A collection of recipes from DeepSouthDish.com to repurpose those holiday leftovers into completely new meals!
Recipes for Holiday Leftovers
To me, there is nothing better than plain ole turkey sandwiches on white bread with mayo after the holidays, and I can eat them for days. But if you have hosted a big family gathering at your house, and didn't send everybody home with plates of leftovers, it's likely that you will end up with a whole lot of leftovers in your fridge. Here are a few ideas I've thrown together to give you some inspiration.
Cranberry Sauce - Besides spreading it on a turkey sandwich, use this as a condiment on waffles, pancakes, french toast, oatmeal or as a spread for rolls, croissants and biscuits. Spread cream cheese on a bagel and top it with cranberry sauce. Spoon it into yogurt and over frozen yogurt and ice cream or to top a piece of cheesecake. Swirl it into a cake mix, or make it into a glaze. Mix with a bit of apple cider or juice and make it into a sauce for pork chops or chicken. Mix it up with your usual olive oil vinaigrette recipe. Mix it with pepper jelly and pour over a block of cream cheese as a dip for crackers.
Got more cranberry sauce leftover than you know what to do with? Try this Cranberry Chicken Bake
Or, this Crockpot Pomegranate Cranberry Chicken
☞ Don't throw away that turkey carcass! Break it apart, stick it in container and throw it into the fridge or freezer for Turkey Carcass Soup or Turkey Bone Gumbo!
☞ Save some thick slices of that turkey for some delicious Kentucky Hot Brown sandwiches.
☞ Or, transform slices of cooked turkey with this mushroom cream sauce, served over spaghetti noodles into Turkey Tetrazzini, a great dish for that leftover turkey.
☞ Transform leftover mashed potatoes into Duchess Potatoes
☞ Sweet Potato Fried Hand Pies
Use a homemade commercial pie crust, biscuit dough or canned biscuits to create rounds of dough about 4 to 6 inches in size. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of leftover sweet potato casserole or candied yams in the center, dab the edges with water, fold and use the tines of a fork to seal edges closed. Fry in about 1/2 inch of heated oil in a cast iron skillet, until browned on each side.
☞ Got plenty of ham? Grind some up with your food processor for some Deviled Ham Salad!
☞ Leftover Turkey and Dressing Casserole
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray - whatever size you want to make according to the number of leftovers. For an 8 x 8 dish, shred up 2 cups of leftover turkey and mix it with a can of cream of mushroom soup or other cream soup (use one can for every 2 cups of shredded turkey). Stir in a cup of leftover fried onions if you have them, pour into the casserole dish. Add layers of leftover corn or corn casserole, green beans or green bean casserole, dressing, stuffing or mashed potatoes - whatever you like. Warm enough leftover gravy to pour over the top. Can also warm the gravy separately and spoon over each individual serving. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until heated through. Serve with cranberry sauce on the side.
☞ Turkey or Ham & Broccoli Casserole
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread leftover broccoli casserole in the bottom of dish. Add about 2 cups of shredded turkey meat or ham on top. Combine one can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup with just enough milk to make a smooth sauce. Pour over the top of the meat. Top with shredded cheese, or leftover mashed potatoes dotted with pieces of butter, or sprinkle top with bread crumbs mixed with butter. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through.
☞ Thanksgiving Sliders
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Split leftover rolls (or those Hawaiian rolls you stashed) in half lengthwise and place into a baking dish; spread with leftover cranberry sauce. Top with slices of leftover turkey (or ham), crumble dressing on top and spread more cranberry sauce on other half of rolls. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes, or until sandwiches are warmed through. Heat leftover gravy and distribute into small bowls for dipping sandwiches.
☞ Tex Mex Turkey Casserole
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Combine about 2 cups of diced up leftover turkey, with one whole green onion, sliced, and a can of Mexicorn, a one pound bag of hash brown potatoes, thawed, 1 small can of green chilies, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 1 can of Rotel tomatoes, 1 cup of cheddar or pepper jack cheese or a combination of the two, pinch of salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon of chopped jalapeno. Mix all together and turn out into casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until heated through.
☞ Turkey Mornay
Melt 1/2 a stick of butter in a skillet, saute 1/2 an onion, chopped and couple cloves of chopped garlic until tender. Add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and dried thyme. Stir in 1 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of cream, bring to a boil, reduce heat on burner to simmer. Remove pan from burner. Beat 2 eggs in a small bowl, take a couple tablespoons of the sauce and slowly add to the eggs to temper them, return pan to the burner, then add the eggs to the sauce, stirring constantly and cooking for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of shredded Swiss cheese; mix until cheese is melted. Warm turkey slices in the microwave and top split, toasted English muffins with several slices of turkey, then top with the cheese sauce, sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and stick under the broiler until bubbly - take care not to let it burn!
☞ Turkey Croquettes
Take my Tater Cakes recipe and add 2 cups of finely chopped, leftover turkey. Serve with cranberry sauce on the side.
☞ Turkey Carcass Soup
Don't throw away that turkey carcass! It makes an excellent soup.
☞ Chicken Brunswick Stew
Substitute turkey for the BBQ pork.
☞ Chicken Stew
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Turkey Pot Pie
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Grown-Up Southern Tea Room Chutney Turkey Salad for Two
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Cranberry Turkey Salad
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Deli Style Turkey Salad
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Easy Turkey Enchiladas
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Turkey & Dumpling Bake
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Turkey and Spaghetti Casserole
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Turkey & Andouille Sausage Gumbo
Substitute turkey for the chicken and add at the end.
☞ Old Fashioned Turkey Noodle Casserole
Substitute turkey for the chicken.
☞ Turkey & Stuffing Bake
Substitute turkey for the meatballs and use leftover dressing.
☞ Turkey & White Bean Chili
Wait and add the shredded turkey at the end.
☞ Spicy Turkey & Veggie Stir Fry
☞ Chap Chae - Koren Mixed Veggies with Turkey, Beef or Ham & Cellophane Noodles
Substitute meat according to leftovers.
☞ Tomato Basil Turkey Wrap
☞ Ham and Egg Salad
Use leftover ham
☞ Southern Creamy Butter Beans
Use that ham bone & leftover ham
☞ Shortcut Red Beans & Rice
Use that ham bone & leftover ham in place of or with the smoked sausage
☞ Bean Soup
Use that ham bone & leftover ham
☞ Grit Cakes
Use leftover garlic cheese grits
☞ Step by Step Fried Rice
Use leftover chopped pork, turkey, or ham and leftover rice
☞ Southern Vegetable Beef Soup
Use leftover beef roast, adding meat at the end.
☞ Leftover Brisket Meat Sauce
A ragu made from tomatoes and leftover brisket and tossed here with rigatoni pasta.
☛ Are you on Facebook? If you haven't already, come and join the party! We have a lot of fun & there's always room for one more at the table.
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