Low-Effort Thanksgiving Leftovers
Creative ways to use leftover food from a couple of Midwesterners
Welcome to the second installment of a collaboration between Melissa Lindquist of Deep North Eats and Kel Schulze of Badgerland Budgeting! We are both so excited to write about topics that are important to us, and hope that it will be useful to you. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to both of our newsletters below. Enjoy today’s post! 🍂
After a day spent fussing in the kitchen, we all need a quick and easy way to get rid of the extra food that is also delicious. Many folks hate leftovers, which is understandable. Food never tastes as good a day or two later as it did when it was served originally (with only a few exceptions!). The key to actually enjoying leftovers is to make them into something new entirely.
Don’t try to recreate the gorgeous meal you had the night before. You’ll only be disappointed. You can use leftovers as ingredients for other dishes, combine them with new, fresh ingredients, or freeze them for a dark day in December when you’ll appreciate a pre-cooked meal - we have a lot of cold nights coming up in the Upper Midwest.
Melissa has been suffering from plantar fasciitis for almost five years (it’s relieved recently though - YAY!), so typically the day of Thanksgiving is broken up with stretches and sitting down as much as possible to extend the amount of time without shooting pain in her feet. After a whole day of standing, the last thing she wants to do is stand in the kitchen again preparing leftovers and meals for the rest of the weekend. Low-effort, creative meals in the days following Thanksgiving are a must so that maximum time is given to time spent with loved ones, resting, and shopping if that’s your thing.
You can find Kel popping their head into the living room to keep track of which marching band is up next on the Macy’s Parade while helping whomever is hosting Thanksgiving that year. It’s always their goal to somehow fit in using leftovers from the big meal over the next few days when their kids only want pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner (they wish).
How to Use Up Those Leftovers!
Leftovers don’t have to take up space in your fridge for long! Here are some quick ways that we have used up our extra Thanksgiving foods that you can swipe for the weekend and week to come. 🦃
Breakfast
Kel: This has been a staple in my house before my kids came along. I make a batch of cranberry sauce and I purposely make enough to sandwich it between pancakes the next morning. This began probably back in 2017 in an effort to use up the cranberry sauce but also to make something nice for my spouse’s birthday that’s on the 25th. To make it extra special, I use real maple syrup to drizzle over it and then top the stack of 3 pancakes with a little whipped cream.
Melissa: I love a savory breakfast and I think the best way to use up some of those sides is to make some Thanksgiving egg cups. It can stretch your leftovers a few days longer and can be a low-lift breakfast that you can eat the rest of the weekend. Layer up hashbrowns from your freezer (or a scoop of mashed potatoes honestly), a chunk of turkey, an egg and a sprinkle of cheese in muffin cups, and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20ish minutes. Keep in the fridge for a couple days or freeze them and then microwave to heat them up.
Lunch
Kel: I thank Heather of Green Haven Gardens for this idea. Her and her husband play around with food a lot (most of it that they’ve grown themselves) and either last year or a few years ago they really upped the ante playing with leftovers from Thanksgiving and how to rework them. This one is a hot sandwich revamp! Take a few slices of a nice bread, top with some stuffing, a little gravy or cranberry sauce, and turkey and turn it into a warm sandwich by either popping it into a toaster oven or under the broiler in the oven for a couple of minutes.
Melissa: My husband loves a tiny sandwich (certified slider fan), so we usually have turkey sandwiches on leftover rolls. Make the turkey feel fresh by reheating in the oven with foil over it to keep it moist, and use a strong spicy mustard as a spread along with some pickled onions (fave recipe here) to brighten up the sandwich. Serve it with a side salad or chips honestly - don’t feel like you have to cram every leftover in every meal!
Dinner
Kel: I LOVE soup. So as long as it doesn’t take chopping up more than celery, onions and carrots, I will call it low energy/ low effort. This may seem generic and boring but turkey noodle soup is always a favorite of mine with the leftovers.
Melissa: I personally like using charred green beans and turkey for a shepherd’s pie or a pot pie. If you want to do all new flavors, you can use turkey as the protein in nachos or quesadillas! Fun fact: turkeys come from Mexico, so it makes a lot of sense to use turkey in Mexican style dishes!
Snacks
Kel: It’s always hit or miss with who is hosting Thanksgiving that year with what else will come out with the sides. But honestly, there’s always at least 3 jars of pickles open in the fridge after Thanksgiving. That right there is my go-to.
Melissa: We always snack on leftover appetizers from the big meal day. We usually have some mixed nuts that we revamp with some butter and spices toasted in a pan, olives, pickles, and raw veggies with sour cream dip (find my recipe for Grandma dip here). You can also puree sweet potatoes without the marshmallows and add some paprika and a ton of garlic powder for a dip with crackers!
Desserts
Kel: Now, hear me out, a sweet bread for dessert may seem weird (that’s valid) but when you’ve got half of a casserole dish of candied yams, adding in some dry ingredients to make a quick bread may sound weird but is so tasty. This recipe is an easy way to get rid of the leftovers. Yes, it is a dessert but you could probably also eat it for breakfast (as my step dad says, as long as it has carbs, dairy and a protein of some sort, it counts as a breakfast, even if you have to stretch it).
Melissa: Take leftover cranberry sauce and mix it with some raspberry Jell-o and Cool Whip or whipped cream for a Thanksgiving “fluff” dessert - a Midwestern staple. You can also blend a small piece of pie with ice cream to make a pie shake which is inspired by one of my favorite places in the Twin Cities: Hot Hands Pie.
While Thanksgiving can be an incredibly stressful time for many of us between hours in the kitchen and the amount of food that goes to waste each year, I hope that these ideas that we’ve shared with you find their way into your tummy and give you a creative jumping off point for what to do with your leftovers.
Thanks for reading! If you do try any of our ideas, please share with us in the comments! 🦃
Things I Like
Warmies are a staple in our house. Comforting for sick bodies or brains tbh. We have a neck wrap and a stuffed animal!
Visually very obsessed with enamelware lately
DIY Holiday decor - old cardboard boxes cut out into little gingerbread houses and decorated with paint markers? YES please. Cinnamon ornaments? You bet. Paper stars out of lunch bags? Absolutely. A classic citrus wreath? A MUST.
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