Holiday Leftover Guide To Transform Your Next Meal
This Holiday Leftover Guide is here for the days after Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, whenever your fridge is packed with turkey, ham, and all the extras. Instead of eating the same plate on repeat, these recipes turn your leftovers into something that feels brand new (and sometimes even better).
Organized by what's taking up the most fridge space, turkey, ham, and cranberry sauce, you'll find a recipe for whatever holiday just wrapped up. Some of these come together in under 30 minutes, and a couple even taste better than the meal they came from.
Jump to:
- Leftover Turkey Recipes
- Dad's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
- Turkey Vegetable Soup
- Turkey Sliders
- Slow Cooker Turkey Stock
- What To Do With Leftover Ham
- Spinach Ham Quiche Lorraine
- Ham and Swiss Quiche
- Ham and Swiss Sliders
- Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- More Round Up Collections
- Cranberry Sauce
- Cranberry Sauce Muffins
- Cranberry Sauce Bread
- Cranberry Brie Bites
- More Recipes
Leftover Turkey Recipes
Whether you roasted a whole bird from our Herb Butter Turkey recipe or picked one up elsewhere, leftover turkey rarely gets the same enthusiasm as the meal it came from. These four recipes fix that, turning extra turkey into something worth looking forward to.
Dad's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
My Dad's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie is creamy, hearty, and packed with tender turkey, vegetables, and herbs in a golden flaky crust. Don't have leftover turkey on hand? Ground turkey, rotisserie chicken, or even a vegetarian swap all work just as well.
Turkey Vegetable Soup
This Turkey Vegetable Soup is cozy and full of tender turkey and hearty vegetables, the perfect way to give holiday leftovers a second life. One pot, minimal fuss, and it's an easy way to stretch a small amount of leftover turkey across a whole meal.
Turkey Sliders
These Turkey Sliders are cheesy, savory, and come together with soft Hawaiian rolls, melted cheese, and a touch of cranberry sauce, all the flavors of your holiday plate stacked into one bite. They're ready in under 30 minutes, which makes them one of the fastest ways on this list to use up extra turkey.
Slow Cooker Turkey Stock
Don't toss that carcass. This Slow Cooker Turkey Stock turns your leftover turkey bones into a rich, flavorful base for soups, sauces, and rice dishes, all while your slow cooker does the work.
What To Do With Leftover Ham
You don't need to reinvent the wheel with leftover ham, you just need a few genuinely good uses for it. These four recipes turn a fridge full of ham into breakfast, lunch, and dinner without repeating the same slice-of-ham-on-bread routine three days in a row.
Spinach Ham Quiche Lorraine
I could eat this one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and not get tired of it. Smoky ham, nutty Gruyère, and silky spinach folded into a creamy egg custard, all baked into a crust so flaky it shatters with the first bite, this Spinach Ham Quiche Lorraine takes leftover ham from "what do I do with this" to genuinely brunch-worthy.
Ham and Swiss Quiche
This Ham and Swiss Quiche pairs a rich, creamy egg custard with smoky ham and nutty Swiss cheese, all baked into a flaky crust. It's become a go-to whenever there's leftover ham in the fridge, versatile enough for a holiday brunch or a quick weeknight dinner.
Ham and Swiss Sliders
Warm, cheesy, and stacked on soft rolls, these Ham and Swiss Sliders are one of the fastest ways to turn leftover ham into a full meal or party-ready appetizer. While the recipe is written with deli ham, I make these just as often with leftover holiday ham, so don't feel like you need a grocery run to pull this one off. Assemble a whole pan in minutes and let the oven do the rest.
Crockpot Split Pea Soup
Packed with smoky flavor, tender vegetables, and rich leftover ham in a flavorful broth, this Crockpot Split Pea Soup is pure comfort food that practically cooks itself. It's a great way to stretch a small amount of leftover ham into a full week of meals.
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce is one of the most-made and least-used-up sides on the table, everyone makes plenty, almost no one finishes it. If you're wondering what to do with the extra, our Fresh Cranberry Sauce is the base for everything in this section, and it's just as good spooned over these next few recipes as it is on the plate the first time around.
Cranberry Sauce Muffins
Light, fluffy, and perfectly sweet-tart, these Cranberry Sauce Muffins are the best way to turn leftover cranberry sauce into a quick breakfast or snack. I love these so much that I'll make a batch of cranberry sauce with frozen cranberries year-round just so I have an excuse to bake these. Simple to mix by hand, no special equipment needed.
Cranberry Sauce Bread
Think of this Cranberry Sauce Bread as the cousin to the muffins, denser, richer, and sliced instead of scooped. A golden loaf studded with pockets of tart cranberry, it's just as happy showing up at breakfast as it is warmed with a scoop of ice cream melting into the crumb.
Cranberry Brie Bites
Flaky puff pastry, creamy brie, and sweet-tart cranberry sauce come together in these Cranberry Brie Bites, the perfect appetizer for holiday gatherings or a simple way to dress up your extra sauce. Freeze well too, so you can make a batch now and bake later.
