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.
Leftover soup or pizza? Can’t get enough of it.
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.
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.
Creamy Turkey Shepherd's Pie (aka Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepherd's Pie!)
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.
Recipe Notes
** 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.
Alyssa @ My Sequined Life says
Oooh I’m kind of wishing I made a turkey so I could make this shepherd’s pie with the leftovers! Dishes like this are my faaavorite!!
Ashley Fehr says
Haha, there’s still time! 😉
Michelle @ Modern Acupuncture says
Love this! Shepherd’s Pie is so comforting. Sadly we didn’t have ANY leftovers from Thanksgiving! Clearly we’re doing something wrong. Next year though… can’t wait to give this a try!
Petra @ CrumblesAndKale says
What a great way to use up the leftovers, it looks delicious!
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Mary Frances says
Thanksgiving leftovers make me so happy! I love how you used them here. Talk about ultimate comfort food!
Kelly says
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!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Kelly! It’s one of my favorite dishes to improvise with!
Dorothy Dunton says
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! 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
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!
Jen | Baked by an Introvert says
I have a feeling we are going to have a ton of leftovers. This shepherds pie will be a fantastic way to use them up!
Ashley Fehr says
It definitely will Jen!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
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!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Gayle! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
Nora | Savory Nothings says
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!
Ashley Fehr says
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!)