Thanksgiving Leftover Ideas: what to do when the big day is done
photo credit: Lance Mercer
At my house, Thanksgiving is a big damn deal. A holiday that’s all about food and gratitude is tops in my book andI have made it my business to try and always be the hostess with the mostess. In the past I’ve shared about some of favorite Thanksgiving recipes, a gratitude tradition and some tips & tricks, but this time I want to chat about what to do when the big feast is all said and done.
When you are hosting Thanksgiving you get to have the bulk of the leftovers and I love leftovers!. But while a good turkey sandwich is a traditional part of Black Friday for many, by Saturday the idea of leftover mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce is not as appealing. Here are a few creative ideas for some ways to use up all that food, including the cranberry sauce!
Soup
Before I even head up to bed on Thanksgiving night I take all the leftover meat off the turkey and put the carcass in a big kettle with one large onion (quartered, skin and all), a couple of celery stalks (leaves encouraged), a big fat carrot (washed but unpeeled), a couple of bay leaves, some black peppercorns and a splash of apple cider vinegar to bring out the collagen in the turkey bones (side note: don't throw away those partially gnawed wings or legs! Throw 'em in with the rest of the carcass because the bones are full of flavor and collagen). After adding water to cover, I bring it to a boil, then turn down to the lowest simmer and go to bed. In the morning you can cool it, strain it and you'll have some yummy turkey stock to use as the base to make just about any kind of soup. If you won't be cooking over the weekend then put it into containers to freeze until you are ready.
You can make a simple soup using one of these recipes...
Turkey Vegetable Soup
Turkey & Rice Soup
Turkey Noodle Soup
...or you can use your delicious turkey stock in any of your favorite winter soup recipes. I'll probably be making one of these:
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Creamy Winter Vegetable Soup
Gingery Butternut Squash Soup
Waffles!
It's time to dust off that waffle maker and put it to good use because who doesn't love a waffle?. You can make savory waffles out of leftover stuffing, leftover mashed potatoes and leftover sweet potatoes. These 2-ingredient Sweet Potato Pancakes sound good too, or if you're really feeling ambitious, this idea for Savory "not quite cinnamon" rolls looks rad! So do these Hand Pies.
Shepherd’s Pie
You can use leftover mashed potatoes, turkey, veggies and gravy to make a delicious albeit unconventional Shepherd's Pie. Here are some great guidelines for how to proceed. Other ideas
Wrap up leftovers in a tortilla and make them into unconventional burritos with gravv on top.
Dice up leftover veggies, turkey and potatoes or sweet potatoes into a hash, warm them up in a big pan, make a well in the middle and crack an egg into it. Put a lid on your pan for about 3 minutes and you'll have a delicious weekend brunch.
Try this leftover turkey and sweet potato frittata
Use leftover cranberry sauce to make these Cranberry Crumb Bars, this salad dressing, put it on avocado toast, serve it with cheese and crackers or swirl it into your basic overnight oats (Combine 1 tablespoons of chia seeds, 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats, 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/4 cup greek yogurt) in a mason jar or glass container and soak overnight in the refrigerator. Stir in leftover cranberry sauce before serving).
If you have any favorite holiday leftover ideas, I'd love to hear them.
In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
XO
Lisa
