Chicken or Turkey Patties Using Dinner Leftovers: Quick Easy Recipe

Author:

I used to help in our family restaurant, love good food and enjoy thinking up creative ways to cook and use leftovers to avoid food waste.

Use up your dinner leftovers to make chicken or turkey patties

Turn Leftovers Into a Delicious Meal

This is one of my many ways of using up chicken or turkey.

I was brought up to hate wasting food, and because of this, my children used to laugh at my parsimonious habits and call me "War Baby." Well, the last laugh is on them, because now we are all living through hard times in a recession, and everyone needs to economise and avoid food waste.

From Kitchen to Table in 15 Minutes

Picture the scene: You've had your lovely roast turkey or chicken and numerous vegetables for your Sunday dinner, and now there are odd scraps of leftover meat adhering to the carcass, and half a bowl of vegetables all waiting to be used up.

So now it's a weekday, and you've been busy all day and just want to do something tasty and quick. Well, delicious chicken or turkey patties should fit the bill, and if you assemble all the things you'll need before you start, you'll be sitting at the table eating in 15 minutes.

Roast chicken cooked to perfection
Gloriousconfusion (Diana Grant)

Cook Time


Prep time	Cook time	Ready in	Yields
10 min	6 min	16 min	2 to 4 servings

As you can see from the list of ingredients below, precise ingredients and quantities are not critical and you can vary them according to taste and what you have available—the aim is simply to have enough bulk to feed however many mouths need feeding. And every time you make patties, they will vary slightly in taste.

Ingredients

Handful of cooked chicken or turkey
Cooked potato (at least 2 small potatoes per person)
Onion, cooked or raw
Greens; e.g., cabbage, kale, spring greens, spinach or Brussels sprouts
Any cooked root vegetables; e.g., parsnip, swede, turnip (optional)
1 egg
1 or 2 cloves garlic (optional)
Olive oil (or any other cooking oil, but olive oil is better for you)
Absolutely any combination of herbs and spices that you like, to flavour the patties without overpowering them; e.g. ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, chili powder, coriander, cumin, caraway, paprika, turmeric, mixed spice, curry powder, mixed herbs, coriander, tarragon, sage, parsley, thyme, oregano . . . what have I missed?

Instructions

Beat the egg, then blend all the ingredients including seasoning in a blender—just do short bursts so that it is still lumpy and not a complete mush. (If you are not using a blender, mash what is mashable and chop up the rest.)
Sprinkle a little flour on a board and on your hands. Scoop out about a tablespoon full of mixture and form it into a round flat patty on the board (note: size doesn't matter). Make further patties.
You can even make just one huge omelette-sized patty, as long as it is coated with flour, but it may be more difficult to turn over. Note: the egg binds the patties (i.e., stops them from falling apart), and the flour stops them being too wet when fried.
Heat the oil in the pan to medium heat, then add the patties, shaking or prodding them in the pan now and then to ensure they don't stick to the bottom. After 2 minutes, check to see how they are cooking and whether they are browning. Turn them after about 2 or 3 minutes, using a spatula or fish lift. Then cook the other side. They should end up being lightly golden brown on both sides.

Garnish Options

I like my turkey or chicken patty with tomato sauce or brown sauce; you might like it too.
Green peas go well with it as a side dish.
You could put a sprig of whatever herb you have handy on the top—parsley or coriander would make it look a bit fancier, and they taste good too.
As a chilli lover, I might even add a sprinkling of chilli prawn paste or sweet chilli sauce.

Another Way to Use Up Leftover Poultry

8 Quick and Easy Recipes to Use Up Leftover Turkey and Chicken
Turn even the smallest amount of chicken or turkey leftovers into a tasty meal! You can give them new life by using them in paella, risotto, pilaff, stir fry, soup, sandwiches, and more!

Chicken Patty Recipe

Do leave a comment here. I love hearing from you all!

BRENDA ARLEDGE from Washington Court House on November 28, 2019:

Thanks for the idea...it seems simple enough

Merry Citarella from Oregon's Southern Coast on April 07, 2014:

Looks like a great recipe! I'll try it!

Diana Grant (author) from United Kingdom on June 05, 2013:

@Gypzeerose: Wow, that's great. I wish I could post you one as a treat. Instead of that, I'll just have to eat it myself and think of you!

Rose Jones on June 05, 2013:

This is a great recipe - definitely something i will try as opposed to just thinking about. I do something similar to this with salmon, but I would love the chicken option. Like Kim I would love to have some chicken patties but am turned off by the chemicals. I have pinned this onto my Thrifty Living as well as Chicken board and out with g+. and digg. Everyone needs some standard recipes that are healthy that and easy and this is one that we can fall back on.

KimGiancaterino on May 01, 2013:

My husband will like this recipe. We've stopped buying prepared patties because they're often loaded with garbage like soy protein isolate and corn syrup. I bought him a patty maker too.

poutine on October 10, 2012:

Those chicken pattys sound pretty yummy to me.

BestRatedStuff on October 09, 2012:

this is so useful, we eat a lot of chicken, and this looks like a tasty way to use the leftovers.

EbizTaxTips LM on October 09, 2012:

I don't remember ever having chicken patties before but I love salmon patties so will have to give this a try! Thanks for sharing your recipe.

techmom on October 08, 2012:

Looks delish! I'll have to try next time I have leftover chicken.

Bill Armstrong from Valencia, California on October 08, 2012:

I use chicken all the time and this will come in handy, thanks for sharing

anonymous on August 22, 2012:

Sounds easy to prepare which is perfect for a mom like me.