Turn Leftover Turkey Into Tamar Adler's Favorite Nachos
Turn Leftover Turkey Into Tamar Adler's Favorite Nachos
November 20, 2025
By Tamar Adler
After eating nachos made with day-old Masienda tortillas, it will be hard to feel the same way about the standard American bar version. The only thing that really matters with these is the tortillas themselves. If they tasted good when they were first made and griddled, nachos made from them will be delicious today. What tops them is entirely dependent on what else you have leftover. If you have leftover cooked or raw corn that didn’t make it into a corn pudding, include it. If you have a bit of leftover roasted shallots or pearl onions, thinly slice them and consider them a topping. Any leftover turkey thigh can be shredded, warmed briefly in whatever juices collected around it, and used as you might pulled pork or shredded beef to make nachos into an even more substantial meal. For beans, use any you have cooked and leftover, but warm them in leftover pork or bacon fat if you have a bit stored in a jar beside the stove. Smash them as you warm them, add a tiny sprinkle of ground cumin and oregano and chili if the rest of the eaters won’t mind, and you’ll have consummate refried beans.
