Leftover Turkey: Three Dinners and a 4-Day Plan

Short answer: leftover turkey keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and gravy only 1 to 2. Eat the turkey as melts on day 1 while the carcass simmers into stock, turn the gravy into a pot pie on day 2, make noodle soup on day 3, and freeze whatever is left by day 4.

Canadian Thanksgiving is Monday, October 12, and American Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. Either way, the next morning looks the same: half a bird, a container of gravy, a bowl of stuffing and a carcass nobody has dealt with. The problem is not ideas. It is that the clock started at dinner, and reheated turkey and gravy four nights running is how most of it ends up in the bin.

The three dinners below each change the turkey into something else, so nobody feels they are eating Thanksgiving again. They are ordered by what spoils first.

The first night: what to do before bed

This is the part that decides whether you have 4 days of food or a food-safety question. The USDA’s rules for turkey leftovers are short:

• Into the fridge within 2 hours of the turkey coming out of the oven. If dinner ran long and the platter sat out longer, the turkey on it should be thrown away.
• Carve the meat off the bones and refrigerate it in smaller pieces, in shallow containers. A whole carcass with meat on it cools too slowly in the fridge. The USDA does not recommend reheating a whole turkey.
• Take all the stuffing out of the bird and refrigerate it separately.
• Put the gravy in its own container. It keeps 1 to 2 days, so it gets used first.
• Keep the carcass, in a large bag or the roasting pan covered, in the fridge. It is tomorrow’s stock.

When you reheat leftovers, heat them to 165°F (74°C), and bring gravy to a rolling boil. Sources: the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service leftovers guide and the FoodSafety.gov cold food storage chart.

The 4-day plan

Each dinner uses 2 to 3 cups of turkey. If you have much more than about 8 cups, freeze some on day 1 instead of on day 4. It thaws better when it went into the freezer early.

Dinner 1: Turkey and cranberry melts (about 15 minutes)

The day after, nobody wants to cook. A melt uses the three things already in the fridge, turkey, cranberry sauce and cheese, and a hot pan makes the turkey taste like something new. Use the dry white meat here. Cheese and cranberry fix dry better than anything else.

Makes 4 sandwiches. You need:

• 2 to 3 cups sliced or pulled leftover turkey
• 8 slices sturdy bread, or 4 rolls split in half
• ½ cup cranberry sauce
• 4 to 8 slices cheese that melts: cheddar, Swiss, provolone or brie
• 2 tablespoons soft butter or mayonnaise, for the outside of the bread
• Optional: a spoon of leftover stuffing pressed thin, Dijon mustard, a handful of spinach

1. Spread butter or mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread. Turn them over.
2. On the plain side of four slices, layer cheese, turkey, a thin spread of cranberry sauce and more cheese. Add stuffing or mustard if you have it. Close the sandwiches, buttered side out.
3. Cook in a skillet over medium-low heat with a lid on for 3 to 4 minutes a side, until the bread is golden and the cheese has melted. The lid heats the turkey through before the bread burns.
4. Cut in half and eat. If the turkey in the middle is still cold, give it another minute with the lid on.

Out of cranberry sauce? A spoon of apricot jam or chutney does the same job. Out of bread? The same filling goes in a tortilla for a quesadilla.

Dinner 2: Turkey pot pie with the leftover gravy (about 45 minutes)

Make this on day 2, because gravy keeps only 1 to 2 days in the fridge, less than the turkey. The gravy becomes the sauce, so there is nothing to thicken. Only the pastry lid is new.

Makes 4 servings. You need:

• 3 cups diced leftover turkey, dark and white meat
• 1½ to 2 cups leftover gravy (or 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour and 1½ cups stock, cooked into a sauce)
• 2 cups vegetables: leftover roasted vegetables or green beans, or frozen peas and carrots
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed, or a tube of biscuits
• 1 egg, beaten, or a splash of milk
• Salt, pepper and a pinch of dried thyme or sage

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. In an oven-safe skillet, bring the gravy to a rolling boil, then stir in the turkey, vegetables and seasoning. If it is thick enough to stand a spoon in, loosen it with a splash of stock or water.
3. Take the pan off the heat. Lay the puff pastry over the top, or cover it with biscuits. Cut three slits in the pastry and brush it with egg.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and the filling bubbles at the edges. Let it sit 5 minutes before serving.

No oven-safe skillet? Heat the filling in any pan, then pour it into a baking dish before the pastry goes on. Leftover mashed potatoes spread on top instead of pastry make it a turkey shepherd’s pie.

Dinner 3: Turkey noodle soup from the carcass (about 30 minutes, once the stock is made)

The carcass is the most valuable leftover. It makes a stock that tastes better than anything from a carton, and it costs nothing. Start the stock on day 1 while you eat the melts. The soup itself takes half an hour on day 3.

