This Turkey Tetrazzini recipe is the perfect way to enjoy leftover turkey. Tender turkey chunks, mushrooms and pasta are smothered in a rich and creamy sauce and topped with cheese. Everything is baked until hot and bubbly for a dish hearty enough to satisfy a crowd and tasty enough to get everyone excited about leftovers like never before.
© SpendWithPennies.com
Turkey Tetrazzini is one of those recipes that has been around forever and ever and yet another recipe found in my vintage recipe box.
A delicious pasta casserole with turkey in a creamy mushroom sauce is topped with cheese and baked until hot and bubbly.
Serve this up with a garden salad and some crusty bread for a perfect meal!
I use fresh mushrooms in this recipe and you can add in any other veggies you’d lke, carrots, peas, and peppers are some of our favorites.
This easy tetrazzini recipe uses no “cream of” soup but instead gets some extra richness from spreadable cream cheese. While you can certainly use the plain variety, we love to use an herb and garlic or garlic and chive flavor to add a little bit of extra flavor.
This is a great recipe for making use of the leftover turkey around the holidays, but it is equally delicious year round. If you don’t have turkey on hand, you can use rotisserie chicken or cook up a couple of chicken breasts!
This dish reheats well so you can make it ahead of time or serve it another night for a delicious dinner of leftovers! Make sure to cook the pasta al dente so it doesn’t get mushy and if needed, add a little splash of milk when reheating.
REPIN THIS RECIPE HERE
Ingredients
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 12 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 8 ounces spreadable cream cheese garlic flavor
- 1 ⅓ cups half and half or light cream
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups cooked chopped turkey
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook spaghetti al dente according to package directions.
- Cook butter, onions and garlic over medium heat until softened. Add mushrooms and cook an additional 3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
- Add broth and cream all at once. Cook until thick & bubbly, let boil 1 minute. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Add parsley and seasonings
- Combine spaghetti, turkey, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and sauce. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Top with remaining mozzarella, cover and bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake an additional 10-15 minutes uncovered until hot & bubbly.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian© 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.
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Just made this with turkey from Thanksgiving…YUMMO!!!!
This was excellent. I modified it to make it gluten free. I also eliminated the 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on the top, and it was still delicious!
4.5 stars. Very tasty. Made with slight modifications due to what I had in pantry. Used Elbow Mac pasta instead of spaghetti, used regular cream cheese vs garlic cream cheese but added additional clove of garlic, and omitted the mozzarella on top to decrease calories. Substituted instead 3/4 cup panko flakes mixed with 1 T melted butter, and parmigiano cheese. Turned out great. This is a keeper.
It actually ended up being too cheesy for me. I think I could have used half the cream cheese and mozzarella and been okay.
Can you freeze this after you’ve baked if vacuumed packed?
Sometimes dairy does not freeze well, but I haven’t tried Tina so I can’t say for sure. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Can I substitute fine egg noodles for the spaghetti? Would it change anything? I’m not much of a cook
Yes, this should work just fine. Ensure you are using the same weigh (12 oz or about ¾ of a 16 oz package).
Absolutely delicious! My very picky family loved it. They don’t like mushrooms so I left them out, but then I followed the recipe exactly with one exception; I added six shakes of a small bottle of Tabasco. You will enjoy!
I grew up hating turkey tetrazini. Hated it! But leftover Thanksgiving turkey, grown adult, thought I’d try it. Made almost exactly as written, but instead of chicken broth, used mushroom broth. Uhm…this recipe is amazing! Like absolutely to die for. Both my kids, INCLUDING my neurodivergent picky pants child, asked for seconds. So yeah, I’ll be making this again!
This is the best Tetrazzini recipe ever!
I’ve had so many compliments on it.
Thank you Holly.
Sandra
This was sooooo delicious! I accidentally only put 1 Tbsp of four instead of 3 but it still turned out wonderfully. My family had only had a couple of bites and said that I must make this again! Thanks for the great recipe. I will most definitely be making this again even if I don’t have Turkey. I think it’d be awesome with any other proteins. Cooked shrimp, maybe.
My husband loved how cheesy it was I thought it was too cheesy, but that’s part for the course for us! Hah! Otherwise very flavorful!
That sounds about right, Lynn! I don’t think there is such a thing as too cheesy and my husband is very reserved when it comes to cheese
We totally loved this recipe! It was easy to make delightful to eat!
If I substitute ground turkey instead… would one pound be enough?
Hi Kevin, that should be enough for this recipe. Enjoy!
Looks really good — will be trying it soon!
Question: Will it alter the taste and/or cooking process if mushrooms are omitted?
Hi Beth, the cooking instructions should remain the same but the flavor will change without the mushrooms. Hope you enjoy!
Wicked, WICKED good!!
The family loved it. I am not a fan of turkey but this recipe made it taste oh so good. I added Panko bread crumbs at the end too for an added crunch. So glad I did. I recommend it.
Really good recipe! Very decadent and easy. Definitely one of my favorites!
Shouldn’t have to read the mile-long article attached to the recipe to know to use COOKED protein. The recipe does not specify COOKED protein in the recipe list or instructions. Was excited to try this, but now it’s ruined.
So sorry that happened, DS. Since the turkey should be chopped before adding to the dish it shouldn’t be ruined. You may need to add a little additional cook time to ensure the turkey is cooked all the way through before serving, but it should still be okay.
“Perfect way to enjoy leftover Turkey” (AKA – cooked protein). Think it was covered in the first sentence bud.
Have u tried to freeze it yet ?
I saw a suggestion to freeze before baking in one of your comments , just wondering if yiu have tried freezing leftovers
This dish reheats well, I would add a little splash of milk when reheating. Enjoy M Lindsay!
Very messy but oh so good!