Recipes + Meal Planning

8 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers

Tacos, mini pies, oaty bars and more delicious ideas

Thanksgiving-pies

Fork and Beans

Published on: November 24, 2020

Estimated reading time:

2 minutes

Select-a-pie

Melding some premade pie crust and an assortment of Turkey Day leftovers, this transformative idea for mini pies by Cara at Fork and Beans will give you all the tastes of Thanksgiving in one bite. Just load muffin tins with crust and an array of leftover ingredients (turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce), and then bake at 425° for 10 minutes. 
 

Frittata mashup

Frittata
Skinny Taste

This Thanksgiving-leftovers frittata is the perfect fuel for a lazy Black Friday at home. This recipe is packed with leftover turkey and sweet potatoes, together with some fresh baby spinach and cheese. Check out the tips for getting it just right at Skinny Taste.
 

Thanksgiving salad

Thanksgiving salad
Delish

Lighten up your holidays by turning Thanksgiving leftovers into a seasonal salad using this recipe by Delish. Toss some baby spinach and arugula with unused fixings from your dinner prep, such as leftover turkey, root veggies and stuffing, then dress with a tangy cranberry vinaigrette. Yum!

Mexican night

Turkey-taco
Simply Healthy Kitchen

Leftovers again, mom? Stop the whines with this recipe for Thanksgiving tostadas by Simply Healthy Kitchen. Refried beans, chipotle and shredded lettuce pep up Thanksgiving leftovers and welcome back taco night into the rotation.  
 

The ultimate sammie

Turkey-sandwich
Foodie Crush

Your leftover mounds of turkey meat become superstar sandwiches with this recipe by Foodie Crush. White cheddar. Caramelized onions. Grapes. Need we say more?

Cran-chiladas?

enchiladas
Pink Parsley

Cranberry sauce on turkey enchiladas doesn’t sound like it will work, but Josie of Pink Parsley has adapted a Better Homes & Gardens recipe to be an annual tradition in her household. She balances out the sweetness of the sauce with pepper jack cheese, cilantro and hot sauce — brilliant!
 

Sweet breakfast

Breakfast-parfait

Pies for breakfast? Well, at least you can get the flavors of pie with this idea for cranberry yogurt parfaits by Well Plated. Greek yogurt and granola make this a waistline-friendly post-Thanksgiving breakfast.


 

Cranberry bars

Cranberry bars
Savory Tooth

This is one leftover recipe that the kids will gobble up. These delicious oat bars from Savory Tooth are a cinch to make and are the perfect snack for a holiday weekend. 

Editor’s note: This article was originally published a few years ago, and updated in November 2020. Shar Petit contributed to this article.