Your Leftover Turkey Deserves Better—Here's How to Revive It for Juicy, Crispy Results

There's no heartbreak quite like cutting into your reheated leftover turkey the day after Thanksgiving and realizing that all your hard work—your brine, your basting, your perfectly crisped skin—has turned to sawdust overnight. Turkey's a lean bird, and reheating it only pushes it closer to dryness if you're not careful. But with a few smart reheating tricks, you can actually bring that meat back to life so it's moist, tender, and flavorful, just like when it came out of the oven on Thanksgiving.

Below are a few techniques I rely on for warming up turkey without overcooking it. Whether you're dealing with larger cuts like whole breasts and legs or thinly sliced pieces, each method is designed to coax moisture back in—not drive it out.

The Best Reheating Methods for Large Pieces of Turkey

If you're reheating larger pieces like a half breast or a turkey leg, the oven is the best method. The key is gentle heat. High oven temperatures will immediately start wringing out the moisture that's left in the meat. Here's how to do it:

1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
2. Wrap your individual turkey pieces tightly in foil. This way, you're creating a mini steam chamber that traps vapor and prevents evaporation.
3. Place the wrapped pieces on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet (this ensures the heat circulates evenly around the meat).
4. Heat until the internal temperature reaches 150–165°F. The USDA guideline for cooking poultry and reheating leftovers is 165°F. However, a core temperature of 150–155°F is our preference at Serious Eats for turkey that is still juicy, not dry. It will be safe to eat as long as the turkey is at least 150°F at its coldest part for at least four minutes, while 165°F is the temperature at which bacteria is killed instantly. If it seems odd that you can pull cold turkey out of the fridge and eat it on a sandwich but you need to get it to such a high temp to eat it warm, that's because once turkey moves out of the fridge and into the 40–140°F "danger zone,” bacteria can multiply, and reheating it properly is what guarantees you're knocking out anything that grew during warming.
   That said, the real trick is not letting it go past 165°F, because even fully wrapped in foil, lean turkey will start drying out the moment it climbs beyond that temp. Pull it once it hits 150–165°F for the best balance of safety and moisture. Depending on the cut, this can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes for a half breast.

The Gravy Simmer Trick (for Slices)

This method is my favorite way to reheat sliced turkey. My mindset is: if you're going to drown your reheated turkey in gravy anyway, why not reheat it directly in it? It's a quick stovetop braise that gently reheats slices with less risk of drying out the meat.

1. Pour a little gravy into a sauté pan—enough to form a shallow pool.
2. Add the turkey slices in a single layer and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, not a boil.
3. Cook until heated through, turning them once or twice as they warm through.
   

The gravy keeps the slices juicy, the gentle simmer reheats them evenly, and the sauce thickens just enough to coat each piece in a glossy, savory glaze. It's fast (five minutes, tops) and the results are sandwich-ready.

The Steam Method (for Naked Slices)

If you don't want to commit to gravy (say you're doing turkey salads), steam is your best bet for reheating slices. Steam provides the same gentle heat as a low oven but in a fraction of the time.

Here's the set-up:

• Bring an inch or two of water to a simmer in a pot.
• Set a steamer basket over it and layer in your turkey slices.
• Cover and steam until the meat reaches 150–165°F—just a few minutes for thin slices.
  

The trapped vapor saturates the surface of the meat, keeping it moist while the heat works its way inward. It's nearly impossible to overdo it unless you forget about it entirely (which, fair warning, is easy to do once the post-holiday haze sets in).

The Crispy Skin Fix

All three of these reheating methods use moist heat to gently reheat the meat, which inevitably leads to soft, flabby turkey skin. For the gravy-simmer method, you have to accept that skin smothered in gravy doesn't stand a chance of recrisping, but if you're not ready to give up on that crispy skin when reheating in the oven or steaming, you can restore it after reheating. Once the meat is hot, just sear the skin side in a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat until it snaps back to life. 

What About Reheating in the Microwave?

Microwaving is the most convenient reheating method, but it's the worst option for reheating leftover turkey. Even on low power, it heats unevenly—some parts of your turkey will overcook and squeeze out their juices, while others stay cold. If you must microwave, do so with the meat covered and a splash of stock or gravy to help retain moisture. But really, the oven and stovetop methods listed above are your best bets for juicy results.

The Takeaway

The secret to reviving leftover turkey is keeping the bird's moisture. Whether you wrap it in foil for a slow oven heat or let it soak in gravy on the stovetop, the goal is always gentle, even reheating. Because if you've gone through the trouble of cooking a beautiful bird once, it deserves a proper encore performance.