This pie is a great way to use up leftover turkey following your Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. We always pick out a big bird for our classic roast turkey meal just so we can have lots of leftovers meals afterwards.
The leftover turkey, bacon, and spinach pie is a delicious treat. It’s a creamy and flavourful pie mixture which uses a ready-made puff pastry to give you an impressive family meal with minimal faffing in the kitchen.
You simply make up the pie mixture, allow it to cool, then spread the ready-made pastry over the top and bake!
If you are looking for a turkey pie recipe, this might just be the one for you.
Quick links to information in this post
What is in the turkey, bacon and spinach pie?
We use leftover roast turkey, a few rashers of streaky bacon and fresh spinach as the main ingredients. For added flavour and seasoning we fry up some white onion and add garlic puree and a generous amount of fresh thyme. The sauce is made by adding flour to the meat mixture and then adding stock and milk. This thickens up nicely. And finally, we use a shop-bought ready-made puff pastry that is easily unrolled straight onto the pie dish.
What does the turkey pie taste like?
There is lovely earthy flavour to the turkey pie with the combination of the turkey and thyme. The bacon brings delicious saltiness and the spinach cuts through with a much needed freshness. We love garlic flavour so by all means add more garlic puree if you wish.
How do you serve this creamy turkey pie recipe?
We enjoy the classic combination of pie and mashed potatoes. We also like to increase our vegetable intake by serving this pie with a side of freshly cooked green beans or tenderstem broccoli.
Can I substitute any of the ingredients?
The turkey can certainly be swapped out for leftover chicken if you are making this any other time of year.
In fact, you could also make a variation of this pie with leftover ham as well, just omit the bacon. Likewise, you could switch the bacon for pieces of ham instead to make a turkey ham pie.
We recommend using a generous amount of fresh thyme. But if you would like to try another fresh herb instead you could experiment with sage, marjoram, or tarragon.
Another ingredient switch you could make is to use leeks instead of onion if that is what you prefer or have to hand.
Of course, you can switch out the spinach for another green vegetable such as green beans if you like.
For the pastry you could use milk instead of egg wash to brush over before baking.
LEFTOVER TURKEY, BACON, AND SPINACH PIE (SERVES 4)
INGREDIENTS
- 6-8 rashers of Streaky Bacon
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, if necessary
- 1 White Onion, diced
- 600g (at least) Leftover Turkey, shredded into bitesize pieces
- Handful of Fresh Thyme
- 3 Tsp Garlic Puree
- Pinch of Maldon Sea Salt
- Generous pinch Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp Plain Flour
- 400ml Chicken Stock
- 200ml Milk
- 2 Large Handfuls Fresh Spinach
- 400g Ready Made Puff Pastry
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten to make an egg wash
METHOD
- Fry the bacon rashers in a tiny bit of oil until crispy. Remove the rashers leaving the bacon fat in the pan.
- Add a little more oil if necessary and cook the onions in the bacon fat until soft.
- Add the leftover turkey to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until heated through.
- Add the crispy bacon, fresh thyme, garlic puree, salt and black pepper. Mix together on a low heat for 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle over the flour and mix thoroughly so all the turkey and bacon is coated.
- Now pour in the stock and milk. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil. Then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is thick.
- Add the spinach and stir through until it has wilted.
- Pour the pie mixture into the pie dish and allow to cool (this step is important or the pastry will sink in the middle).
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Spread the pastry carefully over the pie dish. Pinch the edges of the pastry into the side of the pie dish. Brush the top of the pastry with an egg wash.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Serve.
Yield: 4
Leftover Turkey, Bacon, and Spinach Pie
The leftover turkey, bacon, and spinach pie is a delicious treat. It’s a creamy and flavourful pie mixture which uses a ready-made puff pastry to give you an impressive family meal with minimal faffing in the kitchen. You simply make up the pie mixture, allow it to cool, then spread the ready-made pastry over the top and bake!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 10 minutes
Additional Time45 minutes
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 6-8 rashers of Streaky Bacon
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil, if necessary
- 1 White Onion, diced
- 600g (at least) Leftover Turkey, shredded into bitesize pieces
- Handful of Fresh Thyme
- 3 Tsp Garlic Puree
- Pinch of Maldon Sea Salt
- Generous pinch Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp Plain Flour
- 400ml Chicken Stock
- 200ml Milk
- 2 Large Handfuls Fresh Spinach
- 400g Ready Made Puff Pastry
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten to make an egg wash
Instructions
- Fry the bacon rashers in a tiny bit of oil until crispy. Remove from the pan leaving the bacon fat in the pan.
- Add a little more oil if necessary and cook the onions in the bacon fat until soft.
- Add the leftover turkey to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until heated through.
- Add the crispy bacon, fresh thyme, garlic puree, salt and black pepper. Mix together on a low heat for 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle over the flour and mix thoroughly so all the turkey and bacon is coated.
- Now pour in the stock and milk. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil. Then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is thick.
- Add the spinach and stir through until it has wilted.
- Pour the pie mixture into the pie dish and allow to cool (this step is important or the pastry will sink in the middle).
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Spread the pastry carefully over the pie dish. Pinch the edges of the pastry into the side of the pie dish. Brush the top of the pastry with an egg wash.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Serve.
Notes
The turkey can certainly be swapped out for leftover chicken if you are making this any other time of year.
In fact, you could also make a variation of this pie with leftoverhamas well just omit the bacon. Likewise, you could switch the bacon for pieces of ham instead to make a turkey ham pie.
We recommend using a generous amount of fresh thyme. But if you would like to try another fresh herb instead you could experiment with sage, marjoram, or tarragon.
Another ingredient switch you could make is to use leeks instead of onion if that is what you prefer or have to hand.
Of course, you can switch out the spinach for another green vegetable such as green beans if you like.
For the pastry you could use milk instead of egg wash to brush over before baking.
You might also like:
- Classic Roast Turkey
- Creamy Turkey Pasta
- Honey and Mustard Turkey Pasta Salad
