Recipe- Healthy To Eat Lighter Turkey Casserole

A lightened-up, healthy turkey casserole is the perfect recipe for your leftover turkey. Turkey bits are tossed with wild rice, peas, and a simple mushroom gravy sauce. The best part? This recipe won’t weigh you down!

Wild rice adds great texture to this recipe (though you could use any variety of rice), and that bag of frozen peas that’s been sitting in your freezer gets used up. You could even toss in leftovers from your healthy green bean casserole if you have them! I do add a little cheese to my casserole, but it’s completely optional if you’d like to make this recipe dairy-free. In other words, flexibility is the name of the game here.

Ingredients

1 cup wild rice blend
3 cups cooked turkey, cubed or shredded
1 yellow onion, diced
8 baby bella or cremini mushrooms, diced
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cup turkey or chicken broth
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
10 ounces frozen peas
1/2 cup sharp cheddar (optional), or asiago, gouda, or your other favorite cheese

Method

* Cook the wild rice blend as per package instructions.

* Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and saute for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.

* Add the minced garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper, and stir for another minute.

* Pour in the chicken broth and give it all a stir. Then, make a slurry in a separate small bowl with the arrowroot powder and an equal amount of water. Add the slurry to the pan and stir for a minute or two until it's thickened.

* In a 9x13-inch casserole dish, add the cooked wild rice, cooked turkey, frozen peas, cheese, and onion mushroom sauce.

* Stir all of the ingredients together, then transfer to the oven and cook covered for 15 minutes, or until it's warmed through. If you'd like to top it with extra cheese, you can do so in the last 5 minutes, then serve.