If you’ve ever had shepherd’s pie before, you know just how hearty and delicious it can be. Still, we usually make it from scratch rather than using a bunch of ingredients we have lying around. In this case, using your Thanksgiving leftovers just makes more sense (and tastes amazing). The recipe comes from Baked by Rachel and here’s how you do it:

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of chopped onion
1/3 cup of chopped celery
1/3 cup of chopped carrots
1 clove of minced garlic
2 1/2 cups of turkey meat
1/4 cup of peas or green beans
1/4 cup of corn
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of basil
1 cup of gravy
2 cup of mashed potatoes
4 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Get out a skillet and melt your butter over medium heat. Add your onions, celery and carrots.
3. Cook the onions until they’re translucent and add garlic, cooking for another minute.
4. Add your turkey, corn and peas along with seasonings and gravy.
5. Move everything over to a baking dish and press it down into an even layer.
6. Heat up your mashed potatoes and add half of your shredded cheese, stirring it up.
7. Spread the potatoes over the turkey and throw your leftover cheese on top.
8. Bake the dish for 30 minutes and broil at the end to char the cheese!

As a good way to reinvigorate to plain old mashed potatoes, you could make these delicious fried potato bites courtesy of the Cookie Rookie. If you’ve ever been to a restaurant like Applebee’s or Chili’s, this should be familiar as a tasty appetizer. Here’s how you make it:

3 cups of mashed potatoes
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of chopped green onions
3/4 cup of bacon crumbles
8 ounces of cubed Colby Jack
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of grated parmesan
salt
pepper
oil

1. Mix your potatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, onions and bacon.
2. Scoop the mix out in one-inch balls and push a cube of cheese into each one. Roll each one up again after.
3. Put all the balls on a plate and refrigerate them for 30 minutes.
4. Put your egg in a shallow bowl and mix bread crumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper in another bowl.
5. Dip each ball into the egg and then into the bread crumbs and put each one back on the plate.
6. Heat a pot or a Dutch oven with two to three inches of oil up to 375 degrees.
7. Drop your potato balls in it three to four at a time. Stir them with a slotted spoon and cook each one for two to three minutes.
8. When they’re done, take the balls out with your slotted spoon and let them dry on paper towels.

If you want to use the rest of your turkey but also want to work a little bit of veggies into it, these turkey and Cobb salad sandwiches from Country Living are worth a try. Each of these tastes great and couldn’t be simpler to throw together.

3 cups of cubed leftover turkey
2 cups of chopped lettuce
1 avocado
1 Roma tomato
1 red onion
4 strips of cooked bacon
2 ounces of blue cheese
4 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons of pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
6 pitas

1. Mix your first seven ingredients together in a bowl and set it aside.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix your mayonnaise, vinegar, pepper and salt.
3. Add the dressing to your salad and toss it.
4. To make your sandwiches, cut a pita in half and stuff each one with half a cup of the salad.

If you’re looking to make a heartier meal out of your leftovers that you can eat for days, this creamy turkey and noodle casserole from Lil’ Tuna is definitely worth a try. It’s very easy to throw together and it tastes incredible. Here’s how you make it:

16 ounces of uncooked bowtie pasta
1/4 cup of butter
16 ounces of frozen mixed veggies
6 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
14-16 ounces of chopped turkey
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 cups of Italian cheese
salt
pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Cook the pasts as directed on the package.
3. As your pasta cooks, add your butter to a pot. When it melts, add your frozen veggies to thaw them out.
4. Add flour and cook for one to two minutes, stirring throughout.
5. Stir in milk and bring everything to a boil. Keep cooking until it thickens and add turkey, soup, sour cream, salt and pepper.
6. Mix everything up before draining your pasta and adding it to the sauce.
7. Stir everything up and scoop it into a greased 9×13 pan.
8. Top the dish with cheese, cover it and top it for 25 to 30 minutes.
9. After that, take the cover off and cook it for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Got any leftover yams? If you do, this incredible dessert-style recipe from Country Living is a must-try. Because sweet potatoes have a very unique flavor that is both sweet and savory, this dessert bread recipe brings everything together in one tasty package. Here’s how you do it:

2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of toasted pecan halves

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Get out a food processor and blend together your mashed yams, brown sugar, eggs, milk, orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and salt until smooth.
3. Butter up six ramekins and spread your sweet potato mix across the ramekins.
4. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and cook them for 30 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes when they’re done.
5. In the meantime, get out a saucepan and add your 1/4 cup of water and sugar together over medium-low heat. Don’t stir it.
6. Turn the heat up to medium high and boil it for five to six minutes until it turns a deeper brown color.
7. Take it off the heat and whisk in your cream before stirring in butter and salt.
8. Add your pecans and stir them up to coat, cooling them for 10 minutes.
9. When it’s all done, top your spoon bread with a sixth of the salted-caramel pecans and serve.

