Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (2024)

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How to make the most delicious air fryer leftover turkey burgers. Loaded with all your favourite roast turkey dinner ingredients, they freeze well for later and taste truly amazing.

Tis the season for making great things that you can freeze for later with your leftover turkey. These turkey burgers work well with any roast dinner leftovers and are perfect for after Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This leftover burger recipe was originally shared back in 2019 and updating with new photos and better tips and tricks for making the best leftover burgers.

Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (1)

Table of Contents

Leftover Burgers

The idea came to me after last year after making myleftover soup. The idea is that you can throw together all your Christmas dinner leftovers into a bowl and make absolutely delicious meals from it.

After Christmas is over with and you’ve gone through all that effort for one day, you’re often left with a lot of leftovers, and this is perfect for you if all you want to do is make something delicious quickly and then return to your sofa to carry on watching those Christmas movies and eating that Christmas chocolate.

There is no fuss made as it’s all done and dusted in a jiffy and there is no need to make much of an effort yet here you are with delicious homemadeair fryer turkey burgers.

Turkey meat can be a bit boring or sometimes it might be dry, and you can really bring it to life.

Your air fried turkey burgersare made when you mixed your leftover turkey meat with whatever you have leftover in a bowl.

When everything comes together it is like a delicious gourmet burger that you have at a restaurant.

So next time you reach for the turkey sandwiches this Christmas instead try out one of these delicious homemade leftover air fryer turkey burgers.

Are You New To The Air Fryer?

Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (2)

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Can You Cook Turkey Burgers In An Air Fryer?

Yes, you can cook turkey burgers in the air fryer. Whilst this recipe today for leftover burgers is made from turkey roast dinner leftovers, you can also make air fryer homemade turkey burgers or air fryer frozen turkey burgers.

What Can I Do With Extra Turkey?

I recommend you check out our air fryer leftover turkey recipes as there are plenty of ideas there.

But my first thought for leftover turkey is to make:

Turkey sandwiches – Let’s not forget about the moist maker in Friends and you can make a HUGE turkey sandwich in the same way.

Turkey soup – my favourite is our boxing day soup which has all the turkey leftovers in one delicious soup, and it tastes amazing.

Turkey curry – next on the list and great for when you have loads of turkey and want something you can freeze is a slow cooker leftover turkey curry. This reminds me of the turkey curry they mention in Bridget Jones Diary.

If you don’t want to make a specific recipe I have found just placing cooked turkey into Ziploc bags works great and then you have spare turkey for another time.

How Long Is Leftover Turkey Good For?

Chef Dom says that leftover turkey is good for 3 days. So if you cooked the turkey on Christmas Eve (that’s when we do ours) then 27th is the last day you can eat it on before it has to be frozen for later.

My Bowl Of Turkey Leftovers

After Christmas (or Thanksgiving) I will assess what turkey leftovers we have that need using up.

My main plan is usually soup, muffins, or burgers so I will load everything I have leftover into a big bowl.

Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (3)

Then you can mix everything in the bowl with your hands and then make into leftover turkey patties and then store them in the fridge. Then the next day when you want delicious burgers for lunch, you don’t have to make much effort.

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Leftover Burger Ingredients

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You’re using leftovers from our roast turkey dinner, and we all like different sides and we all have different amounts of leftovers left, so we are all going to vary with what ingredients get added.

In our leftover turkey burgers, we have:

  • Turkey
  • Stuffing
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Carrot & Swede Mash
  • Potato Bake
  • Gravy

But what you do need to achieve is:

  • Some sort of liquid to stop them going dry i.e. a little gravy or a little cheese sauce
  • Something creamy that will give it the wow factor i.e. mashed potatoes
  • Boneless turkey, you don’t want a little bone sneaking in there
  • Food that mashes well, nothing hard that will break your teeth

You will also need some breadcrumbs to roll your turkey patties in, so that they stay together.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this leftover turkey patties recipe it has just been our Philips air fryer. We have this one and its wonderful for many types of air fryer recipes.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our air fryer recipes category as we have more than 500 tried and tested air fryer recipes and have been air frying for 10 years.

How To Make Turkey Burgers From Leftovers?

Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (5)
  • Bowl. Start by loading into a bowl all your leftovers and then using your hands to break down the ingredients and mix well. Alternatively, you can load it all into your blender and let the blender do the hard work.
  • Optional. You can also make your turkey burgers more flavoursome by adding some of your favourite seasoning to the turkey patty mixture or some cheese also works well.
  • Roll. Next make into turkey burger patty shapes and roll in breadcrumbs.
  • Line. As this is a can be a little messy, add a layer of foil into your air fryer basket.
  • Cook. Load your leftover turkey burgers into the air fryer basket. Then air fry for 12 minutes at 200c/400f.

And I am sure you can see now how easy it is making turkey burgers from leftovers in air fryer and how you can be doing the same.

Listen To Air Fryer Turkey Burgers

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More Turkey Leftover Ideas

  • Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Pie
  • Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Calzone
  • Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Muffins
  • Slow Cooker Leftover Turkey Curry
  • Soup Maker Leftover Turkey Soup
  • Soup Maker Boxing Day Soup
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Your leftover turkey burgers recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers

How to make the most delicious air fryer leftover turkey burgers. Loaded with all your favourite roast turkey dinner ingredients, they freeze well for later and taste truly amazing.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Total Time22 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Air Fryer

Servings: 4

Calories: 358kcal

Author: RecipeThis.com

Ingredients

  • 500 g Turkey Dinner Leftovers
  • 480 ml Breadcrumbs
  • 2 Tsp Chives
  • Salt & Pepper

Kitchen Gadgets

MetricImperial

Instructions

  • Load leftovers into a bowl and add in seasonings and anything extra you want to include.

