Well, we at Oliver’s put our heads together about this so that you don’t have to!

Dish by dish, here are our tips for delicious new ways to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers.

Turkey: Chopped up dark and white meat can go into soup or be folded into a burrito or quesadilla.

If you have a good quantity remaining, you can freeze diced turkey for future recipes, or use turkey, veggies, and gravy as the base of a Turkey Pot Pie or a Shepherd’s Pie.

Potatoes: Mashed potatoes can go into a hearty soup, or can be fried up into soft and delicious pancakes. You could also try heating your mashed potatoes in a waffle iron, topping it with gravy, stuffing, etc., or go in another direction with baked potato toppings like bacon, cheese, and chives!

You could also give Leftover Mashed Potato Rolls a try.

Stuffing: At our house, there is rarely leftover stuffing, but if this happens to you, please know that you are one of the lucky ones.

A popular trend right now is to cook all kinds of food in a waffle iron, but of all the food ideas being floated out there, preparing stuffing this way has to be one of the best! Adding some crispy pockets to your stuffing where your turkey and gravy can mingle seems pretty brilliant to us!  Here’s how the Food Network does it.

Of course, leftover stuffing in a sandwich always takes it to another level, especially if that sandwich is a panini or open faced melt of some kind.

Gravy: As sauce or topping for any of the dishes mentioned above, leftover gravy is your friend. It also freezes well if you prefer to save it for future uses. (Use an ice cube tray to freeze the gravy in cubes so that you can easily thaw only what you need in the future.)

Cranberry Sauce or Cranberries:  There are SO many ways to use cranberries or the sauce beyond the big event. Both sweet and savory recipes about with a little research. For starters, though, cranberries can be added to baked goods and salsa, and sauce can be used as a coffee cake filling, or an addition to other breakfast sweet items. On the savory side, it can be added to a bruschetta or canape to add a sweet, tart element, or added to a Baked Brie with other fall flavors. Cranberries or sauce can also be frozen for 1-3 months to use at a later date.

Pumpkin Pie:  Once you have had your share of Pumpkin Pie, what comes next? Spoon University shares three great ideas, but best of which seems to be White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Truffles, but runners-up are Pumpkin Pie Milkshake and Pumpkin Pie Trifle.

Pumpkin Pie Filling: If you have filling on hand that didn’t get used, fear not! There are many delicious recipes that start with the filling, and the people at Insanely Good Recipes tracked them all down. Starting with Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Cookies, and Pumpkin Donuts, and veering over to Pumpkin Pie Fudge, Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, and a Pumpkin Cake Roll, their blog lists 20 intriguing recipes.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully it kicks off your own creative ideas for these traditional, delicious leftovers, and ways that you can take them to new dimensions.

Happy Thanksgiving!