A simple turkey casserole is an easy, creamy and delicious meal!
Leftover turkey (or cooked ground turkey if you prefer) is added to pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce and topped with a buttery bread crumb topping.
This is a great way to enjoy leftover roast turkey and the perfect belly-warming meal.
An Easy Turkey Casserole
Casseroles are economical, easy to make, and everyone loves them!
Since I usually serve this with leftover turkey, I wanted to create a sauce that is quick and easy. The shortcut sauce (recipe below) is the perfect addition.
It can be made in advance, covered in the refrigerator until it’s ready for baking.
Ingredients/Variations
In this version, turkey, mushrooms, and noodles are baked into a savory sauce made with cream of chicken soup, seasonings, and cheese.
VEGGIES
What’s so great about this recipe is that veggies like broccoli, peas, or carrots can be added to make an even heartier casserole.
PASTA
Any medium pasta can sub out for the penne!
MEAT
This is a favorite with leftover turkey but if you don’t have any on hand, ground turkey, shredded chicken, even sliced smoked sausage can be used in place.
Steps to Make Turkey Casserole
- Cook the Pasta. Ensure it’s al dente (quite firm) so it doesn’t overcook while baking.
- Make the Sauce (per recipe below). Saute onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Add soup, milk, mushroom mixture, seasonings, & half the cheese.
- Combine and Bake. Fold in meat and pasta. Pour into a casserole dish, sprinkle with topping, and bake.
Serve this with 30-minute dinner rolls and crispy garlic roasted broccoli, and finish off with an amazing homemade peach crisp.
How to Store Creamy Turkey Casserole
Casseroles are just as good the next day and this one is no exception. Simply reheat a portion in the microwave and adjust the seasonings. Store in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap for up to 4 days.
More Turkey Favorites
- White Turkey Chili
- Turkey Pot Pie
- Turkey Sandwich
- Slow Cooker Cajun Bean Soup with Turkey
- Turkey Salad
- Turkey Cranberry Pasta Salad
- Hearty Turkey Stew (with leftover turkey)
Did you love this Creamy Turkey Casserole? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Creamy Turkey Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked penne or medium pasta
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion finely diced
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 10 ¾ ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 ⅓ cups milk
- ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 cup havarti cheese or swiss cheese, shredded
- 3 cups cooked turkey
Topping
- ¼ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F. Combine topping ingredients and set aside.
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Cook onion, mushrooms, and garlic in butter until tender, about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl combine soup, mushroom mixture, milk, seasonings, and ½ of the cheese. Fold in turkey and pasta.
- Spread into a 9x13 casserole dish, top with remaining cheese, and sprinkle with topping.
- Bake 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Turkey
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Very tasty and loved the crunchy topping. I added broccoli, celery and Italian seasoning. we all had seconds.
Delicious. A lot of work, but worth it. We only used half of a small onion which was more than enough. We also omitted the mushroom. I will cook the pasta fully next time, so it is less chewy. Thanks!
want to make this
It was a great change from our usual ground Turkey recipes – I had some light Alfredo sauce instead of condensed soup – so I tried that !!
Easy to make too !
Delicious! I doubled the cream of chicken soup and used half and half in place of milk. Also added some peas, carrots, and diced celery. Added ground Black pepper for extra seasoning and tossed some shredded parmesan, didn’t have Havarti, into the topping mixture rather than before adding the topping. Used 1/2 cup of three cheese blend in pasta mixture.
Great easy to follow recipe. I added some mixed vegetables and a little more seasoning. This recipe is easily adjustable and still turns out delicious. Thank you for sharing!
preparing to making this but was wondering if you had freezing suggestions. should I assemble then freeze or cook then freeze? thanks!
This casserole uses already cooked turkey so it can be frozen either before or after cooking!
I found it to be too dry. Perhaps would be better with 2 cans of soup.
Made this with leftover Thanksgiving smoked turkey and it was great! It’s also a great base recipe to mix it up with other leftovers. I do prefer a little more sauce so will solve for that next time. Also, I know it’s hard to tell someone in a recipe how much salt you need, especially since half the ingredients are already salted at various levels. That said I’m not good enough to pick up the taste of 1/2t salt in a dish this big so I’ll be a bit heavier handed next time. Moral of the story is there will be a next time so thank you!
OMG! Yum! I put a can of peas in for color. Thank you so much!
I am so glad you enjoyed this casserole Amy!
My husband and I really enjoyed this casserole! The only change I did was use Panko instead of bread crumbs and next time I will use 2 cans of soup versus one can. Thank you for this recipe!
You’re welcome Debbie, so glad you enjoy the turkey casserole so much!
This was so yummy!
I had a bunch of leftover smoked turkey and was looking for a casserole recipe. I love noodles and found this recipe.
I made a few substitutions due to what I had in my pantry.
Substitutions:
dried spices instead of fresh
crushed croutons for topping
cheddar jack cheese
doubled the cream of chicken soup (I like it creamier)
I’ll make this again!
Thanks for the AWESOME recipe. ❤️
Your substitutions sound great, Nada! Glad you enjoyed it.
My family loves it and that’s seriously a BIG deal, as someone always hates something that I prepare. They even asked for second helpings.
By the way, I didn’t have the soup, but I did have a jar of Alfredo sauce. Came out delicious! This is definitely going into rotation.
So happy this recipe was a hit with EVERYONE! That is wonderful!
Love this recipe!!! We used steamed rice instead of noodles and added more vegetables!! Will definitely make this again! Thank you for this recipe.
I made this tonight, it was good and so simple to make. I will make it again.
This is a very simple and delicious recipe. Yum-Yum!!
Awesome the family loved it and also took some to a front lines worker with a late shift. She loved it so much she is going to make it. Shared on Facebook too.
So glad you loved it Carol, thank you for sharing.
Loved this turkey casserole recipe!! My husband and I both have gluten and dairy issues so with apologies to Holly, I’ll explain my substitutions. We also live in the Southwest so I just had to “spice it up”.
I used ghee instead of butter, panko instead of bread crumbs for the topping. Next I substituted vegan pepper jack cheese, gluten free penne pasta and unsweetened almond milk. Didn’t have cream of chicken soup, so used cream of mushroom. Vegetables added were nopales and cut green beans. Then spiced it up even more with a liberal shake of red pepper flakes. Otherwise, used Holly’s ingredients, cooking procedures and cooking times. My husband pronounced this casserole outstanding and even asked for it heated up this morning instead of a traditional breakfast. Love Spend With Pennies site and have great fun making your recipes, while tailoring them to our special dietary needs!
Thanks for sharing your tips and substitutions Arlene. Glad you loved the recipe.
In my books a store bought can of cream of chicken soup and 1 cup of Havarti cheese disqualifies this from being an economical meal.
Hi Holly, Thank you for the recipe. One suggestion: Now that I have a TON of cooked pasta left over, I think you meant 3 cups of cooked pasta!
I agree. I had way to much pasta.
Come on, in no way was there too much pasta. It was fantastic and flavorful. All good cooks know how much and can tweak any dish.