Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
Holiday leftovers are just as tasty the second time around, especially in this Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Shepherd’s Pie. It uses everything you’ve got in one warm, comforting bake. Move over, turkey sandwich—shepherd’s pie is the real post-feast hero. Great for Christmas leftovers as well!
Think of this as Thanksgiving dinner, round two. Add in all the veggies, meat, and yes – even the stuffing to a baking dish. Top it with colorful regular and sweet potato mash (even gild it with some cheese).
Bake in the oven until heated through, then pour on that extra gravy. Serve with extra cranberry sauce. It’s like reliving the best meal of the year, without all the work. This popular recipe has been a favorite year after year since 2015.
Tip: If your leftovers seem a little dry, splash in some warm chicken broth before baking. It keeps everything moist and adds great flavor. You can also mix melted butter into mash to make it creamier.
Table of contents
Ingredients
- Leftover cooked turkey meat (beef or ham)
- Vegetables
- Leftover stuffing/dressing
- Mashed potatoes
- Gravy
- Cranberry sauce
Cottage pie
Technically, this leans more toward a cottage pie – but not exactly. Classic shepherd’s pie is made with lamb, while cottage pie uses ground beef. Since this version is made with turkey (or whatever poultry you’ve got leftover), think of it as a cozy little poultry pie instead.
Whatever components you have, in my case it’s turkey (of course), cornbread sage stuffing, roasted carrots, green beans, mashed potato and gravy (I added peas because I like them in shepherd’s pie), get them in there. What I love about this dish is, because all the flavors of Thanksgiving are layered, you get them all in one bite… every time.
Mash
You can see that my mash has a pretty and colorful look. That is because I always make regular and sweet potato/yam mash. I mixed them together to make the mash topping look colorful.
Storing the leftovers, to have as leftovers
This dish truly keeps on giving – you’ll even have leftovers from your leftovers! Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, warm in the oven until heated through, or microwave in individual portions.
More Thanksgiving leftovers recipes
Looking for more ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers? Try my Turkey, Stuffing & Cranberry Sausage Rolls, a cozy Turkey Pot Pie, or a hearty Ham & Split Pea Soup.
If you’ve made my Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Shepherd’s Pie, please leave a star rating in the recipe. You can also leave a comment below or ask a question.
Thanksgiving leftovers turkey shepherd’s pie
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped small
- 3 cups leftover turkey, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 ½ cups leftover carrots, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 ½ cups leftover green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
- ½ cup frozen peas
- ½ to 1 cup leftover gravy, * see note
- 2 cups leftover stuffing
- 4 cups leftover mashed potato
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook until it starts start to soften, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in the turkey, carrots and green beans and peas and cook until heated through, then stir in the gravy.
- Pour the turkey mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish.
- Top with the stuffing and smooth to an even layer, then top with the mashed potato.
- Place the casserole dish onto a baking sheet in case it bubbles over and bake for 15-20 until the top is browned.
Wonderful recipe! For fun, use the stuffing as the bottom layer for a “crust” effect. Just moisten the stuffing with a little gravy and spread in the bottom of the casserole. Then follow the remainder of the recipe. This is one of our favorite way to use Thanksgiving leftovers. I’ve even served it to guests and they loved it.
Thank you so much for the feedback. The stuffing crust is a great idea and I’ll be doing that in the future.
What a wonderful way to use up our Thanksgiving leftovers! So good…I just didn’t have enough nerve to add the sweet potatoes but served them on the side. Will keep this casserole in mind when planning my Christmas dinner (and leftovers!)
Thank you so much.
What changes would you make to reduce the very high sodium content
This is a fair question and since the ‘ingredients’ are leftovers and not a list of individual ingredients, the nutrition calculator cannot really calculate the accurate sodium. I did change the butter to unsalted butter which did lower the sodium count a little.
Great way to use leftovers.. Love the way you have piped the potatoes.. So pretty!
This is a great way to use leftovers! It looks so pretty and delicious!
Fantastic idea for holiday leftovers!
I am going to pin this for xmas actually. Thanks so much for the idea.
Perfect way to use leftovers and very elegant pie!
What a show stopper Janette! It’s so very appetizing and the presentation is awesome! Love it!
those potatoes look spectacular!
I love using up leftovers. I’ll be visiting friends for Thanksgiving. Hoping for a “doggie” bag so I can make this. Beautiful presentation too, Janette.
Excellent re-purpose with your thanksgiving leftovers. The two colors of potatoes are a great idea!
Mira! I love that 2-potato piping trick! And the layers in the pie with the stuffing …. yum! Brilliant idea for using up leftovers.
This is a great way to use leftovers! Looks delicious!
I love shepherd’s pie, but a thanksgiving filled shepherd’s pie sounds magically delicious! I might have to start slapping hands away from the food at Thanksgiving dinner to make sure I have left overs to make this! 😉
This looks like a fun way to use leftovers. The mashed potato topping looks great too.
Oh my gosh, this is such a fun way to use leftovers with those cute little potato peaks! This is actually a great idea for chicken and even beef leftovers too!
This is a gorgeous dish, Janette, and one I know I will love. I don’t think I can wait to use leftovers, though:-)
Okay so how exactly do you put the potatoes in the bag for that effect??? I am in awe. It looks so amazing! You are a genius.
Thank you so much Patty. I just tried to make sure they were evenly on each side of the bag (if that makes sense), then hoped for the best 🙂