No Turkey Sandwiches Here: 3 Healthy, Delish Ways to Use Your Thanksgiving Leftovers

Photo: Tieghan Gerard

After a full day of chopping, slicing, and simmering your way through your Thanksgiving prep list, there's nothing as rewarding as finally sitting down to tuck into your hard-earned dinner. (And if you beasted a Turkey Trot earlier in the day, well, that's just gravy). Yet, inevitably, the meal comes to an end and the leftovers are packaged up and put away. Long after the dishes have been washed and dried, one question remains: "How TF am I going to use all of this food?"

Erase all visions of dry turkey sandwiches and congealed sweet potatoes. Ahead, three buzzy healthy food bloggers share their favorite ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers in new dishes. Fair warning: You may enjoy the leftovers even more than your OG Turkey Day meal.

Keep reading for 3 Thanksgiving leftover recipes you'll gobble right up (had to).

Use Thanksgiving leftovers
Photo: Kara Lydon

Kara Lydon's Thanksgiving Breakfast Frittata

On her blog the Foodie Dietitian, Kara Lydon, RD, is known for cooking up veggie-filled recipes that make healthy swaps without sacrificing on flavor—like using Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream to give this frittata its fluffy texture. Use your leftover side dishes to throw together her breakfast frittata the day after Thanksgiving (when the last thing you want to do is cook a high-maintenance meal).

Use Thanksgiving leftovers in stuffed sweet potatoes
Photo: Jeanine Matthews

Jeanine Matthews' Fall Harvest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

If frequenting the farmer's market for seasonal produce is your thing, plant-based blogger Jeanine Matthews gets you. With the help of her husband Jack, Jeanine runs Love & Lemons, a (mostly) vegetarian blog that highlights seasonal produce in each delectable recipe. These stuffed sweet potatoes are a savory way to make use of leftovers for a quick snack, especially if you already have baked sweet potatoes on hand. Bonus: The filling is tossed in apple cider vinegar for an anti-inflammatory boost. What's not to love?

Use Thanksgiving leftovers in turkey gumbo
Photo: Tieghan Gerard

Tieghan Gerard's Thanksgiving Turkey Gumbo

The real head-scratcher with turkey-day leftovers, is well, the turkey. Fortunately, Half Baked Harvest blogger Tieghan Gerard has it covered with this gumbo recipe. Tieghan serves up seasonal comfort food (heavy on whole foods, not hollow calories) on Half Baked Harvest, and this gumbo recipe is no exception. Whip up a batch and you'll forget all about the falling temps as we head into December.

Need to make a last-minute grocery run on Thanksgiving Day? Here's how you might be able to time the trip. If you're looking for a way to skip the stress entirely this holiday season, take a cue from wellness experts and focus on gratitude

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