Delicious Holiday Leftover Ideas

The Challenge of Too Many Leftovers

A common scenario we all go through each holiday season is not wanting to run low on food for the holiday meal and then finding the next day that you have so much leftover food. Many times, your family doesn’t want to look at another do-over holiday meal just the next day, so what to do? We have some wonderful recipe ideas for using ham and turkey leftovers from holiday meals. Extend that yumminess of your holiday feasts well beyond Thanksgiving or Christmas with these mouth-watering ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Turkey and Ham Creative Leftover Ideas

In your busy holiday season, we want to give you some great ideas for using both turkey and ham that make your life simpler and easier! All of the ideas we share with you today can be whipped up in a matter of minutes. These are not Julia Child-level recipes that have you toiling over a hot stove for hours, but simple and tasty meals that we think your family will love to eat! We believe that leftovers made into meals can be a delicious art form!

 

Creative Leftover Breakfast Ideas

We like to mix things up for breakfast. I don’t know about you, but when my parent went out my mom would make me French toast for dinner, it was one of my favorites. So you can have dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner, there are no hard and fast rules except what you like to eat.

• Have leftover ham, you can make hash with leftover potatoes, ham, greens, and eggs.
• Let’s replace hash browns with leftover mashed potatoes. Just shape your mashed potato leftovers into patties and fry in butter or olive oil and spoon leftover gravy over them and serve them up with eggs and your leftover biscuits or rolls from your holiday meal.
• Add ham or turkey to your breakfast burrito and kick up the protein a notch.
• Make extra gravy, that’s an always in our house, and have biscuits and gravy with your breakfast.
• Add protein to your eggs with turkey or ham added to omelets, quiches, or my favorite stove-top frying pan frittatas.

 

Creative Lunch Ideas–Soup Is a Great Cold Weather Meal

Soups are my go-to leftover meal and are so easy to make. There is nothing better than opening your entry door to your home and taking in the aroma of soup being made. We are having really cold weather in Sonoma County and soup is great for lunch or dinner. So, keep that turkey carcass and those ham bones because they make an amazing base for so many wonderful soups. We share how to do these soups on a stovetop but they are just as easy to make in an InstaPot or slow cooker.

• Use a big stock pot and add about 8 cups of water and the ham bone, add in lentils or split peas, and all the veggies you want to make a delicious soup that just begs for biscuits or sourdough French bread to sop up the last of your soup in the bowl.
• Use the biggest pot you have and take the turkey carcass and cook it till the mat is falling from the bones and skim off the fat. Now the fun begins with adding vegetables and your choice of wild rice or noodles for some really good cold-weather meals.

 

Creative Dinner Ideas–Casseroles to the Rescue!

Casseroles have been the go-to leftover dish for decades from holiday meals because they are easy and they satisfy a hungry family for lunch or dinner. Casseroles also don’t create a sinkful of dishes and can be reheated in the microwave or oven quickly for a fast meal.

• Take your Mac N Cheese to the next level by adding leftover ham to your favorite recipe. We like using a couple of different types of cheeses to make our tasty Mac n Cheese that is the favorite around our house.
• Create some great comfort food by combining leftover turkey with egg noodles, and leftover vegetables with your favorite sauce to create turkey tetrazzini or cheesy noodles.
• Try your hand at risotto. Dicing up your leftover ham or turkey along with vegetables and a great base sauce makes for a yummy meal or side dish.
• Many casseroles call for a breadcrumb topping but we like mixing things up. Try crushing leftover croutons, especially garlic and herb croutons to give your casserole or Mac N Cheese extra flavor.

 

Pasta & Leftovers Ideas Create Yummy Meals

This is where personal taste, the age of guests, and how much time you want to put into your creative leftover dish come into play. Many times, with ham I use a light cheddar sauce even with pasta, add some baby tomatoes cut in half and you have a kid-friendly dish.

For a more elegant turkey and pasta entree, start with a chicken broth base, add white wine and a combination of thinly sliced mushrooms, sautéed onions and cook until a reduction sauce consistency. You can add cooked peas, asparagus or broccoli to finish out the dish once the sauce is added to the pasta.

Many cooks like to bake their pasta dishes after combining ingredients so the flavors blend even better, top with a breadcrumb topping and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes to set your flavors.

 

Our Family’s Favorite Turkey & Pasta Leftover Recipe

 

Pairing leftover turkey with pasta gives you some wonderful main dish choices. Think Alfredo Sauce or a lighter white wine and cream sauce paired with turkey and your choice of vegetables with your favorite pasta.

One of my favorite sauces to pair leftover turkey with pasta is a creamy pasta sauce my Mom used to make for leftover turkey after Thanksgiving or Christmas:

Ingredients:

2 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chicken broth

12-18 mushrooms of your choice, thinly sliced

1/2 cup half n half

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon French spices or a combination of tarragon and thyme

2-3 cups leftover turkey cut into ½” cubes or ½” strips

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat, till not, but not smoking. Add onion and garlic and cook till softened, about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, white wine, and spices. Simmer for about 3 minutes or until the liquid has been reduced by half. Add mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes until mushrooms are softened and the mixture is thickened. Add half n half and leftover turkey. Simmer the mixture for 4 to 6 minutes until the mixture is thickened and the turkey is heated through. Stir in pasta and toss to combine. For a great finishing touch crush herb croutons and sprinkle them on the top of your pasta dish that you have put into a casserole dish. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake until the top is lightly browned and enjoy!

We want to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving! We hope you will reach out to us for help with holiday preparation and cleanup to lighten your load and stress during the holiday season. Enjoy your leftovers!