Get ready to make this amazingly easy Turkey Tetrazzini recipe. This original one-pot casserole is such a great family dinner. We love making this with leftover Thanksgiving turkey for a creamy homemade dish!
This is a winter comfort meal is perfect for a cold day. It's an easy creamy spaghetti-baked dinner made from scratch the whole family will love. This homemade recipe is so much better than Stouffer's frozen meal!
Our favorite time of the year to make this dish is right after Thanksgiving. We have so much leftover turkey, we start to get creative on what to do with it. This shredded turkey pasta is one of the best uses of leftover, or frozen turkey. We've even made it for a school lunch.
For more simple dinners you have to try our other pasta dishes. Four Cheese Pasta, Million Dollar Spaghetti, and Rattlesnake Pasta are some of our favorite weeknight dishes. We also love easy casserole dishes like Tater Tot Casserole.
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Ingredients
This dish uses staple ingredients you probably already have at home. That's what makes it so easy to put together! You also can use a lot of various substitutions to make it your own.
- Crushed red peppers - the ¼ teaspoon in this dish is not enough to add heat to the dish, so don't be scared of it. We found while testing this recipe that the flavor was so much better with a hint of crushed pepper. It ties the other ingredients together so nicely. To be able to taste the spice, we recommend ¾ -1 teaspoon instead of ¼.
- Mushrooms- one of the hallmarks of this dish is mushrooms. This has quite a few mushrooms, for fewer mushrooms, simply use 4 oz instead of 8 oz.
- Noodles- Spaghetti noodles are traditionally used for tetrazzini dishes. That's what we use for this recipe. You can easily use other types of noodles like bow tie, rotini, and ziti.
- Butter- Use salted or unsalted butter to saute the vegetables to have a richer flavor.
- Onion- Minced onion gives this dish a deeper flavor without having large chunks of noticeable onion, if you aren't an onion lover. You don't want to miss out on the flavor though!
- Garlic- While minced garlic has a stronger and fresher flavor, you can also use garlic powder if needed.
- Flour- Used as a thickening agent to give the sauce a creamy texture.
- Broth- We try to use turkey broth to pair nicely with the turkey but we've also made this dish several time with chicken broth because it's what we often have on hand.
- Sour cream- To help make a creamy sauce and add a tangy flavor, use sour cream. You can also use greek yogurt instead.
- Cheese- Shredded mozzarella cheese is in the sauce and also on top of the casserole so make sure to divide it before using. You will also need parmesan cheese.
- Herbs- Italian seasoning and parsely both add italian inspired flavor to this dish.
- Turkey- Shredded turkey is a staple of this dish. Make sure it's shredded as it mixes and serves better with the pasta.
- Panko- To get that original casserole top look, panko bread crumbs are great and easy to use.
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Turkey Tetrazzini
Follow the step-by-step photos for the best cooking experience. This is a simple diy recipe that is great for beginning cooks.
- Melt the butter and sauté the onions. Cook until they are soft.
2. Add in the chopped mushrooms and minced garlic. Cook for three minutes.
3. Stir the flour into the cooked vegetables and pour in the broth. Stir until smooth.
4. Next add in the shredded turkey and sour cream. Add in the cheeses. Keep stirring until it starts to thicken
5. Add the prepared turkey and sauce with the cooked noodles to a casserole dish.
6. Top with mozzarella cheese and panko bread crumbs and bake until the cheese starts to brown and bubble.
Hint: You can use any part of the turkey for this dish, light or dark meat! We personally love the tenderness of the turkey breast.
Substitutions
- With egg noodles- Instead of using spaghetti noodles you can use 12 oz egg noodles instead.
- Ground turkey- Substitute 3 cups of ground turkey for shredded turkey. I like to buy the big pack of ground turkey from the Costco and freeze portions of it for various meals.
- With cream cheese- Use 8 oz full-fat cream cheese instead of sour cream. Add at the same time. Chop into small cubes and stir until melted.
- With peas- This is a great dish to get my kids to eat vegetables! Add 1 ½ cups peas and stir in before adding to the noodles.
- Chicken- While traditionally this is made with turkey, you can make this a creamy chicken pasta bake by using shredded chicken instead.
