Leftover Turkey Chaffle Melt
Turkey for days! The leftovers seem endless! Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. Like many I am excited by the prospect of being able to get multiple meals out of the same leftovers. All it took was one 8 kg bargain bin turkey, and got this amazing low carb turkey melt, the leftover turkey curry, too many turkey salads to count, snacks for the cats, and of course turkey meals complete with sides for ourselves. Not bad for less than $20 worth of turkey.
You can see why I am not complaining, not only is turkey in itself juicy, flavourful, and delicious, but preparing the leftovers in all kinds of exciting ways like this chaffle turkey melt just makes the whole frugal experience all the more satisfying.
Speaking of satisfying, this turkey melt is fully loaded. It’s the leftover turkey sandwich you wish you could have, and now you can.
Just look at the how delicious this thing gets with each layer: a low carb chaffle, a healthy layer of a dijon mayo, thinly sliced turkey breast, oven roasted Italian long hot peppers, a homemade caramelized bacon-onion jam, and melty, gooey, white cheddar cheese on top.
What else is there to say other than, yum.
Another great part of using leftover turkey is that this chaffle melt is relatively simple to prepare, and the possibilities are endless. Most of the layers on this turkey melt are there just because I happened to have the ingredients in the fridge! So do the same, make it your own, use up those leftovers, and make some room in the fridge.
How To Make A Leftover Turkey Chaffle Melt
Oven Roasted Hot Peppers
Start by preparing the oven roasted pepper. You can also do these days in advance and keep them in the fridge. They are equally delicious used hot or cold, and they are an extremely simple way to elevate any sandwich.
Green Italian long hots are the pepper of choice here. Raw they don’t really taste like much, but when roasted they are light on the heat, but heavy on the flavour. The walls of the Italian long hot are thicker and crisper than other hot peppers making them perfect for layering onto our open faced turkey melt.
You can of course you any pepper you like here, even sweet bell peppers will work.
Ingredients:
- Italian long hot peppers
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Directions:
Slice the peppers in half lengthwise and lay them cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Coat liberally with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on the middle rack of a 350°F [175°C] oven for around 15 minutes or until the skin of the peppers has softened and started to brown.
Remove and set aside for later.
You can get started on the jam while the peppers are in the oven.
Caramelized Onion-Bacon Jam
This ‘jam’ is inspired by a recent trip to a Niagara winery where they gave us the most incredible sandwiches I had ever eaten.
Yes the homemade bread was soft and fluffy, and the roast beef was to die for, but they weren’t the star.
Layered onto this sandwich was the most amazing onion and bacon jam that took this sandwich to the next level. Soft yet rustic with bits of onions and bacon swimming around in slightly sweet and tangy jam that I could have eaten with a spoon. It was delectable.
This was the that inspired this caramelized onion and bacon jam. Of course working with low carb ingredients, it didn’t turn out exactly that same, but close. The result is perfect for topping a sandwich like this leftover turkey chaffle melt.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound/pack of bacon
- 2 medium onions
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons balsamic
- water
Directions:
To start the bacon and onion jam topping, use a sharp knife to finely slice a full pack of bacon. Make small cuts across the width of the slices making the bacon as fine as possible, shavings if you can. Slice the onions very finely as well, and use the small opening on a cheese grater to grate some fresh ginger. The smaller you chop these ingredients now, the easier it will be to get them to break down into the jam.
Add the finely sliced bacon to a cold pan and turn the heat on to medium low in order to slowly render and cook the bacon. Continue to cook for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally, and not letting the pan get too hot. You want to slowly cook and break down the bacon. After the bacon has cooked, drain off the majority of the grease from the pan. Save it for later as it is not needed for this recipe but make a wonderful bacon flavoured cooking oil.
Transfer the finely sliced onions, and grated ginger to the pan with the bacon and continue to fry over a medium low heat until the onions begin to caramelize, soften, and brown. Approximately 10 minutes.
Now, bring the heat up to medium, and start adding water to the pan a few tablespoons at a time letting it cook off slightly before adding more. Continue to do this for some time until the ingredients have broken down further into a softer more jam like consistency. Adding some more water and allowing it to simmer rapidly helps. Remember, this is a sandwich topping so it’s ok if it is a little chunkier and rustic.
Once the ingredients have softened add some soy sauce, white vinegar, and balsamic vinegar and combine well. Allow the vinegar to cook and the jam to thicken, around 5 minutes or so, Remove from the heat. The jam is now ready to go onto your turkey melt.
Caramelized Onions and Bacon Jam Servings and Nutrition
This recipe makes about 8 -10 tablespoons of sandwich topping which is enough for roughly 4 sandwiches like these ones.
