What to Do with Thanksgiving Leftovers

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and although things may have looked differently this year, there are some things that remain the same: leftovers! All month long, The Chopping Block has hosted a wide variety of virtual private events and classes with a Thanksgiving theme, and I had the pleasure to teach some of them. After these virtual classes, there is always so much food leftover even when I reduce down the portion sizes for teaching purposes. Sometimes I am able to donate the food, or I can package it up for our wonderful customers to purchase or sometimes I am lucky enough to save it for my own dinner.

I was inspired to write about what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers after my last virtual private event I taught where I made a turkey roulade, stuffing, and gravy. I also had cranberry orange ginger sauce and sautéed brussels sprouts with mushrooms and pancetta leftover from another class. Check out Andrea Miller’s blog that provides a recipe of how to make a turkey roulade;, it even has a video of me stuffing and rolling the turkey breast. After two days of eating turkey and stuffing, I was looking to be more creative with this food so I wanted to share with you what I came up with.

I decided I was going to make a variation of a Croque Madame, a classic French sandwich, that usually consists of griddled bread, sliced ham, gruyere cheese, béchamel sauce, and a fried egg.

My version of this recipe uses slices of stuffing as the bread, slices of the turkey roulade in place of the ham, and gravy to replace the Bechamel.

I started by searing the sliced stuffing in butter until crispy on both sides. While my bread was crisping up, I rewarmed my gravy in a pot and added some Parmesan cheese. Any cheese can be used for this version of the recipe or omitted, if preferred.

Once your stuffing is crispy, spoon some gravy over the top and sprinkle on some more Parmesan cheese.

In the same pan that the bread was seared in, heat up the leftover slices of turkey, layer them on top of the sliced stuffing and top with more gravy.

Put the other slice of stuffing on top, spoon more gravy over the top and around and add more cheese. Now you could stop here and call it a Monsieur but…

To officially call it a Madame: fry an egg and carefully place it on top of this modern Thanksgiving twist to a French classic.

This is a great use of leftovers and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Other great breakfast ideas that utilize leftovers are eggs benedict, poutine or quiche.

Another great way to utilize leftovers is to wrap them up in something. I know it seems simple, but it can be in the form of egg rolls, wontons, tacos, puff pastry bites, or you can turn to Phyllo dough, like I did.

I took my leftover brussels sprouts, mushrooms and pancetta and sautéed everything to heat it through. I diced up my turkey roulade and added that to the mixture as well.

I laid out some Phyllo dough and brushed it with melted butter. Then I layered on some cranberry sauce over the entire sheet of phyllo. I added my turkey and veggie mixture only on one half of the phyllo sheet. Starting from the edge with the sprouts, start rolling the dough up at tightly as possible.

Once the Phyllo dough is all wrapped up, brush butter all over the top and sides and bake at 425° for about 20 minutes until the phyllo is golden brown on all sides.

Cut into slices and dip in some gravy, mustard, or more cranberry sauce for a great appetizer or pair with a salad for a light dinner.

Another great way to use up leftovers is eggrolls! Our Owner/Chef Shelley Young was fortunate enough to teach a virtual private event with this fantastic turkey and eggroll recipe that you should definitely try out.

TCB Turkey and Stuffing Egg Rolls

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 12 egg rolls

Active time: 35 minutes

Start to finish: 35 minutes

1 pound roasted turkey breast, roughly chopped or shredded dark meat

2 cups leftover stuffing

12 egg roll wrappers

1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Oil for frying

1. Heat the oil in a heavy pot until it reaches 365° on a deep-frying thermometer, and preheat the oven to 200°.
2. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the turkey and stuffing. Note: If you have leftover gravy, add 1/4 cup to this mixture.
3. Lay an egg roll wrapper in front of you, with a corner facing you (like a diamond). Place about two tablespoons of the filling near the corner closest to you. Fold the front corner over the filling, and roll up the wrapper as far as the middle. Now fold the side corners in so they meet in the middle. Continue to roll toward the far corner. Dab a little of the egg wash on the far edge to seal it shut. Repeat until filling is used up.
4. Fry the egg rolls, in batches to prevent overcrowding the pan, until they are golden brown and crisp. Transfer the rolls to a wire rack set over a sheet tray. Keep warm in the oven while frying the remaining egg rolls.
5. Serve with Cranberry-Orange Sauce for dipping.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Yield: 8-10 servings

Active time: 15 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour, 15 minutes (includes chill time)

One 12-ounce package fresh cranberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan and place over medium heat.
2. Simmer until the cranberries start to pop and the sauce becomes syrupy, about 15 minutes.
3. Place the mixture in a serving dish and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour. Serve either chilled or at room temperature.

What I like about using phyllo dough and egg roll wrappers is that just about everything can go inside. So get creative in this time after Thanksgiving and try out some of these ideas to transform your leftovers into new and exciting meals. When all of the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner are finally gone and you are looking for new recipes or inspiration don’t forget to check out our class calendar for our virtual class offerings. Or start planning your virtual private event for the Christmas season now to stay connected with friends and family and learn fun recipes together.