I love Thanksgiving food.
But this page isn’t meant to tell you how to cook a great Thanksgiving dinner. I created this page to give you some creative ideas of what you can do with the leftovers you might have from your turkey dinner. For each year of this blog so far, I’ve tried to get a little creative and written a blog post and recipe for a concept to turn those somewhat boring leftovers into something exciting. Scroll through and you’ll see that I’ve provided a short synopsis of the leftover Thanksgiving content that I’ve produced so far, with links to the blog post and the recipe.
I posted an easy option for what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers on Instagram.
The concept here is that you have leftover Thanksgiving items like turkey, turkey gravy, stuffing or dressing, and any side dishes. Most of these can be made with just turkey, gravy, and stuffing/dressing, but things like cranberry sauce or even side dishes like green bean casserole or mashed potatoes can be added if you have them available.
Leftover Detroit-style Thanksgiving pizza
Basically, the gist is that you can make a simple pizza dough in a 4 x 8-inch loaf pan (or double it if you have an 8 x 8-inch pan), and then you top it with cheese, turkey, and any other fun leftovers that might pair well. The dough can be made 1 to 2 days in advance and kept in the fridge until about 30 minutes to an hour before time to bake. One of these should be enough for 2 people or 1 really hungry person.
I created an Instagram reel for this Thanksgiving leftover pizza.
Blog post: It’s not delivery. It’s leftovers.
Recipe: Thanksgiving Detroit-style personal pan pizza
What do you need in advance?
You need some shredded cheese. About three ounces worth for a 4 x 8-inch pizza.
You need to make a simple, no-knead pizza dough, let it rise for 1 hour, and then stash the dough in the fridge until time to bake.
Optional:
- Store-bought crispy fried onions
- A small handful of sweetened cranberries (or craisins)
Leftover Thanksgiving cheesesteak
This is a riff on a sandwich that some folks might have had before. Sometimes it’s called a Gobbler but in this instance, I based my recipe on a sandwich called the Hot Bobbie, which is a hot turkey sandwich where the turkey and stuffing have been griddled on a flat top or pan and then added to the sandwich. In the case of my sandwiches, I used provolone slices, but you can use cheddar or whatever you want.
Blog post: Giving thanks for turkey cheesesteak
Recipe: Giving-thanks turkey cheesesteak
What do you need in advance?
You need a good sub roll, and you need some cheese. As I said, I used provolone, but Swiss, or even cheddar would be great in this situation.
I do think the sandwich benefits from the cranberry, so if you don’t plan to have any for Thanksgiving, buy a can of the storebought stuff for your pantry.
Black Friday crunchwraps
If you’ve never had a crunchwrap, it’s sort of like a flat burrito with a big crispy corn chip tucked inside with all the fillings. In this case, it’s an easy way to change up the Black Friday routine with a fun vessel for any turkey day leftovers you might have in the house.
Blog post: Black Friday crunchwraps
Recipe: Black Friday crunchwraps
What do you need in advance?
You’re going to need two different types of tortillas. A large 12-inch burrito-sized flour tortilla and 6-inch corn tostadas.
Optional:
- Cheese slices or shredded cheese (cheddar or Swiss will work just fine)
- Store-bought crispy fried onions
Day-after-Thanksgiving melt
This is one of the easier options on this page if you’re not planning to bake the bread. Basically, you just need some bread and condiments. I do share a really tasty cranberry chipotle mayonnaise on this blog post and recipe, though. If you’re buying or making cranberry sauce, I highly suggest grabbing a small can of chipotle peppers to create this great sauce that will elevate your leftover turkey sandwich.
Blog post: Day-after-Thanksgiving melt
Recipe: Turkey and Brussels sprout melt
What do you need in advance?
I made my version with cooked Brussels sprouts, but you don’t have to; all you need is bread and cheese to create a good leftovers melt.
- Sourdough slices (or other bread slices)
- A small can of chipotles in adobo so that you can make the cranberry chipotle mayonnaise (link to recipe)
