Turning Thanksgiving Leftovers into Planned-Overs (5 Recipe Ideas)

Can you believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone so quickly? If you are like me, I still cooked up a storm even though it was just me, my husband and one of my daughters.

What about you? Do you have a frig full of leftovers that you don’t know what to do with? While leftovers can be even more delicious the next day, you likely don’t want to be eating turkey sandwiches with a side of potatoes every day for the next week. At least we don’t in my house.

Instead of just eating the same old meal every single day until there are no more leftovers, you can create new meals. Using the leftovers in the fridge, pantry items, and spices, you can have yourself a whole new meal.

5 Reimagined Thanksgiving Meals

Don’t settle for simply heating up whatever food is stored in the fridge, create an exciting dish! Put a twist on the traditional turkey and gravy sandwich or turn your turkey into something completely different. Here are 5 of my favorite reimagined Thanksgiving meals:

1. Turkey Frittata: All you need to do for this yummy frittata is scramble a few eggs with some leftover veggies and turkey. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, put it in a casserole dish and in the oven to bake until brown. This is a one dish delicious, balanced and nutritious meal!

2. Sweet Potato and Carrot Potato Pancake: Spice things up with potato pancakes made from leftover sweet potatoes and carrots! Create the potato pancakes in the way you would make traditional pancakes, however instead of regular potatoes, use sweet potatoes and carrots.

3. Turkey Potpie: Mix whatever leftover turkey you have with potatoes and any vegetables that you like in a bowl. For added flavor, you can also mix in leftover gravy or broth. Pour into a pie dish lined with crust and cook until golden brown.

4. Sweet Potato Biscuits: If you still have leftover sweet potatoes, add some buttermilk and flour to make some amazing biscuits out of them! Your family will love eating these in the morning.

5. Turkey, Spinach, and “Cheese” Melt: This yummy sandwich is not only delicious but also well-rounded. Take whole wheat bread, add turkey, spinach, and some soy cheese. Toast until the cheese melts a little and enjoy!

4 Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste

While leftovers can be the gift that keeps giving, sometimes they can become lost in the fridge and forgotten about. You end up throwing away food that you worked hard to create into something delicious. There are simple things that you can do to reduce food waste in your house:

1. Freeze leftovers: Food takes longer to spoil in the freezer, so if you know that you aren’t going to get to those leftovers right away, store them in the freezer for another time. Just make sure that you eat them before they spoil.

2. Check recipe sizes: Before you start measuring out all your ingredients, read the recipe to determine how many servings the dish makes. If you have a recipe that is made for 4 people, but it’s just for you and your partner, divide everything by 2.

3. Always shop with a list: It can be quite easy to overbuy when you go to the grocery store, and then you have food that just sits in the fridge until it spoils. Create a list before going to the store and try to stick to it.

4. Check use-by dates: If you purchased an item that has an expiration date that is soon, put it towards the front of the fridge. Always make sure to check those dates when putting away food and put the foods that expire first towards the front.

There are so many ways that you can reduce your food waste, while also having tasty leftovers to eat. Try to stay mindful of what is in your fridge!

Your Turn to Action: What fun new dish will you try with your Thanksgiving leftovers? Let me know in the comments below.

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