Sloppy joes are a simple and delicious meal that you can whip up in no time. Still, these turkey sloppy joes from The Blond Cook are perfect for the day after Thanksgiving. Once you try this recipe, you may want to make this again and again. Here’s how you do it:

2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 pound of ground turkey
1/2 cup of chopped yellow onion
1/3 cup of chopped green bell pepper
1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
3/4 cup of ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons of yellow mustard
2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
4 hamburger buns

1. Get a skillet over medium high heat and add your olive oil.
2. Add ground turkey, onion and bell pepper and cook it for four to five minutes.
3. Cook it for four to five minutes, breaking up the turkey with a wooden spoon.
4. Add your tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir everything up to combine.
5. Turn the heat down, cover the pan and let it simmer for five minutes.
6. When the sauce thickens enough, scoop it out and serve it on your hamburger buns.

While you can eat it on its own or thrown into a sandwich, this recipe for turkey, cranberry and almond salad from Fashionable Foods is another great option for your leftovers. If you’re looking for a lighter, healthier leftover option, this one is definitely worth a try. Here’s how you do it:

3 cups of shredded turkey
3/4 cup of chopped celery
1/4 cup of chopped red onion
1/3 cup of dried cranberries
1/3 cup of sliced almonds
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 teaspoons of whole grain mustard
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
salt
pepper

1. Start by mixing together your turkey, celery, red onion, cranberries, almonds and parsley in a bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix your mayonnaise, mustard and apple cider vinegar. Season it up with salt and pepper before pouring the dressing over the turkey mix.
3. Toss everything together and let it chill for 20 minutes.
4. Eat as is or scoop onto a sandwich!

If you’re looking for a recipe where you can throw everything into one dish and enjoy it, this casserole recipe from Life Tastes Good is just the ticket. You already know all the ingredients taste great on their own so why not combine them? Here’s what you do:

4 cups of prepared stuffing
4 cups of chopped turkey
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup of cranberry sauce
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray down an eight-inch baking dish.
2. Scoop in two cups of your stuffing before topping that off with your turkey.
3. Mix 1/4 cup of mayonnaise with your cranberry sauce before spreading that on top as well.
4. Mix the leftover mayonnaise with your mashed potatoes and cheese in a bigger bowl. Spread that over the rest of the food before topping with two more cups of stuffing.
5. Bake the entire thing for 40 minutes and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving!

If you want to repurpose your turkey leftovers into more of a stew, this turkey and wild rice dish from Mountain Mama Cooks will fit the bill. Although it’s a soup that’s quite simple to throw together, the end result is a savory, hearty meal that should feed you and your family long past Thanksgiving. Here’s how you do it:

3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup of chopped carrot
3/4 cup of chopped celery
6 ounces of diced mushrooms
2 cloves of minced garlic
4 tablespoons of flour
4 cups of turkey stock
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup of wild rice
2 1/2 cups of chopped turkey
1/2 cup of half-and-half
1 tablespoon of chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1. Melt butter and olive oil in a large stock pot on medium heat.
2. Add your onions, carrots and celery and cook everything for 10 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and garlic, cooking for another five minutes.
4. Stir in flour and cook for three to four more minutes until the flour browns and cooks through.
5. Pour in turkey stock, soy sauce and bay leaf. Keep stirring before turning the heat up to medium-high and bringing everything to a boil.
6. Turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Add wild rice and let it simmer for 35 minutes.
8. Add your turkey, milk, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 20 more minutes.
9. When it’s ready, scoop the soup into bowls and garnish with thyme!

While most of these recipes seem pretty intuitive, this leftover Thanksgiving turkey pizza from Recipe Runner is a little bit outside of the box. When you really think about it, though, it’s a no-brainer. Thanksgiving food is delicious and so is virtually any pizza you’re likely to try—why not combine the two? Here’s how you do it:

1 pound of pizza dough
3/4 cup of cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
1 cup of shredded turkey
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese
3 tablespoons of sliced red onion
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and spray down a baking sheet.
2. Roll your pizza dough out on and put it on your baking sheet, setting it aside.
3. Get out a small bowl and mix together your cranberry and barbecue sauces.
4. Spread half of the sauce onto the pizza and add half of your chopped turkey, mixing it together so that the turkey is coated.
5. Top the pizza off with cheese, the rest of the turkey and some sliced red onion.
6. Bake your pizza for 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust turns golden and the cheese is melty.
7. When it’s done, take the pizza out, top it with cilantro and serve!