Check Out These Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipes from the Disney Parks!
Can you believe it’s almost time for Thanksgiving?! Yep, in just a little over a week, it’ll be time to carve those turkeys and gather ’round the table with your loved ones to eat a bunch of delicious food.
Photo: Disney
And with that delicious food comes a bunch of delicious leftovers as well! But it can be hard to think of what to do with all of your leftovers.
Luckily, Disney is here to help! They’re sharing a few retired Disney Parks recipes that use turkey, ham, and sides that you can recreate with your leftovers this year.
Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipes
Warm Turkey Sandwich
First up, we have the Warm Turkey Sandwich, which used to be at EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays. It uses leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce.
Photo: Disney
If you want to save some time on this recipe, you can make the Stuffing Bread while you’re putting together the main meal and refrigerate until it’s time to assemble the sandwiches.
Recipe:
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Stuffing Bread
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 1/4 cup diced celery
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 (6 ounce) box dry stuffing mix
- 1 cup turkey or chicken broth, hot
- coarse salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 eggs, lightly beaten
Warm Turkey Sandwich
- 8 slices turkey
- 2 cups mashed potatoes
- 1 cup turkey gravy
- 2 cups green bean casserole
- 1/2 cup cranberry sauce
Photo: Disney
Instructions
Stuffing Bread
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Heat butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat until melted. Add onion and celery and sauté for 8 minutes, until soft. Add fresh herbs and stir to combine.
- Combine dry stuffing mix with chicken broth in a large bowl. Add onion and celery. Season with salt and pepper, as needed.
- Stir in eggs until combined.
- Spread stuffing in prepared 9×13-inch pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Warm Turkey Sandwich
- Heat leftover mashed potatoes, turkey slices, gravy, and green bean casserole.
- Preheat broiler to high. Cut stuffing bread into 8 pieces and place on a baking sheet.
- Broil for 1 minute on each side, until toasted.
- Place 1 piece of stuffing bread on each plate. Top each piece of bread with 1/4 of the mashed potatoes and 1 slice of turkey breast. Top with remaining 4 slices of stuffing bread.
- Ladle gravy on top of the sandwich.
- Top each sandwich with cranberry sauce.
- Serve with green bean casserole on the side.
Holiday Ham Slider with Cranberry-Bacon Jam
The Holiday Ham Slider with Cranberry-Bacon Jam used to be at Disney Festival of the Holidays at Disney California Adventure Park! It’s a great balance of sweet and savory flavors — Disney used rosemary ham for this recipe, but any variety of ham can be used.
Photo: Disney
And, since the Cranberry-Bacon Jam can be refrigerated up to three days, it can be made ahead of time. If you want a festive treat on Thanksgiving, you can make a double batch of the Cranberry-Bacon Jam and serve it on the bread of your choice!
Recipe:
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Cranberry-Bacon Jam
- 3 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon golden balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups cranberries
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground clove
Holiday Ham Slider
- 8 ounces sliced rosemary ham
- 4 slices Gruyère cheese
- 4 brioche slider buns, sliced
- reserved cranberry-bacon jam
Photo: Disney
Instructions
Cranberry-Bacon Jam
- Cook bacon on medium heat in a medium saucepan until crisp. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Reserve for later use.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add sliced onion to pan with bacon fat and sauté for 8-10 minutes, until onions begin to brown.
- Stir in brown sugar, golden balsamic vinegar, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, until onions begin to caramelize.
- Add cranberries, orange juice, and ground cloves. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes, until cranberries begin to burst, and jam has desired consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in bacon.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Holiday Ham Slider
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Wrap ham in foil and heat for 5-10 minutes, until ham reaches 165ºF.
- Evenly divide ham and Gruyère on brioche buns. Top with Cranberry-Bacon Jam.
Turkey Pot Pie with Cheesy Biscuit Topping
The Turkey Pot Pie with Cheesy Biscuit Topping used to be at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Magic Kingdom! If you’re chopping onions, celery, and carrots for your Thanksgiving meal, you can chop a little extra to save for the Turkey Pot Pie.
Photo: Disney
Something to look out for while making this recipe is that since rice flour does not rise as high as wheat flour, your biscuits may be a little flatter than a traditional biscuit topping.
Recipe:
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup small diced onion
- 1 cup small diced celery
- 1 cup small diced carrots
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/2 cup plus 2 cups rice flour, divided
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 5 cups cooked turkey cut into bite-sized cube
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup coarsely shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Photo: Disney
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium-low heat; add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook until vegetables are softened and onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Sprinkle with 1/2 cup rice flour and cook 2 minutes more. Raise heat to medium and whisk in vegetable stock. When mixture simmers, add turkey, thyme, sage, and pepper. Simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Combine remaining 2 cups rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in the work bowl of food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter, cheddar, and Parmesan; pulse 4 or 5 times for 2 seconds each time, until butter is in pea-size pieces. Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir in enough cream until dough holds together. (You may not use all of the cream.)
- Pat or roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Trim edges and cut to desired size and shape.
- Divide turkey mixture among 6 individual oven-safe dishes or ladle into one medium oven-safe casserole dish. Top each individual dish with one biscuit, or top larger casserole dish with all biscuits, leaving a half-inch space between each biscuit.
- Place casserole dish(es) on baking sheet. Bake until biscuits are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes.
Note that all of these recipes have been converted from a larger quantity in the restaurant kitchens. The flavor profile may vary from the restaurant’s version.
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