thanksgiving leftover sliders
aka cheesy cranberry turkey melt sliders!!!
Hi and happy Thanksgiving Eve!! You’ll be getting double-header emails today — first, this week’s recipe, and second, a Thanksgiving-themed So Into That!
My in-laws are in town and have been taking the boys on epic rainy day adventures while George and I worked, and now I’m excited to take the rest of the week off! We’re headed to our friends’ house for a displaced-East-Coasters-in-California-with-no-family-nearby Thanksgiving tomorrow, then we’ll spend some time up at our cabin off the grid this weekend. I’m bringing The Hollywood Honeymoon Switch to read, my cousin group text was popping off about how fun this game is for kids so I bought it to bring up there, we’ll hike a lot, I’ll be tweaking recipes for this year’s easy-but-fancy holiday menu (here’s last year’s!). It’ll be nice and cozy (and also, complete chaos, because… three small children in a small cabin).
If you’re shopping Black Friday sales, everything in my Flagship shop (the cool new site I’m using to work with more small businesses versus the Amazon-ification of everything) that’s on sale can be found HERE! The trickiest part about shopping small is all the shipping fees, and Flagship allows you to consolidate your cart for tons of small businesses and get free shipping for orders over $75. It’s been really fun to play around with, check it out!
We decided to send this week’s recipe a few days early because it’s an updated spin on my cult fave CHEESY CRANBERRY TURKEY SLIDERS and you’re gonna want to make them the day after Thanksgiving… or maybe even as a Thanksgiving Day late-night snack?! So go ahead and grab a pack of King’s Hawaiian rolls and some cheese during your inevitable last-minute grocery store run today! You probably already have (or will have…) everything else!
I first developed this recipe six years ago, and it’s become a beloved staple on many day-after-Thanksgiving tables ever since. But this year we’re updating it — instead of simply layering sliced turkey on the roll, we are going to mix it with mayo and cranberry sauce first. Why? Because there’s always crappy, dry turkey in the leftovers container, and now you’ll have something to do with it. Mixing even the driest shredded turkey with the cranberry-mayo sauce adds moisture without making it too mayonnaise-y. It’s delicious, and really takes these sliders to the next level.
In case you have a ton of leftover turkey, here are more ideas for what to do with it! Swap the meat in these recipes out for shredded turkey — use about 3 cups of cooked shredded turkey per pound of meat in the recipe. Since it has already been cooked, you’ll add it in for the final 10 minutes of cooking (unless otherwise instructed in the recipe).
parmesan pot pie (this is my #1 rec!)
white chicken chili (this is a great use for dry turkey!)
sheet-pan harvest bowl with cranberry vinaigrette + shredded turkey
Serves 4
Cook time: 30 minutes
Tools:
Long serrated knife (or a chef’s knife if it’s all you’ve got)
Small microwavable bowl
Pastry/basting brush (or just use your hands if you don’t have one)
Ingredients:
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