Makes 6 servings. You need:

• 8 cups turkey stock (below)
• 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups dry egg noodles
• 2 to 3 cups shredded leftover turkey
• Salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon or a handful of dill or parsley at the end

1. Bring the stock to a boil. Add the carrots, celery and onion and simmer 10 minutes.
2. Add the noodles and cook as long as the package says, usually 7 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the turkey for the last 2 to 3 minutes, just long enough to heat through. Season with salt and pepper, then lemon or herbs.
4. If you plan to freeze some, cook the noodles separately for those portions. Noodles frozen in soup go soft.

The stock (about 3 hours, mostly unattended)

1. Break the carcass into pieces so it fits in your largest pot. Add any bones from the plates, the wing tips and the skin.
2. Cover with cold water, about 3 to 4 quarts (3 to 4 litres). Add an onion cut in half (skin on is fine), a carrot, a celery stalk, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns.
3. Bring it slowly to a simmer and keep it there, partly covered, for about 3 hours. Do not let it boil hard, or the stock turns cloudy and greasy.
4. Strain it and cool it fast: divide it into shallow containers and get it into the fridge within 2 hours. The same rules as cooling a big pot of soup apply. A whole stockpot left on the stove overnight is the mistake to avoid.
5. When it is cold, lift the fat off the top. Use the stock within 3 to 4 days or freeze it.

A carcass from a 12- to 16-pound turkey usually makes enough stock for this soup with some left to freeze. Treat the carcass like the rest of the leftovers: make the stock within the first day or two, not on day 5.

Freezing what is left

Anything you will not eat by day 4 goes in the freezer. Pack the turkey in 2-cup portions, the size one of these dinners needs, in freezer bags with the air pressed out, and write the date on them. Frozen at 0°F (−18°C) it stays safe indefinitely. For the best texture, eat it within 2 to 6 months. Stock and gravy are best within 2 to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then use within 3 to 4 days.

Stuffing and mashed potatoes freeze too, but they come back softer. The pot pie topping is a good use for both.

Where RecipeScan helps, and where it does not

Turkey leftovers are the same problem every year, so the useful thing is to keep the recipes that worked. In RecipeScan you can save a recipe from a website link, set the servings, and cook it step by step in Cooking Mode, and the free plan keeps 3 recipes of your own. The ingredients you are missing go on a grocery list.

What the app does not do: it cannot tell whether your turkey is still safe to eat. Count the days yourself, and when in doubt, throw it out.

The rest of the long weekend: music, photos and the drive home

Music for the leftovers dinner

The second dinner with the family is louder than the first. If you are hosting again, the Thanksgiving dinner music guide from Trending Music splits the music into three short playlists, one for arrival, one quiet enough to talk over at the table and one for dessert and the dishes, and it covers where to put the speaker. It is written by the team behind Trending Music, a free music app with ads.

The holiday photo pile

A holiday weekend leaves dozens of nearly identical photos of the same table and the same group shot. Pick the best one and clear the rest in a single pass: this guide to deleting multiple photos on iPhone at once shows the drag-to-select trick in Photos, and the iCloud trap to check first. It comes from the makers of Phone Diet, an iPhone storage cleaner.

Is the drive to Thanksgiving tax-deductible?

No. Driving to a family dinner is a personal trip, in the US and in Canada, however far it is. Mileage only counts when the trip is for work, for example between two work locations or to meet a client, and the commute to your regular workplace never counts. Business miles vs commuting miles explains what does count, with a quick table. It is written by the team behind TaxMiles, a mileage tracker.

Frequently asked questions

How long is leftover turkey good for in the fridge?

3 to 4 days, according to the USDA. Count from Thanksgiving dinner, not from when you first open the container. Gravy keeps only 1 to 2 days. If you will not eat the turkey within 4 days, freeze it.

Can you freeze leftover turkey?

Yes. Freeze it in portions, in freezer bags or containers with as much air pressed out as possible. It stays safe indefinitely at 0°F (−18°C), and the USDA suggests eating it within 2 to 6 months for the best quality. Thaw it in the fridge.

Can turkey sit out overnight?

No. Cooked turkey should go into the fridge within 2 hours of coming out of the oven. Turkey left on the counter overnight should be thrown away. Reheating it does not make it safe.

How do you reheat leftover turkey without drying it out?

Reheat it to 165°F (74°C), the temperature the USDA recommends for leftovers, but add moisture: a splash of stock or gravy, covered, in a low oven or a pan with a lid. Or skip reheating and use it in a dish that adds sauce, like the pot pie or the soup.

How long does turkey stock last?

3 to 4 days in the fridge, like other soups and stocks, or 2 to 3 months in the freezer for the best quality. Cool it in shallow containers so it reaches the fridge within 2 hours.

Can I reheat the whole turkey?

The USDA does not recommend reheating a whole turkey. Cut the meat off the bones first, then reheat only what you will eat.