Low Carb Thanksgiving Leftovers Salad
There are multiple ways you can use this Keto Thanksgiving salad recipe, whether you have a refrigerator full of turkey leftovers or if you want a warm salad to serve at your holiday table. If you have cold leftovers at home, you can follow Steps 5-6 to make a practically effortless salad for lunchtime. You can choose between keeping your leftovers cold or reheating the turkey before adding it to your salad. If you don’t have any leftovers yet, follow the full recipe to cook an easy Keto Thanksgiving crockpot recipe that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. Serve a full family-sized dinner salad at the table with warm turkey, or store the salad components in different containers for meal prep purposes. Refer to the important note about the recipe to learn how to customize it to make just enough salad for one serving.
How to Make It
Step 1
Choose a whole turkey breast, boneless, with skin on. Drain all the liquid from the turkey breast’s packaging before patting it dry with a paper towel. When the turkey breast has been cleaned up, rub the olive oil all over the exposed skin and flesh. Wash your hands and create a spice blend of seasoned salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, oregano, paprika, mustard powder, and ground allspice. Spread the spice blend over the top portion of the turkey breast and use one hand to massage the spices into it.
Step 2
You may choose to cover the turkey breast in your refrigerator to marinate or continue the recipe. Begin heating a non-stick skillet over high heat on the stove until it’s hot. Place the seasoned side of the turkey breast in the hot skillet so it browns on that side. Let the breast continue cooking until the spices char and naturally release from the pan, revealing a beautiful gold coloring. Use a pair of tongs to flip the breast over to brown on the other side. Again, cook until the breast naturally releases from the skillet.
Step 3
Transfer the turkey breast to a crockpot or slow cooker, but leave any leftover spices or juices in the cooking pan. Return the skillet to your stove at low heat, and melt the first amount of butter in it. Stir the butter around to deglaze the skillet, then pour chicken broth into the butter. Heat the chicken broth until it simmers and thickens to a reduced glaze. Pour the pan glaze over the turkey breast in your crockpot. You may choose to add a small amount of extra chicken broth to the crockpot, but the turkey will produce a lot of liquid without it.
Step 4
Cook the turkey breast on low heat for 8 hours, and keep it warm until serving time or allow it to cool down fully to store for use later. Remove the turkey breast from the crockpot to cool on a cutting board, and let it rest for 10 minutes before you carve it for storage or serving. You can decide between slicing, chopping, dicing, or shredding the turkey to arrange on top of your salad. If you’re making the family-sized salad to use all of the turkey, it’s recommended you keep the turkey separate from the prepared salad until it will be consumed.
Step 5
To prepare the salad, combine shredded lettuce, hand-torn arugula, and chopped or sliced spinach in a large mixing bowl. Season the greens with salt and pepper, and give them a quick toss in the bowl (you can include a drizzle of olive oil to help season the lettuce). Chop dried cranberries and pecans before adding them to the salad, followed by fresh orange zest. Save the orange for later when you make the dressing, and toss the salad another time to combine the ingredients.
Step 6
Make the salad dressing by whisking together extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh orange juice, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, rosemary, and grated parmesan cheese. You can taste the dressing and adjust the flavors to your liking before pouring about ¼ of it over the salad. Toss the salad with the light dressing before including 4-ounces of cooked turkey per serving as well as crumbled gorgonzola cheese over the top. You can decide between serving the remaining dressing on the side or tossing it with the rest of the salad at that time.
Ingredients
- Turkey All Classes Breast Meat And Skin Raw
2 lb
- Olive Oil
0.5 tbsp
- Seasoned salt
0.75 tsp
- Black pepper
0.75 tsp
- Garlic powder
0.5 tsp
- Onion powder
0.5 tsp
- Thyme, ground
0.5 tsp
- Oregano, ground
0.5 tsp
- Paprika
0.5 tsp
- Mustard powder
0.5 tsp
- Allspice, ground
0.25 tsp
- Butter, unsalted
1 tbsp
- Chicken broth
0.25 cup
- Shredded lettuce
10.5 oz
- Arugula
5.25 oz
- Spinach
5.25 oz
- Salt
0.25 tsp
- Black pepper
0.75 tsp
- Dried Cranberries Unsweetened
1 oz
- Pecans
3.5 oz
- Orange Peel Or Zest Raw
1.75 tsp
- Extra virgin olive oil
7 tbsp
- Red wine vinegar
4.5 tbsp
- Orange juice
2.5 tbsp
- Salt
0.25 tsp
- Black pepper
0.75 tsp
- Italian seasoning
0.5 tsp
- Rosemary, dried
0.25 tsp
- Parmesan cheese
2.5 tbsp, grated