- Turkey or Chicken Broth: Adds more liquid to the sauce and great chicken flavor as well.
- Nutmeg: Adds a warm slightly nutty flavor to the sauce.
- Cream Cheese: Adds richness and creaminess to the sauce.
- Linguine: I like the way the flat noodles catch the sauce. You can switch it up and use spaghetti instead. I like the brand, Barilla.
- Peas: I like to use petite peas.
- Peas are a very divisive vegetable! If you hate them, leave them out. I really like them in this recipe. They add a nice pop of color and are a tasty, creamy addition.
- Parsley: Adds nice color and freshness to the casserole.
- Mozzarella: The perfect ooey-gooey cheese for this casserole
- Panko Breadcrumbs: I like to add a sprinkle of these to the top of the casserole for a bit of color and crunch.
STORING + FREEZING + MAKE-AHEAD
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store it in an airtight container
- The pasta will absorb the sauce so you may need to thin the sauce with a small amount of milk.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes, and this can last up to 3 months in the freezer. Keep in mind the pasta will be significantly softer and a lot of the sauce will be absorbed into the pasta after freezing.
- Make-Ahead Tips: Prepare and chop the ingredients ahead of time and store them in the fridge.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more food safety info check out this article.
SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS
We generally have this with any leftover Thanksgiving vegetables like my southern green beans or Arkansas green beans (my kids’ favorites!), southern collard greens, roasted carrots and parsnips, cheesy roasted Brussels sprouts, Cracker Barrel fried apples, or brown sugar glazed carrots.
I also love to serve it with homemade crescent rolls, Lion House rolls, Bisquick biscuits, or my super buttery, garlic and herb parker house rolls if there are any leftovers from Thanksgiving. If there aren’t I’ll make my quick cat head biscuits or butter swim biscuits.
HOW TO MAKE TURKEY TETRAZZINI
- Sauté the mushroom.
- Stir in the onion, garlic, and thyme.
- Stir in wine.
- Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl.
- Sprinkle flour over melted butter.
- Whisk.
- Remove from heat and slowly whisk in milk, cream, and broth. Stir in seasonings.
- Then add cream cheese.
- Add cooked chicken, onion mixture, pasta, peas, and parsley.
- Mix until well-coated and transfer to the baking dish.
- Top with cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake.
- Serve.
***See the full instructions below.
MORE CREAMY CASSEROLES
- White Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Spaghetti With Rotel
- Chicken Lasagna
- Beef Noodle Casserole
- Crack Chicken Spaghetti Bake
- Sausage Potato Casserole
- Pierogi Casserole
- Hamburger Hashbrown Casserole
- Runza Casserole
- Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Buffalo Chicken Casserole
- John Wayne Casserole
- Green Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Four Cheese Linguine with Prosciutto
TRIED THIS RECIPE?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Turkey Tetrazzini
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 cups cooked turkey, cut into cubes
- 2 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 1/4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
- 1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 cup turkey or chicken broth
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, cut into cubes and at room temperature
- 16 ounces linguine
- 3/4 cup frozen petite peas, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2-3 tablespoons parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Butter a 13x9x3-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter; set aside.
- In an 8-quart stockpot, add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Stir in mushrooms (1 pound) and cook over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are golden brown and the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in the onion (1), garlic (1 tablespoon), and thyme (1 tablespoon) and continue to cook until the onions are translucent about 6-8 minutes. Stir in wine (1/2 cup) and cook until it evaporates about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the bowl.
- Add 3 more tablespoons of the remaining butter to the same stockpot with the heat on medium-low. Sprinkle the flour (1/3 cup) over melted butter and whisk constantly for 1-2 minutes to remove the flour taste. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in milk (4 cups), heavy cream (1 cup), and broth (1 cup) until smooth.
- Stir in nutmeg (1/8 teaspoon), 2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoons black pepper. Turn up the heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and continue to cook, whisking often, until the sauce thickens, about 9-11 minutes.
- Add the cubes of cream cheese and whisk until it's mostly melted.
- Cook the linguine (12 ounces) according to package instructions, in well-salted water (2 tablespoons salt), until al dente. Drain well.
- Add the cooked turkey (3 cups) and onion mixture and drained linguine to the sauce along with the peas (3/4 cup), and parsley (1/4 cup). Mix well until the sauce coats the pasta and the mixture is well blended.
- Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with cheese and dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle top with panko breadcrumbs (1/2 cups) and bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for about 25 minutes or until heated through and golden brown on the top.
- Sprinkle top with parsley (2-3 tablespoons) to garnish and serve.
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I just love your chicken tetrazzini and the recipe is pretty much the same except for 8 ounces of cream cheese in the turkey one and an extra tablespoon of butter in the chicken one. What part does the cream cheese play in the turkey one because I I really like the chicken so much that I’m afraid. I’m in a mess it up if I put the cream cheese in there! Headed to the store to get mushrooms and pasta. Hopefully you can get back to me before I get back!
Hey Libba. The cream cheese adds extra richness and creaminess with a little tang to the cream sauce. If you already love the chicken tetrazzini recipe (I think it’s killer delish!) feel free to use that one!
This was amazing! Definitely a keeper. Cant wait to make it again! Thank you.
Thank you, Wendy. I feel the same way about this recipe! <3
Will be making this again, so delicious.
Thank you so much, Jane! So happy you enjoyed <3