Shepherd's Pie with Thanksgiving Leftovers

Another easy-to-make dish composed of Thanksgiving leftovers is a modified Shepherd's pie. Pretty good!

Loosely based on this Rachel Ray recipe, I heated up leftover gravy, threw in shredded turkey, sauteed carrots and baby spinach in a little olive oil and garlic, and zapped the mashed potatoes in the microwave briefly with a splash of chicken stock to loosen it up. Then I layered it all (in that order) in individual casseroles. I sprinkled some grated Parmesan cheese on top of the potatoes and baked them at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes (until it was bubbly).

Turkey, Cranberry and Fontina Panini

I made this great turkey, fontina and cranberry sauce panini/grilled cheese using Thanksgiving leftovers, inspired by (but not exactly following) this recipe. I also saw some other turkey panini recipes on the internets that were really appealing!

In retrospect, I am thinking I would have liked to throw thinly sliced apple into the sandwich itself for some crunch, but it was pretty tasty nonetheless. Prior to composing the sandwich, I zapped the shredded turkey in the microwave with a splash of chicken stock to reconstitute it, as it got a little dry in the fridge overnight. Worked perfectly.

I would definitely recommend this sandwich for leftover turkey! Also, this avgolemono soup recipe that I made in the past works great with some shredded turkey thrown in at the end!

Leftover Ginger Cranberry Sauce on Cream Cheese, with Crackers

As Lindsay suggested, I warmed up some of the leftover ginger cranberry sauce and threw it on top of some cream cheese. Served with crackers = excellent.

Eggs Benedict with Leftover Stuffing, Turkey and Brussel Sprouts

I saw this idea for reimagining Thanksgiving leftovers a couple years ago in a Daily Candy email:

• Form your leftover stuffing into little patties and fry them in a little olive oil until warmed through and a little crispy on the outside.


• Top with warmed shredded turkey (I splashed a little chicken broth on mine to keep it moist, then popped it in the microwave for a minute).


• Throw on some greens- sauteed spinach, or, in our case, leftover brussel sprouts


• Top with a poached egg and some hollandaise sauce (I used the Washington Post's blender hollandaise sauce).

An awesome way to transform the leftovers into something new and edible. Essential for me since, as you know, I hate leftovers (particularly mixed grill).