For many, the day after Thanksgiving means pivoting into full-fledged Christmas mode. It means Christmas tree farms, peppermint everything, shopping in a frenzy, and continuing the food coma from the day before. As for me, I drink peppermint mochas all year long and put my tree up well before Turkey Day. And while I’ve boycotted all things Black Friday purchasing the past few years, I can get on board with continuing the absolute euphoria that comes with all things Thanksgiving food. My family started to plan our Thanksgiving menu when the temperature dropped below 70. The smorgasbord of yumminess we end up with always induces the aforementioned food coma. Despite the many, many family and friends that join us to celebrate, the amount of leftovers is always substantial. We’ve been known to give away food to neighbors and others because of our overcompensation. Those leftovers bring about one of my favorite post-Thanksgiving traditions: the Thanksgiving leftovers pie.
This idea for a Thanksgiving leftovers pie came about after seeing a post from one of my favorite Indianapolis spots: Pots & Pans Pie Co. They have a Thanksgiving dinner pot pie on their menu that immediately perks up my salivary glands. It contains turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and cornbread stuffing, all sandwiched between delicious pie crusts. I knew immediately that I needed to create my own version of this at home with my pounds of leftovers.
The great thing about the Thanksgiving leftovers pie is that you can craft it to suite your tastebuds. The ingredients can be what you have on hand and what your family enjoys. I’ve made every ingredient from scratch (I love using a couple of my favorite sourdough recipes) and used store-bought items to go along with the leftovers. The point of the pie is to not only make life easier after a busy holiday but also to continue to enjoy the holiday with loved ones.
Here is my favorite recipe for Thanksgiving leftovers pie!
- 1 cup cranberry sauce
- 1.5 cups mashed potatoes
- 1.5 cups gravy
- 2 cups stuffing
- 2 cups turkey or protein of choice
- pie crust
- salt + pepper
*If making any ingredients from scratch, allow them to cool before assembling the pie.
*Pie can be made in the traditional pot pie style with a crust on the bottom and top OR casserole style with a crust only on top.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Layer your ingredients in the following order (either in the pie crust or greased casserole dish): stuffing on the bottom followed by mashed potatoes, turkey, and gravy. Sprinkle on the seasonings.
- Finally, dollop on the cranberry sauce and top it with the pie crust.
- Cut slits in the top crust to enable steam to escape.
- Crimp or fold over the edges of the pie crust.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting.
The best thing about this recipe is that even though on actual Thanksgiving Day, my kids usually only eat a roll and pumpkin pie, they gobble this up! It makes me as giddy as Ross Geller with his moist maker Thanksgiving sandwich (iykyk) to enjoy this with my family. I hope you try this version (or make up your own) and love it as much as we do!
