Make use of store-bought pesto and leftover Thanksgiving turkey to create luscious Turkey Pesto Sandwiches. Leftover turkey never tasted so good!
Looking for more ways to use those leftovers? You’ll want to try my Tex-Mex Turkey Soup.
Regardless of whether my Dry Brine Turkey or Herb Roasted Turkey is on our Thanksgiving menu, one thing is certain – there shall leftovers!
When it comes to using my leftover turkey, I like to take a complete departure from the flavors of Thanksgiving and create a whole new turkey experience.
Well, my friends, this turkey experience should not be missed. This grilled Turkey Pesto Sandwich is insanely good – SO much better than your typical, tired leftover turkey sandwich.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Sandwich bread: You want to use sturdy sliced bread, like sourdough bread or multigrain bread, for this recipe.
- Butter: Softened to room temperature.
- Pesto: Cost saving tip of the day! Costco carries a great big container of very good quality basil pesto at a great price. It’s an easy way to add big flavor to recipes like my Pesto Green Beans and Pesto Chicken Salad.
- Leftover turkey: If you want to ensure you’ll have plenty of those coveted breast meat leftovers on hand, add a Roasted Turkey Breast or Slow Cooker Turkey Breast to the menu. Don’t have leftovers? This recipe works really well with deli turkey or the meat from a rotisserie chicken too!
- Tomato: Choose the deepest red, ripe slicing tomato you can find.
- Cheese: I use fresh mozzarella cheese, but you can use any good melting cheese that you love. These sandwiches would be delicious with havarti, fontina, and provolone cheese too!
How to Make Turkey Pesto Sandwiches
- Place two slices of bread on a cutting board and spread each slice with softened butter.
- Flip one of the pieces of bread over and top it pesto, spreading it out evenly. Top with half of the chopped turkey, a couple of slices of tomato, and half of the sliced mozzarella.
- Place the other slice of bread on the top, butter side up. Repeat this process with the remaining ingredients to assemble a second sandwich.
- Spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and place it over medium heat. Carefully place the sandwiches in the pan and allow them to cook until nicely browned on one side. Use a spatula to carefully lift up the sandwich and guide it with your other hand back into the pan to cook on the other side. Cook until the bread is browned and toasted and the cheese has melted.
Valerie’s Tips
Don’t overstuff: If you load up your bread with too many ingredients, it will be very difficult to flip the sandwiches without everything falling out. However, if you do lose a few pieces of turkey, just lift the top slice of bread and place them back inside.
Use the right pan: Use a nonstick skillet to ensure easy the sandwich will easily release from the pan when you flip it. My Hexclad 12-inch frying pan works like a dream.
Make it a panini: If you’ve got a panini press – use it to make turkey pesto paninis! This completely eliminates the need to flip the sandwich and yields a super yummy, crispy sandwich.
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Turkey Pesto Sandwich
Ingredients
- 4 slices sturdy sandwich bread, sourdough or multigrain work well
- 4 tablespoons softened butter
- 4 tablespoons pesto
- 1 cup cooked chopped turkey
- 1 tomato, sliced
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
Instructions
- Place 2 slices of bread on a cutting board and spread each slice with about 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Flip one of the pieces of bread over and top it with 2 tablespoons of pesto, spreading it out evenly over the surface of the bread. Top the pesto with half of the chopped turkey, a couple of slices of tomato, and finally, half the sliced mozzarella. Place the other slice of bread on the top, butter side up.
- Repeat this process with the remaining ingredients to assemble a second sandwich.
- Spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and place it over MEDIUM heat. Carefully place the sandwiches in the pan and allow them to cook until nicely browned on one side. Use a spatula to carefully lift up the sandwich and guide it with your other hand back into the pan to cook on the other side. If some of the ingredients fall out, just place them back inside. Cook until browned and the cheese has melted.
- Transfer the sandwiches to a cutting board and slice them in half before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Sandwich Recipes
This post was originally published on November 26, 2013. It has been updated with new text and images.
This sandwich sounds delicious! I love pesto and noticed you said you have lots of recipes that you incorporate pesto, do you have a page with all of your pesto recipes?! I’d love to read it!
Hi Brandi. Just type “pesto” into the search bar and all my recipes that include pesto should pop up for you.
THIS IS THE EXACT THING I would wanna do with my leftover turkey!!!
Absolutely fantastic idea and next time I’ll need some turkey meat to make this amazing sandwich for sure! Love this!!