Gesen KingWe are huge fans of Thanksgiving dinner and rarely end up with too many leftovers. If we get the opportunity, you can bet we will be trying out some of these simple and versatile recipes.
Many of these recipes are great to assemble and throw in the freezer for an easy dinner or snack to enjoy down the road. These recipes for how to use Thanksgiving leftovers are based on the concept that you have an assortment of leftovers from a fairly traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. I tried to include: Turkey, Ham, Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Stuffing, Corn, and Cranberry Sauce.
I do not like to follow recipes, I use them as an inspiration and basic guide. My intent is for these ‘recipes’ to serve as inspiration only. If you are looking for more detailed measurements and instructions, check out my “inspired by” recipe links in the notes, or search online for something similar.
My goal in writing this is to help inspire you to substitute leftovers for as many ingredients as you can, in dishes you already know and love. I certainly have not personally tasted all of these combinations but look forward to giving some a try. I would love to know what variations you try and how they turned out!
- Simply reheat and enjoy
- Salad wrap (Great use for leftover meat, vegetables and cranberry sauce)
- Shepherds Pie (Great use for leftover meat, vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy)
- Turkey Pot Pie (Great use for leftover turkey, vegetables, gravy and pie crusts)
- Quiche (Great use for leftover stuffing, meat and vegetables)
- Muffins/Fried Cakes (Unique use for leftover casseroles, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce)
- Pasta/Noodles (Easy use for leftover meat and vegetables)
- Creamy Sweet Potato Soup (Great use for leftover sweet potato casserole or pumpkin)
- Italian Greens & White Bean Soup (Great use for leftover turkey, ham or roast beef)
- Stuffed Vegetables (Great use for leftover meat, casseroles, stuffing and vegetables)
Many of these recipes call for broth. Although I am not including a recipe for broth, I do hope you get the most out of your Turkey carcass by making some! Homemade broth is delicious, nutritious, and freezes well.
1. Simply Reheat and Enjoy
This is pretty self explanatory so we will save you the time of skipping it by keeping this short.
2. Salad Wrap
Easy wrap with lots of options. Start with a tortilla or wrap (or nix the wrap and go for a bowl), add washed greens of choice, top with leftover turkey, roast beef, or ham and any other vegetables/fruits/nuts/seeds/sauces that you want. Blend a quick and easy dressing out of leftover cranberry sauce, or any other dressing/sauce you enjoy.
Salad Wrap
Ingredients
- Tortilla/Wrap/Bowl
- Salad Greens/Spinach
- Turkey/Roast Beef/Ham Chopped into to bite size pieces
Cranberry Sauce Salad Dressing
- 1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- Water
Instructions
- Place greens in tortilla/wrap/bowl
- Add leftover meat
- Drizzle with dressing
- Enjoy
Cranberry Sauce Salad Dressing
- Combine all ingredients and blend
- Add water to thin if necessary
Notes
3. Shepherd’s Pie
We love traditional shepherd’s pie, but the idea of a super easy version using mostly leftovers is making my mouth water. All the delicious comforts with basically no extra work. Layer the pre-cooked ingredients into a pan, top with cheese and bake(or freeze for later)? Yes please!
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Onion diced
- Turkey/Roast Beef finely chopped
- 1 cup Gravy
- 1 1/2 cups Vegetables leftover green been casserole, creamed corn, or frozen mixed vegetables.
- 2-4 cups Mashed Potatoes
- Cheese shredded
Instructions
- Sauté onion
- If eating right away – Preheat oven to 400
- Add leftover meat, vegetables and gravy to pan
- Stir to combine (if using frozen vegetables, simmer mixture in pan until the vegetables are cooked).
- Pour meat mixture into a baking dish (or foil pan lined with parchment paper). Spread it into an even layer.
- Spoon mashed potatoes on top of the meat mixture into a fairly even layer.
- Top with shredded cheese
- Bake for 25-30 min
Notes
4. Turkey Pot Pie
If you’re looking for a savory way to use up those extra pie crusts, this is just the ticket! We made this last year with leftover turkey and gravy and we threw in some frozen mixed veggies, we will gladly make it again. I prefer to make my own pie crust because they are simple to make and I think store bought ones are overpriced, but no judgments here if that is what you’re working with.
