You did it. You made it all the way through Thanksgiving without so much as a hitch. Congratulations! You managed to avoid talking politics with drunk relatives; your turkey popped out of the oven moist (not cardboardy) and every bit as delicious as all the perfect sides; and you are still nursing a food hangover days later, as you gnaw at your mountains of leftovers. But as good as each subsequent plate of the classic Thanksgiving sandwich is, there is a good chance that you might tire of having it for every single meal until your fridge actually has space in it again. But don't fret! There are so many other super delicious things you can do with leftover turkey and all the other remnants of your feast. Here are some of our favorite ways to revamp that post-Thanksgiving drudge:
1. Turkey and Glass Noodle Salad
Want something light to counteract that week-long food hangover? Look no further! This recipe works with just about any leftover meat, but there is something really divine that will happen in your mouth when you taste the perfect turkey noodle umami bomb.
2. Leftover Turkey Frittata
The cool thing about this breakfast is that it uses Brussels sprouts, green beans and cranberry sauce in addition to turkey (LEFTOVERS GALORE), and it's totally adaptable to whatever veggies are in your fridge. We bet it would be sublime topped with some of those tinned fried onions that you didn't use all of for your casserole, in the event that you somehow managed to not snack on all of them already.
3. Second Day Fried Stuffing Bites with Cranberry Sauce Pesto
Fried stuffing??? Who could possibly say no to that? If you want to pretend that these breadballs are actually healthy (we'll go along with it!), go ahead and bake them on 350 until they are golden brown, crispy and melt-in-your-mouth tasty.
4. Vegetable Samosas
Samosas lend themselves pretty well to leftovers, as you can fill the crispy pastry pockets with just about anything you want, like mashed potatoes, green beans (or green bean casserole?), turkey or even stuffing. We can't imagine stuffing is bad in anything though …
5. Sweet Potato Pancakes
Got an army's worth of leftover sweet potatoes? You should absolutely make them into pancakes. If you are using leftover sweet potato casserole, just make sure it is mashed and mixed up really well before blending in the rest of the batter, and omit all the sugar and extra sweet stuff.
6. Turkey Enchilada Casserole
The recipe calls for ground turkey. Ignore it. Use chopped or shredded turkey and don't look back. If anyone gives you trouble, send them our way.
7. Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
Pretty much just mix any veggies you want (leftovers encouraged) in with the turkey. We can't imagine that this dish wouldn't benefit from added mashed potatoes and/or gravy, either.