A traditional Thanksgiving dinner is the meal that keeps on giving. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the leftovers filling your fridge, here are 10 resourceful recipes to give you some post-Turkey Day inspiration.
1. SAVORY CREPES WITH TURKEY AND STUFFING
If you’re not out shopping all Friday morning, reward yourself with these savory Thanksgiving crepes from the blog Butter with a Side of Bread. The insides are filled with leftover stuffing and strips of turkey, and then topped off with a drizzle of gravy and cranberry sauce. The recipe even makes use of your leftover mashed potatoes by incorporating them into the batter for the crepes themselves.
2. TURKEY POT PIE SOUP
A fast way to get rid of any excess leftover turkey is to transform it into a soup. This turkey pot pie soup from the blog Handle the Heat takes only 30 minutes to cook, and it will provide you with quick and easy meals for the rest of the holiday weekend. The addition of fresh sage is the perfect way to prolong the flavors of fall—even when it starts to feel like winter outside.
3. MASHED POTATO AND STUFFING PATTIES
What’s the best way to re-purpose the starchy sides leftover from Thanksgiving? By pressing them into patties and frying them, of course. In addition to using stuffing and mashed potatoes, these patties from Pocket Change Gourmet also call for leftover turkey, so they’re substantial enough to be eaten as a snack or a meal.
4. THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS STROMBOLI
Thanksgiving sandwiches start to get old after the third or fourth time you make them. If you’re in search of something a little more innovative to do with your leftovers, try stuffing them into a stromboli. This glorious creation from the blog Betsy Life includes turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, all braided inside a golden-brown crust. The recipe uses pre-made pizza dough, so putting it together takes even less effort than you’d think.
5. THANKSGIVING LEFTOVER CASSEROLE
This casserole from Family Friendly Recipes has it all. Just layer your turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce into a baking dish and 40 minutes later you’ll have a dish that delivers that perfect Thanksgiving taste all in one bite.
6. FRIED MASHED POTATO BALLS
It’s easy to overlook the sad bowl of leftover mashed potatoes sitting in the corner of your fridge. This recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen injects new life into your old mashers with healthy heapings of bacon, cheddar, green onion, and jalapeños. Roll the mixture together into 1-inch balls and fry them for a delicious bite-sized snack.
7. STUFFING SANDWICH
Most conventional Thanksgiving sandwiches include stuffing between the bread. In this sandwich from Sporkful, the stuffing is the bread. By binding the leftover stuffing with egg, it can then be formed into slice-like patties and fried up to crispy perfection. The stuffing buns make the perfect vehicles for all the classic sandwich components like turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce.
8. PUMPKIN PIE MILKSHAKE
Blogging Over Thyme
Some pumpkin milkshake recipes call for pumpkin puree, or perhaps a scoop of pumpkin ice-cream. This leftover thanksgiving pumpkin pie milkshake from Blogging Over Thyme recipe requires a whole slice of pie. A thermos full of this stuff might make the Monday after Thanksgiving a little more bearable.
9. TURKEY AND SWEET POTATO ENCHILADAS
For a Mexican spin on the all-American flavors of Thanksgiving, use your leftover turkey meat as stuffing for enchiladas. The baked sweet potatoes emphasize the fall flavor profile and smoky chipotle sauce adds an extra spicy kick.
10. THANKSGIVING LEFTOVER PIZZA
When looking for a tasty leftover vehicle, it’s hard to go wrong with pizza. This recipe for turkey, mashed potato, and mushroom pizza steps out of the box by swapping out the pizza sauce for gravy. That sounds like a brilliant idea no matter what time of the year it is.
November 25, 2016 – 12:00am