For many of us, Thanksgiving entails gorging ourselves on excessive amounts of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and a wide range of other foods. Even so, it's almost impossible for everyone to finish the entire meal. Anyone hosting a Thanksgiving dinner is usually left with mountains of uneaten food. While leftovers don't always make the best meals, Thanksgiving leftovers provide you with many delicious possibilities.
Proper Storage
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When storing your Thanksgiving leftovers, it is important that you have everything wrapped and put away in the refrigerator within two hours of cooking. This way, the food will be less likely to develop bacteria. For the turkey, you'll want to remove all remaining meat from the bones and put the leftovers into shallow, airtight containers. Generally, leftover turkey can be kept in the refrigerator for up to four days and stored in the freezer for up to four months. Most of your side dishes can be kept for up to four days as well. On the other hand, stuffing and gravy should only be stored for one or two days, but these items can be kept in the freezer for a longer period.
ReheatingEven if you take every precaution when storing your leftovers, they may still be contaminated with bacteria or mold. To prevent food poisoning, it is important to properly reheat the leftovers. When reheating turkey, the internal temperature of the meat should be at least 165 degrees, which will kill any possible bacteria. Leftover gravy should be cooked until boiling, and all other leftovers should be thoroughly heated.
Leftover Meal IdeasNow that you know the proper way to store and cook your leftovers, you can begin creating new meals. Here are just some of the many ways to bring new life to your Thanksgiving leftovers:
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- You can save the bones and carcass of the turkey to make it into a soup or stock. Simply boil the remains in water, adding any seasonings, vegetables, beans, or pasta as desired.
- Cranberry sauce can be made into a number of different treats. You can combine it with cream cheese and put the mixture on bagels. You could also heat up the leftover cranberry sauce and pour over ice cream, brownies, or any other dessert.
- There are endless possibilities for leftover turkey. You can slice the turkey and make turkey sandwiches or fajitas, or you could cut it into cubes and place on top of a salad or mix with noodles to make a casserole.
- There are even ways to utilize all of your Thanksgiving leftovers in one dish. You could throw the turkey, vegetables, and gravy into a pie tin and top with mashed potatoes or stuffing. Just put it in the oven and you'll have a Thanksgiving shepherd's pie. Also, you can create a supreme Thanksgiving sandwich by piling a little bit of everything in between two slices of bread or on a roll.