Creative Ideas for Thanksgiving Leftovers

You spent days – maybe even weeks – preparing for your annual Thanksgiving meal. You developed meal plans, bought ingredients, set aside time for meal prep, and prepared delicious dishes and desserts. Now that the big day has come and gone and the guests have all eaten, you’re left with the classic post-Thanksgiving question: What should you do with the leftovers?

Thankfully, many traditional foods that are served at Thanksgiving are perfect for leftover recipes. One article on Yahoo! Voices, for example, suggests everything from a chef salad topped with turkey slices to turkey stir-fry, turkey fajitas, or the classic turkey salad sandwich. You can click through to the site to get recipes for each – here’s just one example:

Turkey lasagna: Follow your usual lasagna recipe, but add cubed leftover turkey to the sauce just before you layer the casserole. The sauce will keep the dish from becoming dry.

What about the stuffing? The article suggests that you soak the stuffing in gravy and add it as a middle layer for your turkey sandwiches. You can use leftover mashed potatoes as a top layer for casseroles (such as Shepherd’s Pie) and leftover rolls or bread for croutons.

The Food Network offers its own Thanksgiving leftover recipes. You’ll find ideas for “Bird to the Last Drop,” a creamy stew that uses both turkey bones and meat to add depth, Turkey Pot Pie, Turkey Bolognese, Potato Croquettes, and much more. “Eggs in Purgatory” uses 5 large eggs, 2 cups mashed potatoes, chilled, 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper, 1 cup marinara sauce, warmed, and 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese to create an unusual Thanksgiving leftover delight.

And how about “Deep-Fried Green Beans?” Toss 1 pound of leftover cooked or raw green beans with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1 cup buttermilk and soak for 15 minutes. Season 1 cup cornmeal with salt and cayenne, then dredge the green beans in the cornmeal. Deep-fry in 2 inches of 375 vegetable oil until golden brown.

“Busy Cooks” at About.com also offers some fun (and perhaps odd!) leftover ideas. Anyone for Turkey and Cranberry Corn Muffins? How about Praline Sweet Potato Bread? And if you start with a handy Boboli pizza crust or a ½ yeast crust recipe and add ingredients ranging from mayonnaise to Dijon mustard and shredded Swiss cheese, you can prepare the site’s Turkey Club Pizza.

Reader’s Digest, meanwhile provides “8 Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers.” From Avocado Turkey Wraps to Twice-Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, you’ll be inspired by these eight tasty ideas. A Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelet can incorporate leftover spinach, asparagus, or any cooked vegetable, and Breakfast Bread Pudding with Mixed Berries can give new life to that leftover bread or to berries that were served in a dessert fruit salad.

Parenting.com suggests recipes that use leftovers to appeal to the entire family. Kid-friendly Crispy Potato Cakes are sure to be a big hit, and Turkey Parmesan has “all the yummy flavors of pizza with even more protein.” You can also try the recipe for Creamy Turkey with Noodles or an easy pie that their child testers declared was better than pumpkin: Sweet-Potato Pie

Finally, if healthy recipes are what you have in mind, try these ideas from an article at ChicagoNow.com: Turkey Veggie Soup, Sweet Mash Spread, or an Egg White Ham Frittata.

With so many possibilities out there for those leftover foods, there’s no reason to throw anything out! Have fun perusing these and other sites for inspiration – you might even surprise yourself by discovering a recipe you’ll enjoy on first-run occasions, and not just as a leftover surprise.