Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend! If you have any turkey left over from the big meal, here’s a recipe you may want to try out! I found this recipe for French Onion Turkey Casserole at CampbellsKitchen.com. As I typically do, though, I added extra cheese to this, and I’m glad I did–I thought it was great with the extra cheese!

The original recipe calls this dish a “savory bread pudding,” and I think that’s a good way to describe it–it’s not super-meaty, but the bread, French Onion soup, and cheese give it a nice texture and flavor. It is mildly savory, by the way, so for those of you who like your food a little more seasoned, you may want to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the mixture. And the savory flavor seemed a little stronger to me the next day, when I ate some of what was left over, so this is one of those recipes that tastes good even when it sits refrigerated overnight!

This makes a great side dish, but if you’d like it to be more of a main meal, I would add a little more turkey to it, which I’m noting in the recipe below (the ingredients really fill up the pan, so if you do add extra meat, you may need to cut back on the bread, depending on how deep your baking pan is). This is made in a 2-quart casserole dish (you can also make it in a 9×9″ or 11×7″ baking pan–I used an 11×7″ baking pan).

This casserole is easier to put together if you do the following ahead of time: cut your bread slices into cubes, shred or cube your cooked turkey, shred your Swiss cheese…that way you can just throw all the ingredients in the bowl and mix them up really quick!

FRENCH ONION TURKEY CASSEROLE by NancyCreative, adapted from CampbellsKitchen.com

Makes a 2-quart casserole (you can also use a 9×9″ or 11×7″ baking pan)

• 6 eggs
• 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) condensed French Onion Soup
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (about 8 ounces), divided
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 2 teaspoons dried thyme, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional (if you want a more seasoned flavor)
• 9 slices of bread (I used honey whole grain oatmeal bread, but you can use white or wheat bread), cut into cubes
• 2 cups shredded or cubed turkey (if you want a meatier casserole, add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup; if you do this, you may need to cut back on the bread by 1 slice, or your baking pan may be too full)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease or spray a 2-quart shallow pan (or 9×9″ or 11×7″ baking pan). Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, soup, and milk, blending well with a fork or whisk. Add 1 cup of the shredded Swiss cheese and 1 Tablespoon of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, mixing well. (If using salt, mix this in now, too). Add the bread cubes, stirring and pressing them into the milk mixture to fully coat. Then add the cubed turkey and mix everything well, so ingredients are evenly distributed in mixture.

Pour or spoon the mixture into your baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and thyme. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Use your favorite bread. Photo to the right shows what this looks like before it’s put in the oven.

Then bake for 45 minutes at 350˚F or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Here it is fresh out of the oven…

Now you’re ready to dig in!

Do you have some good recipes of your own for turkey leftovers?