Turn Thanksgiving Leftovers Into Something New With These 35 Recipes

Why waste a single, delicious bite?

As long as leftovers have been properly stored — that is, popped in the refrigerator within two hours of cooking — they can be turned into something entirely different. Below are 35 takes you may not have considered that will turn your leftovers into something completely different.

Cranberry sauce is a dish people want on Thanksgiving but may lose interest in during the days after the holiday.

For Cranberry Sauce Muffins, a recipe from Foxes Love Lemons, you’ll use many of the baking staples most cooks have on hand — flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and vanilla extract — as well as butter, orange zest, eggs and sour cream.

For Cranberry Turkey Quesadillas, a recipe from Diethood, you’ll need flour tortillas, provolone cheese slices, and leftover turkey and cranberry sauce. (Chicken or ham may be substituted.)

• Related: How Long Does Turkey Stay Good And Other Food Safety Tips

One way to use leftover whole-bean cranberry sauce is to quickly throw together Cranberry Brie Bites, a recipe from Ahead of Thyme. You’ll also need frozen puff pastry (or your homemade pastry), brie cheese, pecans (or walnuts, slivered almonds, pine nuts or pistachios), and fresh rosemary.

If none of these recipes do it for you, why not just turn the cranberries into Cranberry Sauce Bourbon Cocktail? For this recipe from The Roasted Root, you’ll need homemade or store-bought cranberry sauce, bourbon, ginger beer or club soda, and a lemon wedge. And, yes, if the sauce is whole berry, the cocktail could have chunks of fruit, which the recipe creator says is part of the fun.

This recipe from the Brazilian Kitchen Aboard for a Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cocktail, you’ll need cachaça, triple sec, fresh ginger and club soda.

For this Cranberry Sauce Moscow Mule recipe from Food, you’ll also need a couple of fresh limes, honey, vodka, ginger beer, cinnamon sticks and fresh cranberries, for garnish.

For the Cranberry Sauce Old-Fashioned Cocktail from Feast and West, you’ll also need a good quality bourbon, bitters (cinnamon, Angostura aromatic bitters, orange bitters or clove bitters), orange zest and burnt rosemary.

And what’s a fancy cocktail without a charcuterie board, anchored by Antipasti Skewers made from leftover salads and relish trays? The Food Network tells you how to make them. Ahead of time, pick up some ciliegine mozzarella (cherry-sized mozzarella balls), thin salami and fresh basil.

Morning-After Brunch

Cranberry cocktails are great for brunch, too, but you’ll need some sustenance.

This recipe for Crustless Ham and Leek Quiché from Country Living Magazine is a good way to use ham left over from the Thanksgiving feast. Besides leeks and ham, you’ll also need an onion, Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, eggs, crème fraîche, whole milk, Dijon mustard, Gruyère cheese, fresh chives and fresh parsley.

Another quiché option: Leftover Stuffing and Cheese Quiché, from Insanely Good Recipes. You’ll need butter, milk, eggs, cheese and a bit of leftover turkey or other meat.

For folks who really like turkey dressing, Leftover Stuffing Waffles are another option. You’ll need a waffle iron for this recipe, also from the Food Network, as well as eggs and parsley. Top with reheated mashed potatoes and gravy and a dollop of cranberry sauce.

Second Day Fried Stuffing Bites with Cranberry Sauce Pesto, another recipe from the Food Network, uses leftover stuffing, eggs, milk, seasoned bread crumbs, cranberry sauce, ground pepper, walnuts and oil for frying.

Thanksgiving Leftover Balls from Real Food by Dad uses leftover stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. You’ll also need finely grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, flour, eggs and panko. Reserve the gravy for dipping.

Sweet Potato Pancakes are great for brunch, too. Besides mashed sweet potatoes, you’ll need sour cream, milk, eggs, maple syrup, flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, nutmeg and cinnamon for this recipe from Serious Eats.

We love this idea for leftover mashed potatoes from Louis XVI’s Potato Croquettes from Fine Dining Lovers. A light, crispy vegetarian snack, it uses nutmeg, white pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Not Your Grandmother’s Leftovers

Let’s get on with the rest of the day.

Allrecipes.com has a recipe that sounds like a dessert but isn’t: Thanksgiving Leftover Cupcakes. You’ll need eggs, heavy cream, salt, black pepper, chopped parsley, and leftover stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and turkey.

Also from Allrecipes is Gary’s Turkey Burritos, which uses leftover turkey, Mexican-style tomato sauce (such as El Patio), whole kernel corn, an onion, fat-free refried beans, flour tortillas, fat-free source cream and shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese.

This flavor-packed Creamy Turkey Orzo Soup from Ahead of Thyme will warm your guests’ tummies. To make it, you’ll need leftover turkey, orzo, olive oil, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, flour, chicken stock, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, heavy cream, and baby spinach or bay kale.

