No more boring Thanksgiving leftovers! If you’ve got a lot of leftovers, these Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes have some fun and creative ways to use them up!
Have leftover turkey, potatoes or stuffing? This guide is for you!!
Let’s face it – we all probably eat so much on Thanksgiving that we don’t even want to think of food after.
But the fridge is full of leftovers, and something has to be done about that.
As much as I love to heat up a plate full of straight up leftovers, it’s always fun to turn them into something new. So I’m here to help you out a bit today, with lots of ways to use up those Thanksgiving leftovers. You’ll be glad you have those leftovers now!
The Turkey Leftovers
I’m always all about the side dishes on Thanksgiving, but for leftovers – the turkey is my favorite! Now, there are so many ways to use up turkey leftovers. Especially because it can easily sub in for shredded chicken, and I have all sorts of shredded chicken recipes. But here are a few dedicated leftover turkey recipes that I love!
- Turkey Noodle Soup (pictured above) – my sister always says that she looks forward to making a batch of this soup every year. It’s one of my personal favorites, as well.
- Rosemary Turkey Squares – I have made these more than once with Thanksgiving leftovers. If you love crescent rolls, you’ll love these little pockets of goodness.
- White Turkey Chili – if you are a chili lover, this one is for you! You can make this as spicy as you want. It’s a great one for a cold night!
- Turkey Salad Sandwich with Honey Mustard – I love this sandwich. It is filled with fall flavors, and is a great day after Thanksgiving meal.
- Turkey Fajita Pizza – perfect for pizza night, this pizza is not your typical pepperoni pizza! Turkey, peppers, and creamy avocados – I’m craving this one right now!
- Mexican Turkey Breakfast Pizza – How about turkey for breakfast? If you have never had a breakfast pizza, you are missing out. Great for breakfast or for dinner!
The Cranberry Sauce Leftovers
I don’t necessarily love cranberry sauce on its own, but I’m totally into these leftover cranberry recipes!
- Cranberry Brie Bites (pictured above)- the perfect little bite, these are sophisticated enough for company, yet delicious enough for all!
- Cranberry Sauce over Pound Cake – I love an easy dessert, so of course this recipe ranks high on my list! I love that you can just use store bought pound cake, and I love that the sauce incorporates not only cranberry, but also apples and pears.
- Cranberry Pancakes – another great breakfast option, these pancakes are stunning and loaded with flavor.
The Mashed Potato Leftovers
I’ve got some great leftover recipes for mashed potatoes – whether they are mashed sweet potatoes or regular potatoes. (Save the sweet potato casserole leftovers – they won’t work in these recipes. But they do reheat well so I never mind leftovers of those!)
- Sweet Potato Biscuits (pictured above) – This recipe calls for roasting sweet potatoes, but you can easily use mashed sweet potatoes. You’ll need about 1 and 1/3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes in place of the 2 sweet potatoes.
- Homemade Tater Tots – This is such a fun recipe! It would be a fun one to make with the kids while they are home from school.
- Cheesy Mashed Potato Stuffed Mushrooms – I know that these aren’t your normal stuffed mushrooms, but they are so good that I could eat more than my fair share!
- Fried Loaded Mashed Potato Balls – these are along the same lines as the tater tots. Which is probably why I love them so much! This recipe uses a boxed mashed potato mix, but you could easily use leftover mashed potatoes and add in bacon and cheese.
- And don’t forget that you can serve those mashed potatoes alongside some of my favorites, like Beef Tips and Gravy, Traditional Meatloaf, or Breaded Pork Chops with Cream Gravy. Leftover mashed potatoes can sometimes seem a little dried out, so add milk as needed while reheating the potatoes.
The Stuffing Leftovers
Surprisingly, even the stuffing can be turned into something new!
- Thanksgiving Leftover Enchiladas (pictured above) – This one is fun because it uses more than just one leftover ingredient! It uses the stuffing as well as turkey. I would actually eat this one year round, too!
- Chicken Stuffed Crescents – This recipe is actually one of the first recipes I made regularly when I left home. It’s easy and delicious!
Now you don’t have any excuses to dread all of those leftovers!
Emily says
Those rosemary turkey squares look delish!
Joanne says
It’s probably bad that all of our leftovers are gone already. I think I need to go buy more cranberries to make that pound cake!
Chels R. says
This makes me want to have Thanksgiving all over again so I can make all of these!