This Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole is a great way to use up all of those delicious Thanksgiving leftovers in a layered casserole dish full of comfort food.
This weekend I spent almost the entire weekend in the Kitchen. I am so excited about the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays and all the parties and family get-togethers that we’re planning! I’m even hoping to host a few at our house. So, I practiced a few recipes that I wanted to try out before serving it to our guests for the first time.
One thing that I usually don’t enjoy much about cooking around the holidays is the leftovers… until now. I decided to come up with an idea to use my Thanksgiving leftovers and out came this Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole. So, if you’re looking for a way to use your dinner leftovers, look no further!
This was the first time that I ever attempted to make my own Cranberry Sauce too! I’ve always been totally repulsed by the idea of Cranberry Sauce, mainly because the only type I had ever seen served was that out of the can that looked like something even worse than jello, complete with ridges in the sides.
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So I made my own and turns out, I LOVE cranberry sauce a-top my Turkey!
If you’ve never attempted your own Cranberry Sauce, it’s super, duper easy. Simply boil 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar, add a small bag of cranberries and gently boil for 10 minutes. I chose to add a 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon and Vanilla and a bit of Orange Zest to give my sauce a little umph.
It was delicious! Mixed with yogurt, it truly is the magical ingredient in this leftovers casserole!
Within the Cranberry Turkey Casserole recipe, you’ll have the opportunity to use your Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Dressing/Stuffing, and Mashed Potato Leftovers! The only extra ingredients that you need are Mozzarella Cheese and yogurt. You’ll notice that there is NO mayonnaise in this recipe and here’s why…
Back to that magical ingredient – I mixed 1 cup of Cranberry Sauce and 1/2 cup of Plain Yogurt to make a delicious layer of Cranberry Sauce for the Casserole.
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The casserole is made up of 4 layers that will look like this:
1. A layer of stuffing covers the bottom of your glass baking dish <— [this one is the perfect size for this dish!]
2. Next, spread your leftover turkey all over the bottom layer of stuffing and cover with your magical Cranberry and Yogurt mixture.
3. Mix together leftover mashed potatoes, 1 cup of Mozzarella Cheese, and 3/4 cup of Yogurt and spread over the Cranberry mixture. Top with remaining Stuffing.
In a 350 degree oven, the casserole simply needs to warm nicely {and I love the stuffing to get browned and crunchy on top}, so 40 minutes is usually perfect!
You’ll be so pleasantly surprised by the combined tastes of all your Thanksgiving favorites in this casserole! The cranberry and yogurt mixture are just the perfect compliment to all the tastes and give it a tiny bit of sweetness to compliment the turkey and potatoes!
My family gobbled this casserole right up! I think this Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole is a unique way instead of simply making Turkey sandwiches with a side of potatoes and stuffing for the next few days after the Holiday! But don’t let the name fool you… you can enjoy this dish any day of the year!
Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound Turkey, shredded
- 1 cup Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- 3 cups of Stuffing or Dressing, divided
- 1 1/4 cups of Stonyfield Smooth & Creamy Fat Free Plain Yogurt
- 2 cups Mashed Potatoes
- 1 cup Mozarella Cheese
Instructions
- Gather all your Thanksgiving Leftovers!
- In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup Homemade Cranberry Sauce and 1/2 cup Stonyfield Plain Yogurt.
- In a medium bowl, mix together Mashed Potatoes, Mozzarella Cheese, and remaining Yogurt.
- This casserole is made up of layers - First layer take 1/2 of your Stuffing as the base layer. Next, spread your turkey on top of stuffing. Then, spread your Cranberry and Yogurt mixture over the turkey. Next layer is the Potato mixture. Top everything off with the last half of your Stuffing.
- Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven!
Lindsay says
Would this be ok to prep and freeze?
Lindsey G. says
I have never tried to do that, but I would think it would work fine that way!
Amber Ludwig says
OH this sounds so amazing!! Im even more excited for thanksgiving now lol!! more like the day after!! I pretty much do this on my plate the day of anyways lol 😉
Shannon says
What a great way to use up those leftovers, thank you for sharing.
WES says
So did I miss it or did you not mention what size dish you used? I looks like an 8×8 but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a 9×13 photographed at a weird angle or anything.
Lindsey Galvez says
So sorry, Wes. I did use an 8×8 dish. Thanks!
Doug says
Oh, I forgot. I made gravy with the drippings and poured over the top!
Doug says
I’ve been craving Turkey, and with Thanksgiving a month away still I had to give in. So I cooked a whole breast just to try this recipe. One of the best casserole’s I’ve ever had! It was Thanksgiving in a bowl. I didn’t have Mozzarella so I used smoked Gouda instead, loved that smokey hint it gave. Good work, I’ll make it again in a month!
Courtney at A Life From Scratch says
This looks so so good! Definitely gotta try this. Thanks for sharing this on The Weekend Re-Treat link party. I’d love to trade recipes. If you get a chance to stop by my blog, I’d love it! Have a great weekend!
RICHARD HICKS says
I will keep this in mind. It looks so delicious and great way to give those leftovers new life.
Julie Wood says
This looks so delicious, and I had turkey for Christmas and I like how you use the leftovers to make a Turkey Casserole. I will have to try this. It looks very easy to make, and my family will love it!
Lindsey Galvez says
I hope you love it, Julie! It’s SO tasty!!!
Carol L says
This is an amazing looking dish. Since I also make a Turkey at Christmas this will be perfect for the leftovers. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I love crunchy stuffing too. 🙂
Carol L
Lindsey says
Fabulous, Carol! Yes, it’ll be perfect for Christmas leftovers too! Enjoy it!!
Bert from First Time Mom says
Looks delish!!!
Patricia says
This looks PERFECT! I think we all have too much leftover turkey every year.
Thanks!
Lindsey says
Thanks Patricia! I hope you enjoy it – be sure to come back and let me know if you make it!
Amy H. says
Quick question- do you use prepared stuffing in the recipe, or dry?
Also, i love the yogurt switcheroo! We cant have mayo due to egg intolerance, so it really is a lifesaver!
Lindsey says
I prepared the stuffing, like it would be if you were using it as leftovers. I’ll definitely add that tip to the recipe. Thanks, Amy! Now you have a perfect mayo alternative!
Ruth V. says
YUM! This looks amazing! I’m definitely going to make this after Thanksgiving! Pinning for future reference 🙂
Lindsey says
Thank you, Ruth! It really is so yummy and so much better than plain ole Turkey Sandwiches! 😉 ENJOY!