What To Do With Your Leftover Turkey

By Lauren Salkeld

Skip the sandwich and turn your Thanksgiving extras into one of these original dishes from chefs Edward Lee, Seamus Mullen, Naomi Pomeroy, Chris Shepherd, and Jason Vincent

If Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday, reveling in Thanksgiving leftovers has to be one of America's ultimate holiday pastimes. In fact, many hosts buy a bigger bird and make extra sides just to ensure a wealth of extras to savor in the days after. While we love a classic leftover turkey sandwich, especially those towering creations stacked high with stuffing, potatoes, and cranberry sauce, sometimes it's good to stretch the palate a little and use your leftovers to create entirely new dishes.

For help putting a fresh spin on Turkey Day extras, we turned to five of the country's best chefs, Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky; Seamus Mullen of Tertulia in New York City; Naomi Pomeroy of Beast in Portland, Oregon; Chris Shepherd of Underbelly in Houston, Texas; and Jason Vincent of Nightwood in Chicago. With their extensive experience creating menus and managing their kitchens' inventory, we knew these culinary talents would know just what to do with leftover turkey. Each recipe is designed to use 2 to 4 cups of leftover turkey meat (light, dark, or a combination) and/or a 12- to 14-pound turkey carcass, but each one can also be adapted for either a roast chicken or a purchased rotisserie chicken.

Check out the slideshow above for five tasty ways to use leftover turkey.

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