Turkey Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 2 Pie Crust
- 1/2 Onion diced
- Garlic minced
- 2-3 cups Turkey diced
- Gravy/Sauce
- 2-3 cups Vegetables can use a combination of green been casserole, corn, and frozen mixed vegetables or all frozen mixed vegetables. If you don't have any of those things, fresh diced celery and carrots work too.
Sauce
- 2 tbsp Butter/Turkey Fat/Oil
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup broth/stock
- 1 cup half and half or whole milk
Pie Crust (this makes 2)
- 2 1/2 cups flour preferably all purpose or pastry
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup frozen butter shredded
- 1/2 cup water as cold as possible
Instructions
- Sauté onion until soft then add garlic
- Add leftover gravy and mix well. OR add flour and cook while stirring constantly. Pour in the broth and stir until there are no flour clumps. Add milk and stir well.
- Stir in vegetables and turkey
- Remove from heat
- Preheat the oven to 420
- Grease pie dish and line with first pie crust
- Pour filling into pie dish and spread to make an even layer
- Carefully lay the 2nd pie crust on top of the filling
- Pinch the edge of the two pie crusts together to seal
- Use a sharp knife or fork to create decorative steam holes in the top crust.
- Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown.
Pie Crust
- Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water (if you are in a hot or humid climate you may not need all of it). You want the dough to stick together enough to form a ball, but you don't want to over work it.
- If the dough is too sticky and not cold enough you may need to refrigerate for a couple hours before rolling it out. If it is not too warm and sticky you can divide it in half and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper to use right away.
Notes
5. Quiche
Are you team crusted or crustless quiche?
We typically prefer to have some sort of crust. However, I like to get creative with it! I’ve had success with shredded potatoes and buttered breadcrumbs, but think a thin layer of stuffing could be incredible! This could be made in a standard pie pan, or doubled for a cake/casserole pan.
We enjoy making mini quiches in muffin cups to freeze for easy single serving breakfast/snacks.
Quiche
Ingredients
- 1-2 cups Stuffing/shredded potato/pie crust
- 1-2 cups Leftover meat and/or veggies
- 6 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk or Cream
- Salt/Pepper/Seasoning to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375
- If using stuffing or shredded potato as a crust, grease pie pan and press a thin layer of stuffing/potato into the bottom and sides. Bake for 5-10 min to help crisp.
- Once crust is slightly crispy add finely chopped leftovers
- In a separate bowl beat/scramble eggs with a little milk or cream
- Pour egg mixture into pie pan and bake for 30 min
6. Muffins/Fried Cakes
Okay…this might be a stretch for some, but I can pretty much always count on my children to eat something if I serve it in the form of a muffin or fried cake. I have used ‘chicken pot pie’ filling to make savory muffins and they were actually really good.
If you don’t want to risk a whole batch, start with the base and then separate it into 2-3 smaller bowls before adding the leftovers so you can try out 2-3 different versions. If you can’t stomach one of the flavors there is less wasted!
I am very curious to try this with leftover green bean casserole, leftover stuffing, and leftover cranberry sauce. Muffins are a go to make-ahead snack/breakfast in our house. They are so great for freezing and then grabbing in a hurry.
Muffins/Fried Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1-2 Eggs
- ¼ cup Butter/Fat/Oil melted
- ½ to 1 ½ cups Milk/Cream *
- 1-2 cups Leftovers * if using super wet leftovers start with 1/2 cup or less milk and add more gradually to thin batter if necessary.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°-400°
- Prepare muffin cups if using (butter/paper/silicone)
- Sift and mix dry ingredients
- In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients (except leftovers)
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined – do not over mix
- (if making more than one flavor, divide into separate bowls)
- Put leftovers into the bowl used for wet ingredients and mix/mash/stir to break up any large clumps (or puree if you want no chunks)
- Fold leftovers into prepared batter and pour into muffin cups
- Bake for 20-30 min (lower temp = longer cook time)
- If you prefer fried cake style then pour/spoon the batter into a pan with hot oil and fry.
Notes
7. Pasta/Noodles
Who doesn’t love a good pasta dish? So many options here, lets get creative…
Leftover green bean casserole and turkey could go great with a creamy pasta. Sweet potato casserole and turkey could be added to a tomato or cream based pasta sauce with added curry or ginger. Ham, corn and peas go great with mac-n-cheese. How about leftover turkey, gravy, and mushroom stroganoff?
