Low-carb turkey tetrazzini is a good recipe for to use up some of your leftover turkey. Using spaghetti squash & a homemade sauce, this low-carb version is made in the slow cooker.
Use Leftover Turkey
Raise your hand if you have leftover Thanksgiving turkey? My hand is up. Turkey tetrazzini is a ‘I have leftover Thanksgiving turkey’ recipe. While there’s no universal standard recipe for turkey tetrazzini (hence why no two versions are the same), the one thing that’s universal is that is uses cooked turkey. I don’t know about you but I don’t usually have leftover, cooked turkey in my frig, usually only on holidays. If you don’t have turkey, you can substitute cooked chicken.
Low-Carb Turkey Tetrazzini
Traditionally, turkey tetrazzini is made by baking the leftover turkey with mushrooms and pasta in a butter/cream sauce. To make this version low-carb, I used spaghetti squash in place of the pasta and a homemade cheese sauce. The spaghetti squash needs to be cooked beforehand. The fastest way to cook spaghetti squash is to pierce it all over with a fork and then pop it in the microwave. It’ll be done in less than 10 minutes depending on the size of your squash. You can also bake your spaghetti squash or even cook it in the slow cooker.
Other leftover turkey recipes you might enjoy:
Slow Cooker Leftover Cajun Turkey & Sausage Soup
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Turkey Corn Chowder
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Leftover Turkey Soup
Low-Carb Sauce
No canned ‘cream of soups’ here. Rather than use a can of processed cream of mushroom soup, the sauce for this turkey tetrazzini is a homemade sauce. It took me a while to get this cheesy sauce right. It’s a combination of butter, broth, whipping cream (heavy cream works too), and mozzarella cheese. Xanthan gum is added as a thickening agent. You can omit it or use your preferred thickening agent like arrowroot flour/starch. If you have a particular cream sauce you like, you can substitute it for my homemade one.
Optional Steps
Adding More Cheese
When the tetrazzini is done cooking, add 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on top and cook an additional 15-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted. While this is optional, think the dish is better with the additional cheese added.
Oven Instructions
I don’t provide baking instructions too often because this is a page mainly dedicated to healthy slow cooker & electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) recipes. However this recipe is a good one for baking too. Preheat your oven to 375. Follow the slow cooker instructions but instead of adding the food to the slow cooker, add it to a greased casserole dish. Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes.
Slow Cooker Low Carb Turkey Tetrazzini
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound cooked turkey, diced or shredded
- 2 pounds spaghetti squash, cooked
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup onion, diced
- 4 ounces mushrooms, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
SAUCE
- 3 tablespoons butter or ghee
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Using a fork, scrape the sides of the cooked squash into spaghetti-like strands. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Add spaghetti squash strands, cooked turkey, onion, mushrooms, garlic, salt, and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in broth, heavy cream, and xantham gum (if using). Turn off heat and stir in cheese. Whisk until cheese is melted.
- Pour sauce over the food in the slow cooker. Top with Parmesan cheese.
- Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
Notes
Sauce will thicken as it cools
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours
I used my 3.5-quart slow cooker for this recipe.
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[…] Turkey Tetrazzini […]
Peggy
Friday 27th of November 2020
Could I use zucchini in place of the spaghetti squash
Harry
Saturday 30th of November 2019
This was very good. What a great leftover recipe. I am low-carb to stay on track through the holidays. Thanks!
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[…] Crock Slow Cooker is perfect for things like Sweet Potato Casserole (recipe coming soon) or my Low Carb Turkey Tetrazzini Casserole which is uses leftover […]