A glorious turkey variation of a classic French sandwich – this Turkey Croque Monsieur is PERFECT for using up Thanksgiving leftovers! Top it with a fried egg for a Turkey Croque Madame. Ham, roasted turkey, sweet and spicy cranberry mustard sauce, golden béchamel sauce, and creamy gruyère cheese, sandwiched between buttered and toasted soft, sandwich bread slices – this turkey croque monsieur will make your thanksgiving leftovers taste infinitely better! 🙂
A good croque monsieur (or croque madame) is a thing of beauty. This glorious turkey variation came to be as a means of using up our Thanksgiving leftovers last year, and it was just too phenomenal to not be shared with the rest of the world this year! Eating leftovers for days in a row after a big holiday or a big meal like Thanksgiving is one of my least favorite things about all of it. So my objective was to transform the turkey leftovers into a kick ass dish that was dripping with flavor, and would be PERFECT for brunch the day after Thanksgiving or that weekend!
And that’s how this Turkey Croque Monsieur and Turkey Croque Madame came to be! 🙂
If you’ve had a classic French croque monsieur (or croque madame) before, then you know it’s a lot more than a regular ham and cheese sandwich. From the soft, sweet bread to the creamy, nutty gruyère cheese, and the creamy, golden béchamel sauce, and then the grilled/ pan-fried finished product, a classic croque monsieur is straight outta flavor-town! And then top it with a beautifully fried egg for a croque madame and you’ve got brunch done right.
I added some classic thanksgiving flavors to a regular croque monsieur which made this sandwich even more magnificent! I made my own soft sandwich bread for this turkey croque monsieur recipe, but you can use any type of soft sandwich bread (or if you like something more fancy, you can use brioche bread too). In addition to the ham, I also layered some thinly sliced roasted turkey tenderloin. So any leftover thanksgiving turkey would be perfect for this sandwich. Just make sure you don’t add them in huge chunks.
And instead of regular mustard, I mixed hot English mustard with sweet cranberry sauce for an amazingly sweet, tangy, spicy flavor profile to cut through all the cheesiness. So go ahead and use leftover cranberry sauce. The béchamel sauce can be a classic béchamel made with roux, milk and gruyère cheese. However, you can easily add spices from a turkey gravy, OR a little leftover turkey gravy to the milk. This is optional of course, but it adds an awesome layer of flavor to the bubbling béchamel sauce on top of your turkey croque monsieur (or turkey croque madame).
This is a great way to re-invent your thanksgiving leftovers and to enjoy your friendsgiving with a hearty, comforting, incredibly delicious, cheesy sandwich! Or, if you’re like me, you just make it all from scratch, because oh baby, it’s THAT GOOD!
The sandwich is buttered and toasted on both sides for that wonderful crunchy texture, paired with the gooey, melted-cheese and béchamel sauce. You can even add some béchamel sauce INSIDE the sandwich too, if you just can’t get enough of that creamy, cheesy deliciousness! 🙂
And as you can see in the pictures and the recipe video, you can also top it with a sunny side up egg and serve it as a turkey croque madame. Runny yolks always make a sandwich that much better for me, so this was a no-brainer! I hope you guys try this turkey croque monsieur and turkey croque madame this friendsgiving and turn your boring turkey leftovers into something spectacular and absolutely scrumptious!
CHECK OUT THE RECIPE VIDEO
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Turkey Croque Monsieur / Croque Madame
Ingredients:
Cheesy Bechamel Sauce
- 1 ¼ cups milk full fat or 2% is fine
- ¼ cup leftover gravy from your thanksgiving spread; if you don’t have leftover gravy, you can use milk instead
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 ½ tbsp AP flour
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- 226 g gruyere cheese, shredded 2 cups, divided (85 g / 3 oz for the sauce, the rest for the sandwiches)
- sea salt to taste
Turkey Croque Monsieur / Croque Madame
- ½ cup cranberry sauce homemade or store-bought
- 2 tbsp spicy brown mustard or more to taste
- 8 slices sandwich bread
- 8 slices ham any kind you prefer
- ½ piece leftover roast turkey breast thinly sliced. Enough for 4 sandwiches
- Unsalted butter softened
Instructions:
Cheesy Bechamel Sauce
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 - 2 minutes to make a roux. Do not let the roux turn brown.2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 ½ tbsp AP flour
- Add the milk and gravy (if using) into the roux and whisk to combine. Make sure there are no lumps.1 ¼ cups milk, ¼ cup leftover gravy
- Taste and add salt to taste (you will need less if you're using gravy). Also add the nutmeg. Cook the bechamel sauce while stirring, until it starts to thicken. Add 85 g of cheese (about ¾ cup) and stir until just melted.Pinch of ground nutmeg, sea salt, 226 g gruyere cheese, shredded
- Taste and season with more salt if needed. Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside. To avoid a skin from forming on the surface, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the bechamel sauce while it’s cooling down.sea salt
Turkey Croque Monsieur / Croque Madame
- Place the cranberry sauce in a bowl and mix in the mustard. Set aside. The grated gruyere cheese will be used inside the sandwich as well as outside, so divide the cheese in to roughly 8 portions.½ cup cranberry sauce, 2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
- Butter both sides of each slice of bread. On one slice, spread some cranberry mustard sauce, followed by 2 slices of ham, and a layer of turkey. Top with grated gruyere cheese, and then with the other buttered slice of bread.8 slices sandwich bread, 8 slices ham, ½ piece leftover roast turkey breast, Unsalted butter, 226 g gruyere cheese, shredded
- OPTIONAL - you can add a thin layer of bechamel sauce inside the sandwich too.
- Repeat with the rest of the bread slices.
- Grill the sandwiches on both sides in a pan or on a griddle over medium - medium high heat, until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown - about 4 minutes per side for me.
- Place the sandwiches on a baking tray (line the baking tray with parchment paper if you like, since the cheese will melt onto the tray).
- Top each sandwich GENEROUSLY with the cheesy bechamel sauce - make sure the entire surface is covered from end to end. Top with the remaining gruyere cheese.226 g gruyere cheese, shredded
- Broil in the oven for a few minutes, until the cheese has melted and you can see caramelized spots on the surface.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately. Top with sunny side up (or poached) eggs for a turkey croque madame.
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
cakespy says
Pardon me, I’ll just be over here doing a happy dance. This sandwich is the epitome of post thanksgiving perfection.
Christine | Mid-Life Croissant says
As I’m sure you can imagine this Francophile has been a fan of a good Croque Monsieur for about 100 years and I absolutely love your spin on it. We will be making these for sure. And some of us will opt for the egg, too.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Loving all the layers of flavors and textures in this gourmet croque. Spicy mustard and sweet cranberries and the creamy bechamel and drippy egg. Ready to dive right in!
cakespy says
This is the most beautiful fusion food I have seen in quite some time.
Julie says
I love everything about this sandwich and John is going to love it too. That video has me just drooling!
Michelle says
I am soooooo in love with this sandwich! I absolutely love turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches (here that’s a Christmas thing though of course) and this just takes it another delicious level! I definitely need to try this GF style ASAP!