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You are here: Home / Mains / Creamy Turkey Shepherd’s Pie (aka Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd’s Pie!)

Creamy Turkey Shepherd’s Pie (aka Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd’s Pie!)

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This is the recipe to use up all of your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey dinner leftovers! A creamy base loaded with turkey and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes — the perfect comfort food!

This is the recipe to use up all of your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey dinner leftovers! A creamy base loaded with turkey and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes -- the perfect comfort food!

You know what I love? Leftovers.

They have to be the right leftovers though. Leftover pancakes? No thanks. Some people claim you can make pancakes in advance and reheat them….. and you absolutely can. I’m just not going to eat them.

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Leftover soup or pizza? Can’t get enough of it.

This is the recipe to use up all of your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey dinner leftovers! A creamy base loaded with turkey and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes -- the perfect comfort food!

And though I’ve never actually made a whole turkey, I almost want to some years, just for the leftover turkey. There are just so many things you can do with it!

So when I had made us a nice Labor Day Thanksgiving dinner (I wish I was joking #foodbloggerproblems), I found myself with leftover Turkey and mashed potatoes. So I started dreaming up ways to use them. Obviously, Shepherd’s Pie was top of the list.

This is the recipe to use up all of your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey dinner leftovers! A creamy base loaded with turkey and vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes -- the perfect comfort food!

I mean, it’s kind of brilliant, right? You can throw in pretty much everything from your holiday dinner: the turkey, the gravy, the veg, the potatoes. Stuffing? Why not! Throw it on top and crisp it up.

For my recipe below, I used precooked turkey and mashed potatoes, but I’ll include some directions to help if you’re using up leftover vegetables and gravy, too.

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Creamy Turkey Shepherd's Pie (aka Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie!)

This Creamy Turkey Shepherd's Pie is perfect for thanksgiving leftovers! Easy and hearty.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 255kcal
Author Ashley Fehr

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp butter or canola oil divided
  • 1/2 small onion finely diced
  • 2 large carrots peeled and finely diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 stalk celery finely diced (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups cooked chopped turkey
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 cups mashed potatoes

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 375 degrees F (*but not if you are making ahead -- see notes).
  • In a medium oven-safe skillet, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium-high heat (or add canola oil). Add onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until tender (about 15-20 minutes). Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
  • Add one more tablespoon butter or canola oil to cooked vegetables. Add flour and stir until combined completely. Add broth, and cook and stir until broth is thickened.
  • Stir in peas and turkey until peas are warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add thyme.
  • Top with mashed potatoes and dab with remaining butter or brush with 1 tbsp canola oil. Bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are heated through.

Notes

*To Make Ahead: prepare the casserole completely but do not bake. Cover in plastic wrap or tin foil and refrigerate up to 1-2 days in advance, then bake as directed. You may need to add an additional 10-20 minutes baking time.
** To Use Leftover Vegetables: you get to skip ahead! Instead of having to cook the veggies all the way through, just reheat the leftover vegetables you're using in the butter, then add the extra butter and flour, then broth, and continue on with the recipe.
*** To Use Leftover Gravy: Depending on how much you have leftover, you may want to just add it in with the turkey and peas if it's a small amount. Or you may want to skip the extra tbsp butter, flour and broth that makes the gravy in the recipe, and simple stir in your own if you have at least 1.5 cups.

Nutrition (this is an estimate)

Nutrition Facts
Creamy Turkey Shepherd's Pie (aka Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie!)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 255 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 9g 14%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 23mg 8%
Sodium 304mg 13%
Potassium 605mg 17%
Total Carbohydrates 32g 11%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars 3g
Protein 11g 22%
Vitamin A 72.6%
Vitamin C 48.7%
Calcium 3.3%
Iron 7.5%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Creamy Turkey Shepherd’s Pie (aka Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd’s Pie!)
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 3 tbsp butter or canola oil, divided
  • 1/2 small onion, finely diced
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and finely diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups cooked, chopped turkey
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 cups mashed potatoes
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F (*but not if you are making ahead — see notes).
  2. In a medium oven-safe skillet, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium-high heat (or add canola oil). Add onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until tender (about 15-20 minutes). Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
  3. Add one more tablespoon butter or canola oil to cooked vegetables. Add flour and stir until combined completely. Add broth, and cook and stir until broth is thickened.
  4. Stir in peas and turkey until peas are warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add thyme.
  5. Top with mashed potatoes and dab with remaining butter or brush with 1 tbsp canola oil. Bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are heated through.
Notes
*To Make Ahead: prepare the casserole completely but do not bake. Cover in plastic wrap or tin foil and refrigerate up to 1-2 days in advance, then bake as directed. You may need to add an additional 10-20 minutes baking time.[br]** To Use Leftover Vegetables: you get to skip ahead! Instead of having to cook the veggies all the way through, just reheat the leftover vegetables you’re using in the butter, then add the extra butter and flour, then broth, and continue on with the recipe.[br]*** To Use Leftover Gravy: Depending on how much you have leftover, you may want to just add it in with the turkey and peas if it’s a small amount. Or you may want to skip the extra tbsp butter, flour and broth that makes the gravy in the recipe, and simple stir in your own if you have at least 1.5 cups.

 

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Comments

  1. Brilliant! Use whatever you have leftover from Thanksgiving and make a delicious casserole! I love it! Tweak this recipe a bit and use your leftovers from a large ham dinner also!

    Reply

  6. This is the best way to use up all those leftovers! 🙂 Shepherds pie is the ultimate comfort dish! This looks amazing and I love how easy it is too!

    Reply

  7. Hi Ashley! Perfect for all those leftovers! My husband makes a casserole he call “squish” where he layers all the leftovers (except the cranberry sauce) and bakes it until it is hot and bubbly – very similar to this. Our good friend brought us a 16 pound ham a few days ago and yesterday he showed up with an 8 pound prime rib – I already had an 8 pound turkey breast thawing in the frig!! I truly appreciate his generosity, but the problem is it is just the two of us and him for Thanksgiving!! I’m going to be making many things with leftovers this year! 🙂

    Reply

    • Wow, it sounds like you’ll be left with a lot of food! I love leftovers, especially the meat! This year I cooked a ham and a turkey, chopped them both up and froze in individual bags for quick meals. It’s so handy to have! Enjoy your Thanksgiving Dorothy!

      Reply

  9. Ahh I’m totally craving this for breakfast right now! I love thinking of new ways to use leftover turkey, so this looks fantastic! Shepherds pies are always so warm and comforting, so this is just perfect for all of that leftover food I’ll have on Friday. Looks so delish!

    Reply

  10. Oh Ashley. Is it weird that I kind of want to marry you right now? This looks so, so good!! I cooked an entire turkey for the first time two years ago for Christmas, and then almost our entire family got the flu on the 24th and we ended up with one huge turkey and four people eating. I wish I would have had this recipe then, because I really didn’t know what to do with SO many leftovers!

    Reply

    • Haha, I will put mashed potatoes on EVerything! 😉 I love having leftover cooked meat in the freezer ready for those days I’m too lazy to really cook. I would have been ecstatic! (Though not so much about the flu!)

      Reply

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