Sick of leftover turkey sandwiches? Get creative with your Thanksgiving leftovers with these healthy ideas and recipes!
How to use Thanksgiving leftovers:
TURKEY:
Any recipe that calls for cooked chicken can use cooked turkey instead.
- Soups
- Sandwiches
- Salads
- Frittatas and quiche
- Pot pies
- Shepard’s Pie
GRAVY:
Spoon leftover gravy over…
- Biscuits
- Shepherd’s pie
- Poutine
- Roasted chicken or cornish hens
- Leftover gravy can be frozen up to 3 months.
CRANBERRY SAUCE:
- Combine cranberry sauce and bottled BBQ sauce and toss with cocktail meatballs, pulled pork, or pulled chicken.
- Serve over roasted chicken or pork
- Sweet cranberry sauce can be mixed into muffin batters
- Combine sweet cranberry sauce with maple syrup and drizzle over pancakes or waffles.
MASHED POTATOES:
Use mashed potatoes for…
- Shepherds Pie
- Potato cakes or waffles (try these sweet potato waffles using sweet potato casserole or purée—use whole wheat flour.)
- Potato rolls
- Gnocchi (A recipe I helped develop while working at Cuisine at Home Magazine!)
- To thicken soups (check out this Cheese Broccoli Potato Soup!)
ROASTED VEGETABLES:
18 Healthy Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes
Sick of leftover turkey sandwiches? Get creative with your Thanksgiving leftovers with these healthy recipes!
Quick & Easy Pho
A delicious and healthy weeknight soup. Use leftover cooked turkey in place of the leftover cooked chicken.
Harvest Cobb Salad with Butternut Squash
This Harvest Cobb Salad is full of fall textures and flavors from roasted butternut squash, toasty pecans, crispy bacon, apples, and dried cranberries.
Chinese Turkey Lettuce Wraps
An internet favorite! These lettuce wraps are incredibly flavorful, healthy and filling.
Healthy Slow Cooker Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Creamy, cozy, and oh-so good, this slow-cooked turkey wild rice soup is the perfect cold-weather recipe!
Healthy Salsa Verde Enchiladas
Instead of shredded chicken, use leftover cooked Thanksgiving turkey for these healthy and delicious weeknight enchiladas.
Savory Mashed Potato Waffles
A fun way to use leftover mashed potatoes. Make these a full meal by topping with leftover turkey or ham, avocado, roasted veggies and more.
Turkey & Cranberry Salad
A light and refreshing salad featuring dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and tender cooked chicken. To make this healthier, use honey instead of sugar and decrease the amount used significantly, and use olive oil in place of the canola oil.
Healthy Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
A lighter take on classic turkey tetrazzini. Cozy and comforting!
Mexican-Inspired Fajita Rice Bowls
Saucy and full of flavor, these fajita bowls make a great weeknight meal—use leftover turkey instead of chicken.
The Ultimate Leftover Turkey Club
A delicious Thanksgiving club sandwich made with whole-wheat bread, leftover turkey and cranberry sauce, bacon and Cheddar.
Healthy Aromatic Chicken (or turkey) Rice Soup
Featuring an incredibly aromatic broth, tender sweet potatoes and shredded turkey, this soup is cozy and satisfying.
Turkey Waldorf Salad Recipe
With the addition of leftover turkey, this is a heartier take on the classic Waldorf salad. Delicious!
Leftover Turkey in Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Comfort food through and through. To up the nutrition, add some broccoli florets to the dish.
Turkey Frittata
Breakfast for dinner! Use leftover turkey in this quick and easy go-to weeknight dinner. Serve with a spring green salad to make it a full meal.
Sweet-and-Spicy Turkey Pitas
Basically curried chicken salad made with leftover turkey. This is a delicious meal prep recipe!
Turkey and Fig Panini
Use leftover roasted turkey in place of the deli turkey. And if you have leftover cranberry sauce , us that in place of the fig jam. Use a cast-iron skillet if you don't have a panini press.
Thanksgiving Leftovers Quesadilla - Turkey Cranberry - The Cookie Rookie
A 5-ingredient dinner wrapped up as a quesadilla!
Mashed Potato Cakes
Savory potato pancakes! Use whole-wheat flour and top with leftover turkey, cooked ham, or avocado to make it a meal.
