When it comes to Thanksgiving, we tend to make a ton of food. But what exactly do you do with the leftovers?
Thanksgiving leftovers are great—they generally heat up well and allow you to continue the delicious holiday meal for days after it’s over. Sometimes, though, it’s easy to get tired of eating leftovers after a few days.
From mashed potatoes to turkey, these foods don’t need to go to waste. They can be used in your next dinner recipe!
Here are recipes that use your leftovers and create completely different—yet still delicious—meals!
- Turkey Pot Pie (Pillsbury)
- Ingredients for crust
1 box Pillsbury™ refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box - Filling
⅓ cup butter or margarine
⅓ cup chopped onion
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
½ cup milk
2½ cups shredded cooked turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed - Steps
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Make pie crusts as directed on box for two-crust pie, using 9-inch glass pie plate.
- In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook two minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.
- Stir in turkey and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
- Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand five minutes before serving.
- Leftover Green Bean Casserole (Kim’s Cravings)
- Ingredients
1 10.5 oz can Campbell’s® cream of mushroom soup
1 14 oz can Swanson® chicken broth
2 tbsp flour
2 14.5 oz cans Del Monte® Blue Lake® cut green beans, drained
1 16 oz container French’s crispy fried onions (divided) - Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and coat a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine cream of mushroom soup and chicken broth in a medium pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once boiling, stir in flour and lower heat to simmer for about 10 minutes and until flour is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add drained green beans and 1½ cups crispy fried onions to broth mixture and stir. Pour mixture into baking dish, and top with remaining crispy fried onions.
- Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes and until sides are beginning to brown and casserole is bubbly.
- Let casserole sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
- Cheesy Leftover Mashed Potato Muffins (Just a Taste)
- Ingredients
- 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes (see Kelly’s notes below)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh chives, divided
- Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the mashed potatoes, egg, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese and 2 tbsp chopped chives. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the potato mixture evenly into the prepared muffin pan, packing the potatoes down into each cup.
- Bake the muffins for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown and crisp around the edges. Remove the pan from the oven, top the muffins with the remaining ¼ cup cheddar cheese and return them to the oven for three minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven, and allow them to cool in the pan for five minutes.
- Transfer the muffins to a serving dish, top them with the remaining 1 tbsp chopped chives and serve immediately.
- Kelly’s Notes
- When measuring leftover mashed potatoes, scoop and pack them into a measuring cup and then level it off.
- All mashed potatoes will vary in thickness. If your mashed potatoes are thinner in consistency, add an additional egg to the mixture to thicken it.