Fast Answer
Mix 2 cups of cooked turkey with celery, dried cranberries, parsley, mayonnaise, Dijon, and Swiss cheese. Lay out 16 crescent triangles in a ring, spoon the filling along the center, add the nuts, fold the dough over, brush with egg, and bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.
A Turkey Cranberry Wreath for Guests
We usually make this in the winter when we’re having guests. It isn’t a leftover recipe, although it could be. We buy a turkey breast, roast it, and mix the white meat into a filling with celery, dried cranberries, parsley, mayonnaise, Dijon, Swiss cheese, and nuts. It’s wrapped in refrigerated crescent rolls and cut into 16 pieces. Our daughter Maddie helped her mother make it several years ago.
Start Here
- Turkey: 2 cups of cooked white meat. We buy a turkey breast and roast it. Leftover Thanksgiving turkey works too.
- Crescent rolls: 2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls, 8 rolls per can, for 16 triangles.
- Cranberries: dried only, no cranberry sauce.
- Nuts go on top of the filling, not in it.
- Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cut it into 16 pieces and serve.
What Most Cooks Get Wrong
- A wet filling: pat the turkey dry. Too much moisture makes the dough soggy.
- Warm dough: crescent dough gets soft as it warms. Keep it chilled until you're ready to assemble.
- Loose seams: press the seams together firmly so the filling stays in.
- Mixing the nuts in: sprinkle them over the filling just before you close the wreath so they stay crunchy.
Why This Works
- Refrigerated crescent rolls bake into a buttery crust with no pastry to make.
- Mayonnaise, Dijon, and Swiss cheese hold the filling together.
- Dried cranberries add a sweet-tart contrast to the turkey.
- The nuts add crunch.
Turkey Cranberry Wreath Recipe
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 cups cooked turkey or chicken. We usually use Thanksgiving leftovers or buy a roast chicken or turkey breast from the market.
- ½ cup celery diced
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped (feel free to experiment with different fresh herbs - tarragon is good too)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cup Swiss cheese shredded, about 4 oz.
- ¼ walnuts or pecans, chopped (you can substitute any nut you like here – sometimes I’ll add pistachios instead just to add a little “green” with the red cranberries)
Crust
- 2 packages crescent rolls refrigerated, 8 rolls each for a total of 16 rolls
Instructions
Filling
- Mix everything but the nuts – hold these for wreath assembly.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside the filling as you lay out the crust.
Lay Out the Crust
- Preheat the oven to 375° F.
- Unroll the dough and separate into 16 triangles.
- On a round baking sheet or pizza pan, arrange 8 triangles in a circle with the wide ends toward the center, like a wreath. Each triangle should touch the ones on either side of it, so the wide bases form a circle in the center.
- Match the other 8 triangles up the other way, joining the base of each inner triangle in a seam with the base of an outer triangle. Press the seams together.
Fill and Close
- Spread the filling along the seam.
- Sprinkle the nuts over the filling.
- Starting with an inner triangle, lift it over the filling. Then lift the outer triangle over the filling the other way to cover it, slightly overlapping the triangles.
- Keep working around the circle, alternating, until the wreath is closed.
Bake
- Brush the dough with the beaten egg.
- Bake 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Start checking at 20 minutes, since ovens vary.
Serve
- Cut it into 16 pieces and serve.
Notes
Quick Fixes and Tips
- Chicken instead of turkey: use a roast chicken from the market, shredded or diced into bite-sized pieces.
- Other herbs: tarragon is good in place of the parsley.
- Other nuts: use any nut you like. Pistachios add a little green next to the red cranberries.
- Chop evenly: keep the celery, parsley, and nuts small so the filling spreads smoothly and doesn't tear the dough.
- Shred the Swiss cheese yourself, because it melts more evenly than pre-shredded.
- Taste the filling before you assemble, and adjust the salt, pepper, or mustard.
- Garnish with parsley sprigs or rosemary tucked around the wreath if you want a centerpiece.
What to Serve With This
- A side salad: see my salad recipes.
- A warm bowl of soup: leftover turkey soup.
- Winter fruit bowl
Serving and Storage
- At our house, we eat it out of the oven.
- Bringing it to someone else's house? My wife makes it, and we warm it up there.
- Leftovers: refrigerate within 2 hours, and reheat until hot.
Frequently Asked Questions About a Turkey Cranberry Wreath
What are the ingredients for a turkey and cranberry wreath? Cooked turkey, celery, dried cranberries, parsley, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, shredded Swiss cheese, chopped nuts, and two cans of refrigerated crescent rolls.
What crescent rolls do I use? Two cans of refrigerated crescent rolls from the supermarket, with 8 rolls per can. That makes the 16 triangles for the wreath.
Can I use leftover Thanksgiving turkey? Yes, though we don’t. We buy a turkey breast and roast it. The recipe uses 2 cups of cooked turkey.
Can I use chicken instead of turkey? Yes. A roast chicken from the market works. Shred it or dice it into bite-sized pieces.
Is there cranberry sauce in a turkey cranberry wreath? Not in this one. We only use ½ cup of dried cranberries.
How many people does it serve? We cut it into 16 pieces and serve.
How long do you bake a turkey cranberry wreath? Bake it at 375°F for about 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Start checking at 20 minutes.
Do you serve it hot or cold? At our house, we eat it out of the oven. When my wife brings one to someone else’s house, we warm it up there.
What nuts go in it? ¼ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans. Any nut you like will work.
Is this the Pampered Chef turkey cranberry wreath? I don’t know. My wife believes she got this recipe from her sister.
