Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is made from Thanksgiving leftovers? ›

Instead, try turning your leftovers into a casserole, like our turkey divan, our chicken stuffing casserole, or our turkey pot pie; a soup, like our turkey noodle soup, our leftover turkey & wild rice soup, or our homemade turkey stock (made from your turkey carcass); or something lighter or more flavorful than before, ...

The answer is simple: leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days. This means you have until the Monday after Thanksgiving to eat all those delicious leftovers or place them in the freezer to enjoy later. If you store leftovers in the freezer, they will be of best quality within 2-6 months.

A next-day Thanksgiving sandwich tastes better than the freshly served dinner, according to 66 percent of 2,000 U.S. residents surveyed by research group OnePoll in mid-November.

The typical white American family eats white bread rolls with butter, mashed potatoes, roast beef or baked chicken, and peas for dinner, with milk on the side.

Leftover lifespan

According to foodsafety.gov, a website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the following foods are safe in the fridge: Turkey: 3-4 days. Eat turkey within three to four days of cooking.

The flavor compounds – the herbs, the spices, the reactions that take place during cooking, sort of cool back and depending on how you have cooled and refrigerated your food, actually get back into the food and get trapped into the starches and the proteins.

Leftovers can be kept for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. After that, the risk of food poisoning goes up. If you don't think you'll be able to eat leftovers within four days, freeze them right away. Frozen leftovers will stay safe for a long time.

Dressing/stuffing: Like turkey, if stored properly, stuffing or dressing will be safe to eat for three to four days after cooking. It will last for about a month if stored properly in the freezer. Cranberry sauce – homemade and store-bought: Homemade cranberry sauce lasts seven to 10 days.

Is it OK to eat 3 day old leftovers? ›

Discard all perishable foods, such as meat, poultry, eggs, side dishes, or casseroles, left at room temperature longer than two hours; one hour in room temperatures above 90 °F. Once leftovers are stored safely, they will remain safe three to four days.

"If you're worried about it, sure, you can heat the turkey and have a warm sandwich. But taking those steps in the preparation, cooking and storing process means you should be safe to enjoy a cold leftover turkey sandwich.”

While Thanksgiving technically isn't a religious holiday, the “giving thanks” part of it struck Jefferson as being far too religious for his tastes. As our nation's third president, he stirred controversy by refusing to recognize Thanksgiving.

Turkey. Turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, to the point that Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called "Turkey Day."

Fish and Shellfish

Culinary historians believe that much of the Thanksgiving meal consisted of seafood, which is often absent from today's menus.

Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving, has evolved into one of the busiest shopping days in the United States. Contrary to popular belief that the term originated from businesses going from "in the red" to "in the black" in profits after Thanksgiving, it actually traces back to 1960s Philadelphia.

Millions of people across the United States will sit down to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, potatoes, squash, corn, and cranberries.

Out of 2,000 U.S. residents surveyed who celebrate Thanksgiving, 70% said they believe leftovers taste better than their original meal served on Thanksgiving day, according to survey results from Stasher. More than half of the same participants said their Thanksgiving holiday would be ruined if there were no leftovers.

On Thanksgiving Day, there are a lot of aromas happening because there's a lot of cooking going on, but when you're heating leftovers, it's only what you're heating. And that is pretty concentrated, it's nostalgic and it takes you back to a lovely place and the food usually delivers.