Nutrition per tablespoon:
Calories: 50kcal | Fat: 3g | Net Carbs: 3.2g | Protein: 1.8g |
How To Make A Low Carb Chaffle
For anyone unfamiliar, a chaffle is a waffle made mostly from cheese. It’s low carb, it’s simple, and it’s damn delicious.
There are many different ways to make a chaffle, you may even have a favourite method of your own, use that. I have found the the simplest recipe for chaffles tend to work the best.
The recipe I use is a very slightly modified version of the standard chaffle which contains only cheese and eggs.
Ingredients (Makes 1 Chaffle):
- 1/2 cup grated cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
Directions:
Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
Depending on the waffle iron you are using there may be a specific preheat time. Once the iron is heated, grease the plates with some neutral cooking oil or butter, and pour in the mixture. Spread evenly and close the iron.
Some waffle irons have an indicator light to tell you when to open it, some you’ll have to experiment with. I find it takes somewhere between 3-5 minutes of cooking.
Remove carefully and set aside.
How To Make a Dijon Mayo Sandwich Spread
Now this one is super simple, to make but you could take this in a million different ways depending on what you like. I kept this one simple.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons leftover turkey drippings/gravy
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Directions:
Put it in a bowl and mix it. Done.
Assembling The Leftover Turkey Chaffle Melt
The last few things you need to do are slice off some of that leftover turkey from the fridge, as well as some of your preferred cheese to melt over top.
Place the chaffles on a baking sheet and start building your sandwich. Dijon mayo, thinly sliced leftover turkey, oven roasted pepper, bacon and onion jam, slices of white cheddar cheese, and whatever else you can think of.
More delicate ingredients like lettuce should be left off until after the melt comes out of the oven.
Bake the assembled chaffle melt at 375°F [190°C] for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the sandwich is warmed through.
Enjoy.
Leftover Turkey Chaffle Melt
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Equipment
- Knife & Cutting Board
- Large Fry Pan
- Baking sheet
- Grater/Microplane
Ingredients
- 1 chaffle See below for recipe and ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mayonnaise See below for recipe and ingredients
- 5 oz leftover turkey sliced
- 2 oven roasted hot peppers
- 2 tablespoons caramelized onion & bacon jam See below for recipe and ingredients
- 1 oz white cheddar sliced
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Jam
- 1 pack bacon sliced very thin
- 2 medium onions finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
- water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Dijon Mayo Spread (Combine)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons turkey drippings/gravy leftovers
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Low Carb Chaffle
- ½ cup cheese grated
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons psyllium husk
- salt & pepper seasoning
Instructions
Onion Bacon Jam
- Use a sharp knife to finely slice a full pack of bacon. Make small cuts across the width of the slices making the bacon as fine as possible, shavings if you can. Slice the onions very finely as well, and use the small opening on a or to grate some fresh ginger.
- Add the finely sliced bacon to a cold pan and turn the heat on to medium low in order to slowly render and cook the bacon. Continue to cook for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally, and not letting the pan get too hot. You want to slowly cook and break down the bacon. After the bacon has cooked, drain off the majority of the grease from the pan.
- Add the finely sliced onions, and grated ginger to the pan with the bacon and continue to fry over a medium low heat until the onions begin to caramelize, soften, and brown. Approximately 10 minutes.
- Bring the heat up to medium, and start adding water to the pan a few tablespoons at a time letting it cook off slightly before adding more. Continue to do this for some time until the ingredients have broken down further into a softer more jam like consistency
- Once the ingredients have softened add the soy sauce, white vinegar, and balsamic vinegar and combine well. Allow the vinegar to cook off and simmer for around 5 minutes or so until the sharp smell reduces and remove from the heat. The jam is now ready to go onto your turkey melt.
Low Carb Chaffle
- Preheat the waffle iron.
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
- Once the iron is heated, grease the plates with some neutral cooking oil or butter, and pour in the mixture. Spread evenly and close the iron.
- If you waffle iron has an indicator light go by that timing, otherwise it will be 3-5 minutes, or until the waffle is not gooey in the middle.
Assembling the Turkey Chaffle Melt
- Place the chaffles on a baking sheet and layer on Dijon mayo spread, sliced turkey, roasted hot peppers, caramelized onion and bacon jam, and top with slices of white cheddar cheese.
- Bake in a 375°F [190°C] for 5-10 minutes or until he cheese has melted and the sandwich is warmed through.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated using the recipe calculator and verified database available from Cronometer. Although every reasonable effort is made to provide accurate information this estimate is provided as courteously and convenience only. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Try the free recipe calculator at CronometerTime To Dive In!
Another great low carb recipe for using up that leftover turkey! Of course this is just my take on a turkey melt. The idea is to inspire you to make your own! What topping would you put on this bad boy?
Comment down below and let me know! Or better yet, join the gang using the form below and we can have a chat. Not only that, but you’ll get all the best low carb recipes and meal ideas right to your inbox!
Enjoy!
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