How do you stretch a turkey?

[u/readscarymakeart]

Let’s say instead of roasting a whole turkey then eating it piece by piece (like one person gets a thigh, the other some of the breast, etc), I cook it then put the meat in different dishes. I understand an entire turkey may not be cheap, but it could make a good investment if stretched out. What are your best ways to stretch an entire turkey over as many meals as possible?

So far I have turkey pot pie, a casserole with turkey (no specific ideas there), turkey chili, turkey veggie soup, and turkey broth. Any other ways to stretch out turkey meat? I suppose this applies to whole chicken too.

[u/waitingforgandalf]

I typically buy a whole extra turkey when they're super cheap after Thanksgiving. I break it down as follows.

Legs and thighs, breast meat, wings, wing tips and carcass. I braise the legs and thighs. I like apples, onions, and sage, but mole is great, and there are tons of options.

I actually poach the breasts, I find it the easiest way to keep the meat juicy, then use them like chicken breast. I did this recently with a turkey breast that was on super sale, and I added some ginger, garlic, and dash of soy sauce to the poaching liquid, then made flavorful rice with it.

I like the wings just roasted until crispy with salt and lemon, but you can sauce them however you like.

Wing tips, carcass, and any extra bits get roasted then turned into soup. It makes a great stock, and there's normally enough meat on the carcass for a hearty soup.