10 Ways to Reuse Your Thanksgiving Leftovers

To get the most out of your Thanksgiving budget, don’t toss the leftovers, reuse them! Leftover turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and stuffing can all be transformed into delicious and innovative meals. In this article, we’ll look at specific dishes from your Thanksgiving meal and show you how to pair them with other ingredients to make new and creative meals.

First, let’s take a look at the bird.

The iconic centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal, the turkey, is a versatile leftover. “It (turkey) has one of those blank canvases that enable it to be anything from Southwestern to Italian to Asian,” says Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokesperson for the National Turkey Federation.

After indulging in the fattening gravy and extra whipping cream on your pumpkin pie, you might want to go with something a little healthier. Salads are a great way to get a few more vegetables into your diet. The Tropical Turkey Salad will give you protein and help you use up the rest of that leftover turkey.

Soup pairs well with a salad. Even though chicken is usually the traditional poultry for soups, turkey can be substituted in many of those recipes. Try using some of your leftover Thanksgiving turkey in your next soup, or give Creamy Turkey Soup a try. It’s an easy slow cooker soup recipe perfect for a winter lunch or dinner. For a soup in about 20 minutes, Tomato and Turkey Soup with Pesto is packed with vegetables and uses your leftover turkey as well.

For a nontraditional turkey sandwich with your leftovers, try this Rueben Crostini recipe recommended by Sara Williams-Clark, chef-instructor at Le Cordon Bleu, St. Louis, and member of the American Culinary Federation.

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Whether store-bought or homemade, cranberry sauce usually makes an appearance at Thanksgiving Day meals. When the party is over, that leftover cranberry sauce can be given new life in the form of a dip. Try blending cranberry sauce with butter for a tangy spread perfect for breads or bran muffins, says Dawn Gates, communication manager for the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association and a fourth-generation cranberry grower. Another cranberry sauce dip is perfect with crackers or on a bagel. Simply blend chopped walnuts, cream cheese and cranberry sauce together. You can also add other spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon for a different taste. For a sweet dip, mix the cranberry sauce with a whipped topping and cream cheese [source: Kraft Foods]. This dip is perfect to go with a fruit plate.

Cranberry sauce is also a great topper for many meat dishes. Use your extra cranberry sauce as a glaze for your next chicken or pork dish. Just mix the cranberry sauce with a little vinegar and glaze the chicken or pork, advises Gates. Another twist on this idea is to use the cranberry sauce and vinegar mixture in place of the ketchup you might use to top meatloaf. Along with a similar red color, the sauce will help to keep the meat moist and enhance the overall flavor of the dish.

Cranberries are usually grown in dry beds, but are flooded with water to prevent plants from freezing during the winter months [source: The Cranberry Institute]. Water is also used to float the fruit during the harvest.

To reuse your leftover stuffing, Joseph Leonardi C.E.C., executive chef at Somerset Club in Boston and member of the American Culinary Federation, recommends this recipe for Fried Bread Sticks.

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According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat about 130 pounds (59 kilograms) of potatoes each year. It’s no surprise that many people enjoy potatoes on Thanksgiving Day as well as throughout the year. Mashed potatoes are usually used as a side, but when reusing leftovers, you can camouflage those mashed potatoes by incorporating them into a main entrée. Check out this recipe for Shepherd’s Pie. Just substitute your leftovers for the instant mashed potatoes in the recipe.

Thomas Jefferson served the first french fries at the White House and is credited with introducing the food into the American diet [source: Washington State Potato Commission].

Leftover baked potatoes can also act as appetizers. Twice-baked potatoes are a great option for lots of leftover potatoes. Meredith Myers, manager for public relations at the U.S. Potato Board, recommends this recipe for spicy skins.

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Serve your leftover mashed potatoes for breakfast after Thanksgiving Day with Williams-Clark’s Breakfast Potato Cakes recipe.

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While most people probably won’t have leftover pumpkin pie for long, to add a flavor kick to this dessert, Megan Ketover C.P.C, pastry chef/adjunct professor at Bakery Hill at Midwest Culinary Institute in Cincinnati and a member of the American Culinary Federation, recommends a Bourbon Whiskey Caramel Sauce with Toasted Pecans.

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If you’re planning on deep-frying your turkey for Thanksgiving, HowStuffWorks Now recommends reading this first.

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