The BEST Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipes! (2024)

FAQs

Are the leftovers the best part of Thanksgiving? ›

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.

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.

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, ...

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.

Potatoes are an absolute must for the Thanksgiving table, and we like Scalloped Potatoes for the texture (and cheesiness). Classic Mashed Potatoes make everyone happy. Our Thanksgiving plate is normally at least sixty percent mashed potatoes.

USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.

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.

"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.”

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.

What two food items were not present at the original Thanksgiving? ›

It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn't yet have mills to produce flour.

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

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.

"For the third year in a row, cranberry sauce takes first place as the most disliked traditional Thanksgiving food. Over 31% of respondents, 82 million American adults, do not want cranberry sauce for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Terms may apply to offers listed on this page. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people is $61.17. This year's average Turkey Day feast cost is slightly more affordable than in 2022, when the total average cost to feed 10 people was $64.05.

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.

Apparently I'm in the minority, as this poll reported that 80 percent of Americans prefer the leftover version.

It comes down to how the various ingredients in a dish, including spices, proteins, starches, and fats, continue to meld together long after they're fully cooked, resulting in an umami masterpiece worth waiting for.

According to the survey, an overwhelming majority of Americans, 94 percent, dine on a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.