These Leftover Turkey Sweet Potato Enchiladas are the cure to your turkey burnout. Turkey dries out quickly, so covering it in spicy sauce and cheese revives it. We also make simple baked sweet potatoes for our holiday meals, so this dish also uses those for the perfect sweet and spicy balance.
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Our Favorite Leftover Turkey Recipe
If you’re like me, you don’t love leftovers.
After cooking a holiday turkey, the leftovers are overwhelming — and often times reheating turkey plain ends up in dry turkey that isn’t the best meal.
These leftover turkey enchiladas are the perfect way to repurpose your leftovers! Tons of spicy sauce and a thick layer of cheese make leftovers a delight.
I like using homemade enchilada sauce. It doesn’t take long to make, and costs a fraction of purchasing cans. I make a large batch and freeze half of it.
If you’re looking for a quicker way to use up the leftovers, try this refreshing twist on a turkey sandwich – Leftover Turkey Collard Wraps!
If you want other inspiration, try these Leftover Turkey Collard Wraps or this Leftover Turkey Soup!
Ingredients for Leftover Turkey Enchiladas
- Leftover turkey (see how to bake a turkey here)
- Leftover baked sweet potatoes (learn how to bake sweet potatoes if you don’t have any!)
- Spinach (optional)
- Olives (optional)
- Cheddar Cheese
- Corn Tortillas
- Enchilada Sauce (I prefer to make my own, but use your favorite prepared enchilada sauce to save time!)
How to Make Leftover Turkey Enchiladas
Step 1: Add the flesh from the roasted sweet potatoes to a bowl.
Step 2: Add lime juice, salt and cumin to the bowl with the sweet potatoes, and mash into a puree.
Step 3: Add about half of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of your casserole pan. You can use 2 small pans (about 6″ x 9″) or use a 9″ x 13″ inch pan for the whole batch of enchiladas.
Step 4: Heat tortillas wrapped in a towel in the microwave for 30 seconds. This softens them so they don’t tear when rolled. Some people heat their tortillas in oil, but I prefer to skip the extra calories!
Fill each tortilla with a spoonful of the sweet potato mixture, followed by some turkey, spinach, cheddar cheese, and olives. Roll the tortilla and put the opening down in the pan to keep it rolled up.
Step 5: Repeat with the other tortillas.
Step 6: Top the rolled enchiladas with more sauce, then top with cheese and olives.
Step 7: Top the enchiladas with extra cheese and olives, if desired.
Step 8: Cover the casserole dish with foil, and bake the enchiladas for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until the cheese has started to brown.
Optionally garnish the enchiladas with avocado and cilantro.
Tips for Leftover Turkey Sweet Potato Enchiladas
- Make it Gluten Free: Corn tortillas are naturally gluten free. They also are far fewer calories than white flour tortillas. La Tortilla Factory makes organic non-GMO corn tortillas, and since corn is almost always GMO, that’s an important consideration. My homemade enchilada sauce is also gluten free (many store bought varieties aren’t).
- Make it Ahead: This is a great casserole dish to make a day ahead or in the morning to bake in the evening. Just roll the enchiladas, cover with foil, and place in the fridge until ready to bake.
- Make it Vegetarian: If you had a meat free holiday, then use other leftovers in this dish! In place of the turkey, leftover roasted veggies would be wonderful. You could also just use sweet potato, spinach, olives and cheese.
- Make it Dairy Free: These don’t absolutely need cheese! Use extra sauce, or make a guacamole to spread a little extra love on top after baking.
- For the Family: My homemade enchilada sauce is not spicy (depending on the chili powder you use– my chili powder is pretty mild), so it’s a family friendly option.
Other Leftover Turkey Recipes:
- Light Kale and Turkey Pasta Bake, by iFOODreal
- Leftover Turkey Collard Wraps, by Sunkissed Kitchen
- Chicken Enchilada Soup, by Sunkissed Kitchen
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Leftover Turkey Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 3 cups enchilada sauce (about 2 15-ounce cans, or 1/2 of my homemade enchilada sauce recipe)
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups sweet potato roasted and mashed
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups turkey shredded
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 20 olives sliced
- avocado and cilantro to top, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Prepare all ingredients. Mash sweet potatoes, and season with lime juice, cumin and sea salt. Shred cheese and slice olives. Make sure turkey in either shredded or chopped in small pieces.
- Use a 9 x 13 baking dish, and begin by adding 1/2 cup enchilada sauce to the bottom of the pan, and spread into a thin, even layer.
- Wrap tortillas in a thin kitchen towel, and microwave for 20-30 seconds. The tortilla should be warm enough to be pliable. Most traditional recipes call for the tortillas to be pan fried to soften them, but that's really unnecessary – cooking them in sauce will make them soft and moist after baking.
- Dip 1 tortilla into enchilada sauce to fully coat it on both sides, then lay it in the baking dish, and add a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes, followed by turkey, spinach, olives and a light sprinkling of cheese.
- Repeat with the other tortillas. This can be split into 2 small pans or put them all in 1 large pan.
- Top rolled enchiladas with the remaining sauce, and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese and olives on top.
- Cover the dish in foil, and bake for 30 minutes, until sauce and cheese are bubbling.
- Remove the foil, and continue to bake for another 5 minutes to lightly brown the top.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes before attempting to slice enchiladas and serve.
- Top with avocado slices, more sauce, cilantro, jalapeños, or guacamole for a festive meal.
Video
Notes
- Make it Gluten Free: Corn tortillas are naturally gluten free. They also are far fewer calories than white flour tortillas. La Tortilla Factory makes organic non-GMO corn tortillas, and since corn is almost always GMO, that’s an important consideration. My homemade enchilada sauce is also gluten free (many store bought varieties aren’t).
- Make it Ahead: This is a great casserole dish to make a day ahead or in the morning to bake in the evening. Just roll the enchiladas, cover with foil, and place in the fridge until ready to bake.
- Make it Vegetarian: If you had a meat free holiday, then use other leftovers in this dish! In place of the turkey, leftover roasted veggies would be wonderful. You could also just use sweet potato, spinach, olives and cheese.
- Make it Dairy Free: These don’t absolutely need cheese! Use extra sauce, or make a guacamole to spread a little extra love on top after baking.
- For the Family: My homemade enchilada sauce is not spicy (depending on the chili powder you use– my chili powder is pretty mild), so it’s a family friendly option.
What a lovely idea to use up all that turkey. You can’t go wrong with a turkey and sweet potato combination!
I totally agree, Jovita! I also used sweet potatoes and turkey (with cranberry sauce) to make collard wraps– I have fallen in love with those giant green leaves.
Loving this idea for holiday leftovers. Total change of flavor direction which is exactly what I prefer for my leftovers!
I made very similar enchiladas but without the turkey so I know how good it tastes.
I loved adding the sweet potatoes to my enchiladas! Never occurred to me before and it was super tasty!
Absolutely LOVE this recipe. What a great way to use leftover turkey. I usually go to my default and make soup, but this is happening again this year.
What a great idea, I’m nothing if not a sucker for Mexican food. I also really enjoy recipes that completely transform leftovers into something new so the family doesn’t feel like they are eating the same thing all week.