How To Serve
This is a great home-style meal the whole family will love. When we serve this dish we often serve it with a vegetable like air fryer green beans, or air fryer brussels sprouts. We also like to serve it with a side of bread like air fryer garlic bread to keep things simple yet delicious.
You can even personalize this dish by adding extra vegetables into the casserole like sauteed celery, peas, more onions, and chopped green beans.
Learn From Us
I grew up eating this meal and have always really enjoyed it. It's a very nostalgic dish. As I've gotten older I wanted to make a lighter dish than the original recipe. Through recipe testing, this is a lighter recipe than most!
Don't worry, you still get all the same amazing flavors with a wide variety of ingredients.
Storing Turkey Tetrazzini
Store baked casserole in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. When ready to reheat, dish the portion you would like to eat onto a microwave safe plate. Microwave about 1-2 minutes until heated through. If you are serving again as a dinner you can reheat it in the oven.
This is a great freezer meal dish. Simply freeze the baked casserole in a freezer-friendly container or bag for 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat when ready to eat.
Top tip
This isn't supposed to be a super flavorful dish but is meant to highlight creamy turkey. If you want a more intense flavor, use sharp cheddar instead of mozzarella, and add some of your favorite vegetables.
Related
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Recipe
Turkey Tetrazzini
Equipment
- Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti noodles
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- ½ large onion minced
- 8 oz mushrooms chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup flour
- 3 cups turkey or chicken broth
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional, for more heat up to 1 teaspoon.
- 1 ½ Tablespoon fresh parsley
- 3 cups turkey shredded
- 1 cup panko
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti (or other pasta) al dente according to package directions. Butter a 9x13 pan or large casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350° F.
- While spaghetti cooks, in a large heavy bottom pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until they just start to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook 3 minutes. Stir in flour until fully incorporated. Add about half of the turkey broth and stir together well, until no flour lumps remain and the mixture begins to simmer. Add the rest of the broth, then stir in the sour cream, about ¾ cups of mozzarella cheese, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper and parsley. Bring to a simmer and simmer for about a minute, stirring to make sure the veggies don't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in the shredded turkey and cooked spaghetti. Place in baking dish. Top with Panko crumbs and remaining mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes until topping is a light golden brown and the casserole is bubbly.
Notes
- Use any part of the turkey you desire. This works great with turkey breast, or thighs or really any part!
- While stirring in the first addition of broth, it is very important to make sure the flour is fully incorporated. A whisk can make this easier.
- This dish is not meant to be super flavorful, instead highlighting the turkey with a delicious creaminess. For a fun variation with more flavor, double the Italian seasoning, garlic and red pepper flakes. Add ½ teaspoon thyme and make with sharp white cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella.
- We love this recipe and eat it every Thanksgiving. Sometimes we experiment with different changes. We all love it with sharp white cheddar!
- This is also delicious with added vegetables. For a version with lots of veggies, reduce the pasta to 12 oz. Add in 1 cup celery and 2 cups chopped green beans at the same time as the onion. Stir in 2 cups peas at the same time you add the sour cream. Otherwise make as directed.
- Make with your favorite type of pasta! We love it with bowtie pasta. For egg noodles, use 12 oz egg noodles instead of 16 oz.
- Sometimes when I add the mixture to the baking dish, I find that the turkey and mushrooms aren't evenly distributed. If this happens, use some tongs to more evenly distribute the ingredients.
- If you don't like a lot of mushrooms, feel free to use 4 oz instead of 8 oz.
Nutrition
FAQ
Turkey Tetrazzini is a comforting casserole dish made with diced turkey, mushrooms, and pasta, all baked in a creamy sauce and topped with cheese. It's a tasty hearty meal.
Tetrazzini sauce is typically made from a combination of butter, flour, chicken broth, cream, and Parmesan cheese, seasoned with salt, pepper. This recipe uses sour cream instead of cream.
Turkey Tetrazzini is named after the Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini. The dish was reportedly created in the early 20th century in the United States as a way to honor Tetrazzini, who was known for her love of pasta.
Andrea says
I grew up eating this creamy mushroom turkey tetrazzini and I love this light recipe. It's so good and made the perfect casserole dinner.