Recipes Using Thanksgiving Leftovers

Here is a collection of recipes using Thanksgiving leftovers - from the turkey, to the mashed potatoes, to stuffing and even pie!

Come Friday morning, the Thanksgiving holiday will be over. The guests will have gone home, the dishwasher will still be full (and maybe even the sink) and the fridge will look like a food storage container facility exploded.

Am I the only one who wishes for a second dishwasher and fridge every holiday season? Maybe one year...

Anyway, what are you going to do with all of those leftovers? Of course, you could re-heat everything and have a second Thanksgiving dinner, but where's the fun in that? Instead check out my collection of 20+ Recipes Using Thanksgiving Leftovers!

Soup Recipes using Thanksgiving Leftovers

• Leftover Turkey Dumpling Soup - this soup is a bonus! You can use up a bunch of leftovers in it, from turkey to stuffing to green beans or other veggies.
• Roast Turkey Pho - to completely change the flavor of the turkey, make this soup! Don't worry if you didn't save the carcass of the turkey, you can make eliminate it from the stock needed for the soup.
• Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup - leftover turkey is a great substitution in noodle soup!
• Mashed Potato Soup - skip steps 1 and 2 of this recipe and start from 3. You may need to add additional milk to thin out the soup
• Replace the ham with turkey in Ham and Potato Soup or Creamy Ham and Rice Soup

Stew and Casserole Recipes

• Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie - stir in shredded, cooked turkey when there is 15 minutes left on the crock pot timer
• Turkey Pot Pie - this recipe, baked in ramekins will not only use up turkey and any bits of celery and onion you have left over, but it also uses any remaining gravy!
• Spicy Two-Bean Turkey Chili - stir in shredded, cooked turkey when there is 15 minutes left on the crock pot timer
• Thanksgiving Leftover Shepherd’s Pie - another recipe that uses up a bunch of leftover, this one covers turkey, mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes and any veggies you may have hanging around

Sandwich and Wrap Recipes

• Thanksgiving Turkey Cranberry Wrap - this wrap consists of turkey, arugula, blue cheese and cranberry sauce in a flour tortilla or your favorite wrap!
• Turkey Cranberry Monte Cristo Sandwiches - if you sleep in the day after Thanksgiving, this sandwich is the ultimate brunch meal. Turkey, cheese and cranberry sauce is added to thick slices of bread and cooked like french toast. You're welcome.
• Apple Cranberry Turkey Sliders - I'm jealous if you're one of those houses that have leftover dinner rolls. We never do, so that's why this sandwich was made on slider rolls. Use any cheese you have lying around!
• Slub Sandwiches - a famous sandwich from a place in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, this will definitely not taste anything like Thanksgiving! Mix your turkey with BBQ sauce and pile it high on a sub roll along with provolone cheese, onion rings and coleslaw.

Tacos and Pizza Recipes

• Thanksgiving Tacos - in keeping with the flavors of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, serve up your turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce in a taco boat!
• Kentucky Hot Brown Pizza - my recipe uses deli turkey, but leftover shredded turkey would be amazing. If you're really feeling up to it, make your own pizza dough, but if not, store-bought is just fine

Cranberry Sauce - Sweet

I love cranberry sauce and make huge batches of it because it freezes so nicely, so I have a TON of recipes using it up. Here are the sweet ones -

• Cranberry Orange Sweet Rolls - the perfect brunch for the day after Thanksgiving. This recipe uses ½ cup of cranberry sauce.
• Replace the raspberry jam in my Raspberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars with cranberry sauce
• Replace fresh cranberries with 1 cup cranberry sauce in my Apple Cranberry Crumble

Cranberry Sauce - Savory

• Jalapeno Cranberry Bombs - If you like spicy, you'll love this appetizer featuring cranberry sauce, pickled jalapenos, ham and cheese wrapped up in biscuit dough. Switch out the ham for turkey if you have any left!
• Turkey Cranberry Cracker Bites - the easiest snack you can make!
• Cranberry Dijon Ham - mix cranberry sauce with dijon mustard and slather it over some ham. Also works great on pork loin!
• Secret Recipe Club: Cranberry Beef Sliders - when you're tired of turkey, switch to beef!
• Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

Potatoes and Stuffing

• Gnocchi is a great way to use leftover potatoes - regular or sweet. Just add in flour until you reach the right consistency!
• Waffles who doesn't love a good waffle? Mashed sweet potatoes make amazing ones! So does stuffing if you're looking for a savory version! Liberally spray that waffle iron first though!
• Croutons spread stuffing into a flat layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350 until dry. Cut into squares and use as croutons in your salad! They're keep for 1-2 weeks.
• Dumplings like I do in the turkey dumpling soup recipe, turn any remaining stuffing into dumplings and freeze for later!

Pie

Who are you if you have extra pie? Actually, can I come visit so I can have some?

• Milkshake - one slice of pie + 2-3 scoops of ice cream + ½ - 1 cups of milk = holiday flavored milkshake!
• Granola Breakfast - discard the pie crust and add the filling to granola and yogurt
• Ice Cream - if you're feeling really up to it, whip up your own batch of vanilla ice cream and mix in slices of pie, crust included!