Carnitas is a Mexican dish made by braising pork in lard until tender. Following a similar process, making carnitas is a great use of leftover turkey.
I stole the idea and have adapted this recipe from J. Kenji López-Alt at Serious Eats. His recipe uses “scalable” quantities of ingredients based on how much leftover turkey you have to use; which fits the most common situation: “I’ve got this much leftover turkey … now what?” In my case, the outcome of the recipe was going to be an ingredient in another recipe, so I made it using fixed quantities. For what it’s worth, I found that a recipe based on 1 pound of leftover turkey yielded 11 ounces of carnitas.
In my adaptation of the recipe, I’ve added bones and skin as an ingredient for clarity. Kenji’s recipe suggests adding the bones to the braise, and I believe that the skin can impart flavor as well; but 1 pound of leftover turkey means 1 pound of just the meat. What I did in my trial was to remove the skin from the legs and thighs, remove the meat from the bones, use 1 pound of meat in the recipe, and then throw in all of the skin and bones.
Not only is this recipe a great way to use leftover turkey, it is also a good fit for the post-Thanksgiving dinner routine. Rather than packaging up leftover turkey for use the next day, I broke down the bird when it came off the table and put it on the stove to braise while cleaning up the rest of the meal. Following the braise, I put everything into a container in the fridge overnight. The following day, I picked and shredded the turkey meat, and discarded everything else. The chilled braising liquid was gelatinous, so the turkey meat needed to be reheated briefly before it could be drained and cooked.
Leftover Turkey Carnitas
Ingredients
- 1 lb leftover cooked dark-meat turkey (thighs and drumsticks)
- turkey bones and skin see note
- 1 orange (preferably sour)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp chicken fat, turkey fat, or duck fat (if you've got it,vegetable oil if you don't)
- Kosher salt
Instructions
Braising
- Remove the skin from the turkey and the meat from the bones; and measure 1 pound of meat.
- Place 1 pound of turkey meat, plus the bones and skin in a large sauté pan.
- Cut 1 orange into quarters and add to the pan with the turkey.
- Cut 1 medium onion into quarters and add to the pan with the turkey.
- Add 2 bay leaves to the pan with the turkey.
- Add enough water to cover the turkey halfway.
- Cover the pan and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce the heat to a bare simmer and braise until the turkey is fall-off-the-bone tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- At this point, everything can be refrigerated overnight for use the next day.
Carnitas
- Discard the orange, the onion, and the bay leaves.
- If the turkey has not been refrigerated, drain the turkey well.
- Shred the turkey and discard the bones.
- If the turkey has been refrigerated, warm it in a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until the gelatinous braising liquid becomes liquid again, and drain the turkey well. Rinse and dry the skillet for further use.
- Heat fat in a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Add the turkey and spread into an even layer.
- Cook, without moving, until meat is well browned and crisp on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
- Stir turkey to incorporate the crisp bits and introduce new soft bits to the bottom.
- Continue this process until the turkey is as crisp as you prefer.
- Season with salt.
Notes
- 1 pound of leftover dark-meat turkey means 1 pound of just the meat. Remove the skin from the legs and thighs, remove the meat from the bones, use 1 pound of meat in the recipe, and then throw in all of the skin and bones.