Let us know what your favorite thanksgiving leftover and pasta/noodle combination is.
Pasta with Leftovers
Ingredients
- Pasta/Noodles of choice
- Leftovers of choice
- Sauce of choice
Instructions
- Boil Pasta/Noodles per package instructions (consider using broth instead of water for added nutrition and flavor)
- Chop leftovers and heat thoroughly in sauce of choice
- Serve and enjoy
Notes
8. Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
When I first made this recipe it was with canned pumpkin, the lentils really muted the flavors so don’t shy back on the ginger and other seasonings. The recipe I used for inspiration only called for one can of pumpkin puree which definitely did not provide a strong enough flavor for my taste. I will definitely increase the flavor profile when I make this again.
I see no reason why this couldn’t be made from leftover sweet potato casserole, raw/canned sweet potato, or raw/canned pumpkin. Heck, you could even use leftover pumpkin pie if you wanted to scrape it out of the crust.
I like to throw all the ingredients into the instant pot and cook at high pressure for 6 minutes. You could also simmer on the stove until the lentils are cooked but you will have to monitor more closely. If you don’t have time to pre-sauté the onion and spices that’s fine but the flavors will be less developed.
Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Onion
- 4-6 cloves Garlic
- 1 inch knob Ginger
- 1 cup Dry Lentils
- 3-5 cups broth/stock/water how thin do you like your soup?
- 1-3 cups Sweet Potato/Pumpkin
- Seasonings to taste cumin, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, lemon juice
Instructions
- Sauté onion until soft.
- Add garlic, and ginger until aromatic
- Add lentils and leftover sweet potato/pumpkin and broth
- If using an 8qt instant pot, cook on high pressure for 6 min
- If using a pot on the stove, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until lentils are soft
- Blend until smooth
- Serve with something crunchy like bacon crumbles, pumpkin seeds, or extra fried onion
Notes
9. Italian Greens & White Bean Soup
This is a super easy soup to make that would be delicious with leftover turkey or ham. If you’re not a fan of brothy soups, try using less liquid and serving it over rice or quinoa.
Italian Greens & White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Bell Pepper diced
- Italian herbs
- 2-4 cloves Garlic minced
- 3-6 cups Broth/Stock/Water
- 2 cups Dried Navy Beans soaked
- 1-2 cups Cooked Meat diced
- 1 bunch Greens/Kale/Chard/Spinach chopped
- 1 can Diced Tomato optional
- salt/pepper/lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Sauté Onion until soft
- Add Garlic, Bell Pepper and Italian Herbs and sauté until fragrant
- Add liquids, Beans and Meat
- Cook in an 8qt InstantPot on high for 25 minutes and natural release 10 minutes before opening. (if using another method or pre-cooked beans, adjust the time accordingly)
- Add Greens and Tomato(if using)
- Season to taste and enjoy
10. Stuffed Vegetables
Okay, stuffed vegetables are always so delicious and yet, I very rarely actually make them. I think perhaps the effort of stuffing and baking the vegetables vs just cooking everything in a skillet is too much for my life right now. Taking the extra effort to stuff and bake the vegetables sure does make for a more beautiful presentation though!
You know all those decorative mini pumpkins/gourds you are probably getting ready to throw out? Instead of tossing them, why not try cutting them open and stuffing them with leftovers? If that is not going to happen in your house (no judgments here), please find a more environmentally responsible way to dispose of them than the trash can.
Stuffed Vegetables
Ingredients
- Vegetables to stuff mushrooms, bell peppers, pumpkin/squash, zucchini
- Leftovers stuffing, vegetables, meat
- Add-ins rice, quinoa, onion, cheese
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables to stuff (cut in half, remove seeds, remove stems, etc…) and place on baking sheet or in casserole pan – prebake if necessary
- Prepare filling (chop leftovers into bitesize pieces, sauté/mix with add-ins)
- Scoop filling into vegetable cavities
- Top with cheese if using
- Bake until done and enjoy
Notes
If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time! I hope you found some of these ideas to be unique and helpful in getting those delicious Thanksgiving leftovers used up.
If you know you will be unable to consume the leftovers within a healthy timeframe, please consider freezing them for another day. Lets make an intentional decision to keep food from being wasted in the trash. Happy Eating!!!
