Put those Thanksgiving leftovers to good use and make this cheesy turkey casserole with spinach, pancetta, and a crispy breadcrumb topping.

Cheesy Turkey Casserole

Planning, prepping, cooking and serving a large holiday meal is a challenging undertaking, but coming up with creative and tasty ways to use the leftovers? Um, hello scary. I find a fridge full of leftovers intimidating and a lot of the time our tasty odds and ends from big dinners languish in the fridge just to be tossed out a few days later. I know, it’s terrible – I hate to even admit it.

Part of the problem is the amount of food we cook. For example, we piled our table high with all sorts of dishes for Christmas dinner – enough to feed a small army. In planning, I try to limit the number of sides, but inevitably I end up with all sorts of stuff because “we have to have this” or “we can’t have Christmas dinner without that”. That’s how you end up with three kinds of potatoes. It gets a little out of hand.

So now we have a fridge of leftovers, but I refuse to be intimidated by them this time. We’ve already had a few rounds of sandwiches and I made an awesome “turkey bowl” – mashed potatoes topped with veggies, cheese, turkey, and a dollop of cranberry sauce. So we’re making progress – the goal is to use it all up.

Next on the list? Cheesy Turkey Casserole.

Cheesy Turkey Casserole | Girl Gone Gourmet

Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole

Don’t you think casseroles are the best way to use up leftovers? They’re versatile, easy to make, and can be frozen for future dinners. I made this one with the goal to use as much as possible without making it a freak show of ingredients:

Leftover turkey,
We had Yorkshire puddings leftover, but any kind of bread will work – leftover dinner rolls, sliced bread, etc.
Cooked pancetta or bacon
Spinach
Shredded cheddar cheese

I also used pasta, milk, leftover fresh herbs, spices and Dijon mustard to make this casserole. Just a few other ingredients to pull all of those leftovers together.

How to Make the Casserole

It all starts with a simple cheddar cheese sauce made with butter, milk, flour, herbs and mustard. To it, you add the leftover turkey, spinach, some herbs, and tiny bit of dijon mustard.
Then you mix in the pasta and pour it all into a baking dish. Top it with breadcrumbs (you can chop up leftover dinner rolls in a food processor or use leftover breadcrumbs from the stuffing).
After sprinkling the breadcrumbs over the top, add the cooked pancetta or bacon and a bit more shredded cheddar.
After about 40ish minutes in the oven, it came out hot, bubbly, and cheesy.
We each devoured a bowlful for lunch and then I wrapped up the remainder to store in the freezer to reheat for dinner on a busy weeknight. Done and done. Thank you, leftovers!

More Cozy Comfort Food Recipes

Chicken Cordon Blue Pasta
Shepherd’s Pie
Meatloaf with Balsamic Mushroom Sauce