This recipe for Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole from Favorite Family Recipes started out as a way for the creator to avoid having a fridge full of food storage containers. Best of all, you’ll have most of what you need, but you should make sure you have cheddar cheese on hand.

For Leftover Turkey and Stuffing Stuffed Peppers, a recipe from Delish, you’ll need leftover turkey and stuffing, eggs, red and yellow bell peppers, shredded mozzarella, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and fresh parsley, for garnish.

Butterball Foodservice offers this recipe for Moroccan-Spiced Turkey Salad. Besides the leftover turkey, you’ll need plain Greek yogurt, cumin seed, slivered almonds, lemon zest, honey, cinnamon, dried apricots and salt. Serve it on rye bread with watercress or baby arugula.

For Coconut Turkey Curry, another recipe from Ahead of Thyme, you’ll need leftover turkey, onion, garlic and ginger, coconut milk, turkey stock, sugar, lime juice, a green bell pepper, fresh cilantro and steamed rice for serving.

This recipe for a Thanksgiving Turkey Po’ Boy sandwich shared a couple of years ago in The Washington Post is based on the once-a-year concoction served at the Parkway Bakery & Tavern in New Orleans. You’ll need Leidenheimer French bread loaves (or any other 11-inch loaf of New Orleans-style French bread), 7 ounces of turkey, 12 ounces of stuffing, 4 ounces of gravy and 4 ounces of whole-bean cranberry sauce.

Another sammy, a Thanksgiving Leftover Grilled Cheese, from Serious Eats, uses two slices of bread and butter, Thanksgiving leftovers (turkey, stuffing, vegetables), cheddar, jack, Swiss or American cheese, and leftover gravy.

Sweet Potato Soup with Blue Corn Tortillas, another recipe from the Food Network, also calls for low-sodium chicken broth, ground ginger, allspice, freshly grated nutmeg, crème fraîche, adobo purée, black pepper and fresh cilantro and crushed blue corn tortilla chips for garnish.

If you’re planning to make green bean casserole and anticipate leftovers, pick up some puff pastry sheets in the frozen foods aisle at the supermarket, so you can turn it into a main dish, Second Day Turkey and String Bean Pot Pies, also from the Food Network. Besides the leftover casserole and pastry, you’ll need milk, stock and turkey.

This recipe for Thanksgiving Pizza from The Gunny Sack gets rid of a lot of your leftovers in one fell swoop. You’ll use leftover mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, turkey and stuffing in this recipe. It also calls for a puff pastry sheet, cheddar cheese, French fried onions, freshly ground pepper, and basil, parsley or thyme, for garnish.

If you had more pumpkin purée than pie shells, this recipe for Pumpkin Mac and Cheese from The Pioneer Woman also takes fontina, smoked Gouda and grated Parmesan cheese; milk; butter; dry cavatappi pasta; a yellow onion; garlic, flour; panko; kosher salt; ground pepper; sage leaves; ground mustard; nutmeg; and cayenne pepper.

The Pioneer Woman also has a Pumpkin Chili recipe that uses pumpkin purée, ground spicy Italian sausage, fire-roasted tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, chicken stock, an onion, a green bell pepper, olive oil, fresh garlic, cumin, chili powder, kosher salt and ground pepper. Serve it with roasted pumpkin seeds, sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar cheese and avocado if desired.

Before we go on, how about a Pumpkin Pie Martini, also from The Pioneer Woman? Besides pumpkin purée, you’ll need vanilla vodka, aged rum, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and whipped cream or topping.

Some people like to stuff as many leftovers as possible between a couple of slices of bread and have a classic Thanksgiving sammy. There is no specific recipe for that.

Desserts Reimagined

Pumpkin Pie S’mores, another recipe from Delish, offers a different take on a Thanksgiving dessert staple. Make sure you have marshmallow roasting sticks on hand. You’ll also need Graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate bars, marshmallows and warm caramel for drizzling.

Speaking of dessert, you probably didn’t see this coming: Leftover mashed potatoes are stuffing for a tasty-looking Homemade Peppermint Patties knockoff from Heavenly Homemakers. Besides the leftover potatoes, you’ll need butter, peppermint extract, powdered sugar, chocolate chips and coconut oil.

Who knew there were so many confections using spuds?

Mashed Potato Brownies, an offering from Farmer’s Wife Rambles, calls for unseasoned mashed potatoes (meaning no garlic or pepper), butter, unsweetened chocolate squares, sugar eggs, vanilla extract, salt, flour and, optional, semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped walnuts or pecans.

Make a Pecan Pie Ice Cream Topping to stretch the small bit that’s left over. All you need is vanilla ice cream for this decadent dessert from EBM Creations.

Pecan Pie to Trifle With from Leaf Magazines uses a couple of slices of leftover pecan pie, cut in pieces, Greek yogurt and cannabutter or oil. This recipe also works with leftover apple pie.