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Leftover Turkey Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette

This delicious and fresh Leftover Turkey Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette is the perfect healthy recipe for what to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers!

Leftover Turkey Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette | The perfect healthy use of those Thanksgiving leftovers! | A Sweet Pea Chef

Thanksgiving is over.  For many of us, this means we have a ton of leftovers in our fridge.

So the question is what kind of Thanksgiving leftovers person are you?  Are you the kind who recreates the exact same meal as the big day?  Or do you like to change things up?

If you like to change things up, I’ve got a great salad for you.

This salad is kinda like a Thanksgiving explosion of delicious, fresh, and vibrant flavors.

One fresh pomegranate that has been split in half to show the pomegranate seeds that are used in this leftover turkey salad. Overhead view of a blender to show the fresh cranberry vinaigrette for the leftover turkey salad.

Plus: let’s face it.  Thanksgiving is pretty much a pass for most of us to eat a little more food, try a little more sides, have that slice of pie, drink that glass of apple cider…and eggnog.

There’s a lot of food and it’s hard to say no to all the goodness, especially since it’s just once a year.

So, if you’re feeling that carb coma hard and you want a lighter escape, this leftover turkey salad with cranberry vinaigrette is totes perfection.

P.S. You’re not alone on this one.

Overhead shot of two bowls of the leftover turkey salad ready to be drizzled with the fresh cranberry vinaigrette. In the salad, you can see the fresh baby spinach, diced avocado, candied pecans, diced leftover turkey, and pomegranate seeds.

Oh and the pomegranate seeds, though.  You guys.  Those pomegranate seeds are just amazingness on this salad.

Oddly enough, we all have my daughter, Jordan, to thank for them in this recipe.

We happened to have a pomegranate in the house because Jordan asked if she could buy one to see what it tasted like.  Now, I had a pomegranate tree/bush? when I grew up so I knew how lovely they were, so I was stoked she wanted to try one.

As I was making this salad, I just so happened to glance over at her pomegranate.

Luckily, she said I could have a few!  And that was all it took 🙂

One hand holding a bowl of the leftover turkey salad, which contains goat cheese, avocado, pomegranate seeds, leftover thanksgiving turkey, baby spinach, and candied pecans. Close-up horizontal image of the leftover turkey salad. Can see the texture of the salad, including the turkey, avocado, spinach, pecans, goat cheese, and pomegranate seeds., all ready to be drizzled with the fresh cranberry vinaigrette.

While this salad is totally clutch right after Thanksgiving with those cranberries, turkey, and even random pecans and pure maple syrup lying around, you can always make it other times of the year.

It might be more difficult to get your hands on cranberries or pomegranates, but those could be subbed out for whatever is in season.

Drizzling the fresh cranberry vinaigrette over the leftover turkey salad, ready to eat. Overhead view of the leftover turkey salad which has now been drizzled with the cranberry vinaigrette and is ready to eat.

I sure hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and that you try out this yummy salad to even further enjoy your leftovers.

Leftover Turkey Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

We had a quiet Thanksgiving by ourselves and it was pretty great.  Gotta love calm, easy, and tasty food during the holidays! 🙂

5 from 1 vote
Leftover Turkey Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette - Square Recipe Preview Image
Leftover Turkey Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
8 mins
Total Time
13 mins
 
This Leftover Turkey Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette is the perfect use of those Thanksgiving leftovers!
Categories: Clean, gluten free, Salad, Thanksgiving
Difficulty: Easy
Keyword: healthy turkey salad recipe, turkey salad, turkey salad with cranberries
Servings: 2 salads
Calories: 634 kcal
Author: Lacey Baier of A Sweet Pea Chef
Ingredients
For The Cranberry Dijon Vinaigrette:
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup prepared cranberries
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • *optional: 2 tbsp. water to loosen
For The Candied Pecans:
  • 1/4 cup raw pecans
  • 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
For The Salad:
  • 6 oz diced Thanksgiving turkey
  • 4 cups baby spinach
  • 3 oz crumbled goat cheese
  • 1 avocado diced
  • 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
  1. To make the vinaigrette dressing, in a blender, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, prepared cranberries, dijon mustard, a small garlic clove, sea salt, and ground black pepper. Blend until very smooth, then set aside. If you'd like the consistency to be a tiny bit looser, you could add 1-2 tbsp. water, if desired.

  2. To make the candied pecans, heat a pan over medium heat and add the raw pecans and pure maple syrup.

  3. Stir the pecans pretty consistently and you’ll start to see the maple syrup crystallize and coat the pecans in a sugary coating. This should take about 5-8 minutes. Once the syrup has crystallized, remove from heat, allow to cool, and then chop.
  4. To assemble the salad, begin with a bed of fresh baby spinach, then top with diced Thanksgiving turkey, crumbled goat cheese, diced avocado, the candied pecans, and some pomegranate seeds.
  5. Drizzle with the cranberry dijon vinaigrette and enjoy.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

To make this recipe, I use left-over turkey meat and left-over cranberries from Thanksgiving, but you can always make your own (which I totally have, too) to enjoy this salad year round.

Nutrition Facts
Leftover Turkey Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 634 Calories from Fat 333
% Daily Value*
Fat 37g57%
Saturated Fat 12.5g63%
Cholesterol 87.3mg29%
Sodium 414.6mg17%
Carbohydrates 37.2g12%
Fiber 10.4g42%
Sugar 23.6g26%
Protein 34.8g70%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.

Lacey Baier

Hey there! I’m Lacey Baier and I’d like to welcome you! I’m a healthy lifestyle influencer and the creator of this clean-eating blog and YouTube channel, as well as cleanish, my clean-eating supplement brand. My recipes have been published on Food Network, Good Morning America, FoxNews, Tastemade, Fitness Magazine, and much more. I live in Austin, Texas with my husband and four kiddos. Let’s get started!

3 thoughts on “Leftover Turkey Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette

  1. I added a bit of honey and used cranberry dijon mustard and that vinaigrette was amazing!

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