When you cook a 22-pound turkey for Thanksgiving, leftovers are inevitable. The first round is devoured in a midnight dash to the fridge (straight from the Tupperware, no silverware required.) And then there's Friday's long-awaited turkey-cranberry panino, with a pile of green bean casserole on the side. Heaven. But my favorite meal of all—besides the main event, of course—is turkey noodle casserole.

Countless versions of turkey noodle casserole abound in Southern community cookbooks and recipe boxes, but I think this one is the very best. There is not much to it: just a creamy cheddar béchamel tossed with noodles, turkey, and veggies, all baked to perfection. It's comfort food at it's finest.
If you are looking for something delicious for your turkey leftovers, yet simple and easy to throw together, this is your recipe. It's nothing fancy, but I guarantee you there won't be a single bite left. But then there's always next year.
Turkey Noodle Casserole
Serves 6 - 88 ounces dried egg noodles
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped sweet onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar, divided
2 cups cooked, shredded turkey
3/4 cup sour cream
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes.
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until tender and softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
Whisk in the flour and stir until it is absorbed (and the "raw" tasted cooked out), about 1 - 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add 2 cups shredded cheese and stir until melted. Add the cayenne, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Add the cheese sauce, shredded turkey, and sour cream to the noodles. Season generously with cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste.
Grease an 8 x 11-inch baking dish (or similar size) casserole dish. Pour noodle mixture into baking dish and top with remaining 1 cup of cheese. Bake until casserole is warm and cheese is bubbling, about 25 minutes.
Serve with lots of hot sauce, preferably Frank's.

Related: Recipe: Chicken and Swiss Chard Pasta Bake
(Images: Nealey Dozier)
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Comments (12)
Waaah! I miss gluten :(
Sounds great, but I'm confused about the cheese. The recipe calls for cheese in the sauce and the three cups in the ingredients list mixed in with the noodles and used as topping. Is the sauce a bechamel or do we need more than three cups of cheese?
Yeah, the cheese bit is definitely lacking specifics. Marked this earlier after briefly skimming ingredients. Sounds better than the recipe I've been using. Hoping to make it this weekend. Help, Nealey!.
Agreed, a bit confusing, once cleared will definitely be trying this. Sounds yum.
Try using Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta in elbow shapes. The texture is almost exactly like real pasta and it holds up well to casseroles. I'm using a corn spaghetti to make turkey tetrazzini tomorrow! I also use rice flour in place of real flour as a thickener, substitute it in the roux and use just like you would regular flour. I am dairy-free too, so I'd make this with rice milk and some diaya cheese.
Looking at the recipe, I suspect the reference to 2 cups of cheese got inserted in the wrong place, and should instead appear above where the cheese is stirred into the sauce. So, 2 cups of cheese for the cheese sauce and 1 cup for the topping.
This sounds delicious, but it seems more like 4 servings than 8. At 8 servings, each portion consists of 1/4 cup of turkey, 1 ounce of noodles, and about 1/4 cup of carrots and celery combined. That's very little food for an entree, even if you're serving it with sides.
Today was my birthday dinner, cooked by Mom. She asked me for my requested main dish and I forwarded her this recipe. Boy, was it good! She made a vegetarian version for my brother's girlfriend and we agreed the basic template would be delicious with any number of add-ins.
Sorry for the cheesy confusion, guys! I updated the recipe to fix the writer's error. And I have to say—these photos (taken with an iPhone due to a camera malfunction) don't do it justice at all. It's much for delicious-looking in person.
Try Schar Tagliatelle. Totally GF (rated best in Italy) and doesn't crumble or fall apart like some GF pastas. I've been using this for years. I tried all the other GF pastas and this beats them all.
Sometimes, certain Walmart stores carry this in their GF section. If your store doesn't have it, there is a brand in Walmart called Heartland, it's GF, but usually in with the regular pasta. You could use their rotini for this recipe, but it won't hold up as well as the Schar.
MLH: I forgot to mention one thing. You might want to try the very wide rice noodles you can get in an asian market. They're thicker and have a better texture than the usual american rice pasta that is sold. It's cheap too, you can buy two big packages for about what it would cost for a little package of regular spaghetti. Great to keep around.
Toss these noodles (cooked) with a little oyster sauce & GF beef stock (I use Better than Bouillon), some leftover chicken or shredded beef, sauteed onions and bok choy, and you have a meal. I also add some Penzey's Bangkok or Singapore blend, or five spice powder.
I made this tonight, it was really really good! I also added about 2 cups of broccoli to it. We did it as 6 servings... 8 would have been really really small servings (more like a side dish size), and I'm not even someone who eats huge portions. This would also be tasty with chicken or even meatless.
Oh and if anybody cares, I calculated the calories at 608, using 12oz of turkey (mostly white meat), 1% milk, but full fat sour cream and cheese.