These Fried Turkey Waffles with Bacon and Maple are a fun way to use up Christmas or Thanksgiving leftovers. If fried chicken and waffles is one of your favorite breakfasts, then you are going to love these turkey waffles! The turkey is fried in bacon grease and served on maple syrup drenched waffles with crispy bacon and creamy avocado. If you are looking for ideas for what to do with leftover turkey then this recipe is going to make your mornings a whole lot better.
WHAT!!!
Yup, you heard me right! Turkey has had a makeover. Here leftover turkey is served for breakfast and it is good!
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How to fry off leftover turkey.
So we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas making sure our turkey wasn't dry! But reheating turkey can be a problem.... it is so difficult to keep it juicy.
That is where frying it comes in. If you cook it quickly it will get crispy on the outside and stay juicy within (Well assuming it was juicy, to begin with! (If you want the juiciest and easiest turkey ever, then check out my slow roast turkey. It is stress-free and so simple!)
For this turkey breakfast, you will want to cook the strips of bacon first. This gives them a chance to sit on kitchen paper and get good and crispy and also means you will have a frying pan loaded with plenty of flavor. We are talking bacon grease/bacon fat. Don't drain that off!!! It is salty smoky fat that is going to impart so much flavor into our turkey chunks!
Turkey chunks or slices?
My preference is for chunks, but if you have already pre-sliced your turkey then slices work just as well. They can be cooked in the bacon grease in exactly the same way and then layered up with the bacon. In fact, slices are much easier to work with when constructing your waffles!
How to make waffles...
So I make waffles the quick way! By throwing everything into a large measuring cup/jug and then using my electric hand whisk to mix it all together. It is quick and easy and having it in a large measuring cup/jug means you can easily pour the batter into the waffle maker without making a complete mess. Well unless you overfill the waffle maker and it overflows the sides #beentheredonethat
Waffles are a simple mixture of:
- Eggs
- Flour
- Milk
- Melted Butter
- Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Salt
Don't forget the salt in this recipe, it is needed to balance out the sweetness of the maple syrup.
If you don't have a waffle maker then you could make yourself some pancakes bites and top them with the maple, bacon, turkey and avocado. (This is my recipe for pancake bites.)
Square waffles vs round waffles?
Don't worry, there is no issue with making round waffles. It just happens that my current waffle maker is a square machine. These will work just as well in a round machine.
As each machine is different, cooking time will vary. I find around 3 minutes to be enough time to cook the waffles. But check your waffles after 2 minutes and give them longer if they need it.
Again because each waffle machine is difference the quantity of batter needed to make a waffle changes. I find this mixture makes 8 square waffles or 4 large round waffles.
The waffles come out of the machine quite soft, but they harden up as they sit. Crisp on the outside and fluffy inside - the perfect waffle 😀
Avocado with maple syrup waffles?
I know it sounds a little out there but I promise it really works!
The avocado is dressed with lime juice and salt. This helps to stop the avocado from browning but it is also a welcome savory addition to the sweetness of the breakfast. It turns this dish into a sweet and savory combination that so many people love.
I like a touch of raw red onion with my avocado but Stew and the kids prefer the onions fried off with the turkey, so go with your family preference there. I like the bite of raw onion, but they prefer them cooked.
And please so add the salt, it makes the world of difference!
Enjoy x
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Fried Turkey Waffles with Bacon and Maple
Ingredients
For the Waffles
- 1 stick melted butter
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ¼ cup water
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups plain flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
For the toppings
- 1 avocado
- 2 tbsp chopped red onion - optional see note 1
- 1 lime
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 8 strips of bacon
- 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
- ½ cup maple syrup - see note 2
Instructions
Start by making the waffles.
- Pre-heat the waffle machine.
- Combine all the ingredients into a large measuring cup/jug.
- Use an electric hand whisk to combine all the indigents.
- Lightly grease the waffle machine and then use the batter to make your waffles.
- Each machine is different, but cook for around 3 minutes until golden.
- The waffles will crisp up as they sit.
- Remove the waffles from the machine and repeat until you have used all the batter.
- Keep the waffles warm in a low oven.
For the toppings.
- Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone. Then chop into small chunks and place in a bowl with the red onion (if using)
- Squeeze over the juice of the lime and sprinkle with the salt.
- Set to one side.
- Heat the canola oil in a heavy based skillet.
- Add in the bacon and fry on both sides until crispy and the fat has rendered off.
- Remove the bacon to a sheet of kitchen paper leaving the bacon grease in the pan.
- Place over a high heat and add in the turkey cubes. Cook until crispy on the outside. (You can add the onion in here if you don't like raw onion - see note 1)
To assemble the dish.
- Divide your waffles between 4 plates.
- Place two strips of bacon on top and then pile on the fried turkey.
- Drizzle over the maple syrup.
- Top with the dressed avocado and serve immediately.
Notes
- Raw red onion is quite strong. I love the contrast to the sweet waffles. But if you aren't a fan of red onion then leave it out or fry it up with the turkey.
- If you prefer your food less sweet then use ¼ cup of maple syrup instead. We like our balance to be sweet and salty 😀
Nutrition
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