53 Ideas for Your Thanksgiving Leftovers
To be honest, many of us look forward to Thanksgiving leftovers more than the holiday itself. The cozy weekend after Turkey Day is a chance to snack on all your favorites, and if you do it right, your Black Friday bites may outshine the original spread. So while you can certainly just heat up a rerun plate of roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (and all your other Thanksgiving sides), we’re on Team Transformation. Try a few of these recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers and you’ll see why. This list isn’t just leftover turkey sandwiches—though we have a lot of ideas for those. Below you’ll find crispy potato croquettes, cranberry cocktails, great ways to use up leftover stuffing, and dinners that satisfy the urgent need for crunchy, fresh vegetables.
Elizabeth Cecil1/53Winter Panzanella With Stuffing Croutons
The best recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers consider how to get all the textures working again. Since stuffing gets soggy overnight in the fridge, you’ll bake torn pieces of the classic casserole to get crispy, savory croutons that can enhance any and all salads.
Alex Lau3/53Sheet-Pan Pizza with Brussels Sprouts and Salami
It’s pizza night. But wait—don’t dial for delivery. Those leftover roasted brussels sprouts are ready-made for topping this simple baking-sheet pie.
Ted Cavanaugh5/53Creamed Greens Tartine
Wound up with a pile of leftover creamed kale or Swiss chard? Those greens can live on as a luxurious toast topper.
Photo by Laura Murray6/53Cornbread Stuffing Fried Rice
This crispy, crunchy, can’t-stop-eating-it dish starts with cornbread dressing and finishes with a drizzle of homemade chili crisp.
Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott7/53Gravy Mayo
Cranberry sauce is great and all, but gravy mayonnaise is the ultimate leftovers sandwich condiment.
Christopher Testani10/53Cabbage and Turkey Salad
Did your best Thanksgiving meal ever leave you craving only crunchy vegetables and fragrant herbs? This recipe for leftover turkey revives the shredded meat with a spicy peanut dressing, fresh mint, and cilantro.
Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D’mytrek Brown11/53Seedy Sweet Potato Oatmeal
Add a scoop of mashed sweet potatoes (or squash) to your morning oats for a breakfast that’ll keep you going through a post–Turkey Day trot—or a gift-shopping marathon.
Elizabeth Cecil12/53Turkey Congee With Crispy Shiitake Mushrooms
A warming rice porridge topped with crispy mushrooms makes the most of your turkey carcass. Garnish with your favorite chili crisp and lots of fresh cilantro.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, styling by Judy Mancini13/53Eggs Benedict for a Crowd
If the whole family is staying for the weekend, a festive brunch is in order. Top slices of your holiday ham with luscious hollandaise and make-ahead poached eggs.
Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott14/53Thanksgiving Stock
Make a huuuge batch of turkey stock after the turkey is carved. It freezes well and will enhance every soup recipe it touches.
Photograph by Isa Zapata. Food Styling by Cyd McDowell. Prop Styling by Paige Hicks.17/53Turkey Etcetrazzini
18/53Cranberry Cobbler
Photo by Alex Lau19/53The Collard Green Melt
If you made collard greens already, this take on a reuben from Turkey & the Wolf in New Orleans will be an easy assembly job.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens20/53Ham and Cheese Feuilleté
Dress up leftover ham in some puff pastry and invite whoever’s in town to come over for cocktails and fancy snacks.
Lennart Weibull21/53Turkey Ramen
Remember that turkey stock you (hopefully) made? Now all you need to do is add some leftover turkey, a jammy egg, some vegetables, noodles, and a little kimchi for kick.
Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Judy Mancini22/53Butternut Squash and Leek Bread Pudding
Overestimated how much bread you’d need for Thanksgiving? That’s actually good news, because you can toss it with cooked squash, grated cheese, and an eggy custard to make this savory bread pudding. (Okay, yes, this is stuffing by a different name—but this one has cheese!)
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott23/53Smoky Carrot Dip
Whiz up leftover cooked carrots with garlic, chickpeas, lemon juice, pepper, smoked paprika, chopped parsley, and toasted almonds, then set it out with crudités or pita chips.
Romulo Yanes25/53Ham-and-Cheese Waffles
Ham and cheese meets waffles, and everyone wins. Note: The drizzle of maple syrup here shouldn’t be skipped.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, styling by Molly Baz26/53Use-It-Up Frittata
Nearly any combo of roasted vegetables, cooked grains, and cheese (or no cheese) will do here. Delicata squash plus wild rice plus goat cheese? Mm-hmm. Crispy potatoes plus roasted brussels sprouts and stuffing bits and Parmesan? Yup.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Judy Kim, prop styling by Beth Pakradooni27/53Leftover-Turkey Melts
This dinner-worthy leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich absolutely oozes with molten American cheese.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop styling by Sophie Leng28/53Bitter Greens With Cranberry Dressing
That last can of cranberry sauce gets a blast of fresh lemon on its way to becoming your new favorite salad dressing.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne, Prop Styling by Gerri K. Williams31/53Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Club
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Emilie Fosnocht, prop styling by Emma Ringness32/53Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
If you’re not going to make another pumpkin pie this year, you should definitely use that lingering can of pumpkin purée for pasta night.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Maya Rossi33/53Leftover-Turkey Pot Pie
Blanched green beans, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, and brussels sprouts are all welcome in the filling of this next-day use-it-up pot pie. If you have leftover homemade pie dough, it’ll be excellent here, but a store-bought pie crust is more than fine.
Photograph by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Sophie Strangio36/53Mouthwatering Turkey With Glass Noodles
A bright and spicy way to glam up that leftover turkey from San Francisco chef Brandon Jew.
Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li37/53Shrimp Salad With Yogurt
Yesterday’s shrimp cocktail becomes today’s creamy, tangy shrimp salad. Serve with crackers as an appetizer, or pile into leftover Parker House rolls for shrimp salad sliders.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Emilie Fosnocht, prop styling by Emma Ringness39/53Cranberry-Orange Chutney
41/53Raw and Roasted Dinner Salad
You’re ahead of the game if you have cooked squash already on hand here. Just warm it up to pair with crispy chickpeas, ribbons of cabbage, feta, pecans, and Asian pear or sweet-tart apple.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Emilie Fosnocht, prop styling by Emma Ringness46/53Stuffing-Crusted Fish
Hoping to empty the pantry a bit? Take that extra box of stuffing mix and use it as a crunchy, buttery crust for fillets of halibut or sea bass.
Alex Lau50/53Real Pumpkin Spice Latte
Here’s the way to use real squash in that seasonal latte. Very strong coffee here is fine if you don’t have an espresso machine. (Though today might be the day to get a deal on an espresso machine.)
51/53Deviled Ham
Turn extra ham from your Thanksgiving dinner into a spread that’s great on buttery crackers. Add cayenne to spice it up as much as you prefer.
Jake Stangel52/53Pull-Apart Cheesy Garlic Loaf
Fromage fort is a classic way to use up leftover bits of cheese from last night’s cheese plate, but if you’re looking for something warm, this steamy, garlicky loaf has your number.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Cyd McDowell, Prop Styling by Paige Hicks53/53Ultra Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