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  • Mix your leftovers with your hands until they become creamy and you don’t have many big lumps left.

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  • Then make into burger patty shapes.

    Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (12)

  • Roll your turkey patties in breadcrumbs.

    Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (13)

  • Line your air fryer with foil and then place as many turkey burgers as will fit in your air fryer basket.

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  • Then air fry for 12 minutes at 200c/400f and then double check that they are piping hot in the centre.

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  • Then load your turkey patties into burger buns with mayonnaise and any extras and serve.

    Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (16)

Notes

Bowl. You can also load your leftovers into a bowl after dinner and then leave them to cool in the fridge overnight before making burgers the next day.

Thanks for reading our leftover turkey burgers on Recipe This. We have many more air fryer recipes for you to check out next. Though if you would like to try more delicious burger recipes in the air fryer, then do check out our air fryer hamburgers recipe next.

Nutrition

Calories: 358kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 913mg | Potassium: 341mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 189IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutrition InfoPlease Note: Nutrition values are our best estimate based on the software we use at Recipe This and are meant as a guide. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Recipe This | Air Fryer Leftover Turkey Burgers (2024)

FAQs

How long to reheat turkey burger in air fryer? ›

They can be cooked right from frozen for about 20 minutes. Reheating: To reheat leftover turkey burgers, place them in the air fryer for 4 to 5 minutes at 360˚F. If frozen, place the patties in the air fryer and reheat for 8 to 10 minutes at 360˚F.

How long does it take to cook turkey burgers in the air fryer? ›

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Lightly spray the rack with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Place 4 turkey patties on a rack, evenly spaced apart.
  3. Set the air fryer temperature to 400˚F and set the timer to 20 minutes. ...
  4. Stop the air fryer timer at 10 minutes and turn the patties over once. ...
  5. Remove turkey patties from the air fryer.

Can you reheat turkey burgers? ›

How to store and reheat turkey burgers: Storing: Place room-temperature cooked burgers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 days. Reheating: Reheat in the microwave for 30 – 60 seconds until warm or in the air fryer at 250°F for 5 – 7 minutes (or until warm).

Is it better to reheat a burger in the microwave or air fryer? ›

The best way to reheat a burger is in the air fryer! Remove any toppings from takeout leftovers and store them in the fridge separately from the bun and patty. If your burgers are homemade, simply refrigerate the cooked patties in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

How do you know if a turkey burger is cooked enough? ›

Place the patties on the grill or in the pan and cook approximately 5 minutes on each side or until they reach an internal temperature of 160°F. Remove the patties from the heat and let rest until reaching a temperature of 165°F. Serve the turkey burger patties on whole wheat buns with your choice of condiments.

Do you flip burgers in air fryer? ›

Yes, you should flip burgers cooked in the air fryer halfway through so it cooks evenly on the top and the bottom. This also helps the internal juices redistribute better for the juiciest, most mouthwatering burgers.

What goes well with turkey burgers? ›

You can go the traditional route and serve these healthy turkey burgers with sweet potato fries, French fries, or onion rings. Potato salad, macaroni salad, Italian Pasta Salad and corn salad are some other options.

Can you put foil in an air fryer? ›

The great news about air fryers is that you can use foil along with parchment paper to cook your food in an air fryer. Just remember that if it's safe and effective to use in a conventional oven, it will work just fine in an air fryer.

How do you crisp leftovers in an air fryer? ›

The general tip for reheating leftovers in the air fryer is:
  1. Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400°F/204°C.
  2. Place the food in the air fryer basket.
  3. Cook at 350°F/175°C for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the food is crispy to your liking and comes to temperature.

How do you reheat turkey without drying it out in an air fryer? ›

If you want to reheat a drier turkey breast in your air fryer, you will need to take a few additional steps. Wrap the desired pieces of meat in tin foil with a splash of stock. This will create the same steam effect for the meat as other reheating methods. Seal the foil and add to the air fryer.

What temperature to air fry turkey burgers? ›

Making Turkey Burgers in the Air Fryer

Shape: Shape into four patties, keeping them 1/2 inch thick because they will shrink. Fry: Add two patties to the basket and cook at 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 minutes. Then, flip the patties and continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked throughout.

How do you keep burgers moist when reheating? ›

For this method, place the patty onto an oiled pan and fry it over medium-high heat, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water to the pan to keep the burgers from drying out, and cover for one minute. Once the patty is done, remove and reuse the same pan to toast the buns; then reassemble your burger.

Can you freeze already cooked turkey burgers? ›

USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.

How do you reheat a turkey sandwich in an air fryer? ›

How to reheat sandwiches in the air fryer
  1. Place a parchment paper liner in the air fryer basket.
  2. Place leftover sandwiches in the air fryer basket in a single layer.
  3. Air fry at 250º for 5 minutes.
  4. Check to be sure the internal temperature of the sandwich registers at least to 110º using an instant-read food thermometer.
Mar 31, 2023

What temperature do you reheat meat in an air fryer? ›

The general tip for reheating leftovers in the air fryer is: Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400°F/204°C. Place the food in the air fryer basket. Cook at 350°F/175°C for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the food is crispy to your liking and comes to temperature.

How do you reheat ground turkey without drying it out? ›

Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F.
  2. Slice the turkey and spread into a baking dish. ...
  3. Cover the turkey with broth and dot with the butter. ...
  4. Reheat in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. ...
  5. Serving.

How long to reheat turkey meatloaf in air fryer? ›

Using an air fryer can be a quick and effective way to reheat turkey meatloaf. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F, place the slices in the basket without overlapping, and cook for 3-4 minutes. While this method does not retain moisture as well as others, it can give a pleasing slight crust to the meatloaf's exterior.

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