Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Pot Pie
Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Pot Pie
Prep 15 mins Bake 30 mins Eat 45 mins
Do you have Thanksgiving leftovers and want to make a Turkey Pot Pie? A favorite in our house at this time of year is the Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Pot Pie…and this year there were more leftovers than usual, since we dined outdoors on two occasions with only 1-2 guests. After enjoying the Thanksgiving dinner a few times from our 20 pound turkey, I needed to get serious about cleaning off the turkey carcass. What’s great about using Thanksgiving leftovers to make my favorite Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie recipe is that all the ingredients have been made in advance, so I just need to toss it all together and top with a pie crust, also leftover from the pie baking that took place last week. My Easy 15-Minute Pie Crust recipe is foolproof. makes 4 crusts and it’s golden to have a couple extra in the freezer for just this moment!
Got some Turkey Leftovers of your own? Follow along!
Leftover carrots, celery and onion from the giblet stock + extra boiled potatoes go in the pie dish.
First preheat the oven to 375°. I took the carrots, celery and onion from making the turkey stock with the neck and giblets and placed in my largest pie dish, which is 10 inches. I decided to add more carrots, so I diced a couple more carrots and boiled them in water for about 6 minutes until they were tender, then added them to the pie dish. Next came the extra potatoes I had boiled up while making mashed potatoes, so I diced them and added them to the pie dish. You could also add mashed potatoes instead of or in addition to the boiled potatoes.
The Turkey Pot Pie builds with the turkey bits, peas, parsley and sage.
I took the bits of turkey from the carcass and small pieces (about 2 cups) and added them to the pie dish. Chopped some fresh sage and parsley. Added in 2 cups of frozen peas that I always have on hand. It’s starting to look like a great Turkey Pot Pie. I didn’t have any leftover stuffing, but that could go in also.
You’ll have a heaping pile of Thanksgiving leftovers in your pie dish.
You should have a heaping pile of ingredients in the pie dish, but don’t overdo it. Heck if you have that many leftovers, you could make a second Turkey Pot Pie tomorrow.
Leftover gray is always golden. Thin it with water.
Heat up the leftover gravy. Thin it down a bit with some water, since it always thickens in the fridge.
The gravy is poured over the leftovers. Then stir it in.
Pour it over everything in the pie dish and toss it together into a nice delicious stew. If you are short on gravy, follow my recipe below to make more. Use any leftover turkey fat in place of the butter.
The last step is to roll out the pie dough.
Roll out the pie dough onto plastic wrap for easy to transfer to the pie dish.
I keep the pie pastry in the fridge until everything else is done, so it stays nice and chilled. See my 15-minute Pie Crust recipe here that makes 4 crusts. I’ve discovered the best way to roll out pie dough, particularly when the room is warm is to initially roll it in some flour on my granite countertop to flatten it and then put the pie disk onto the plastic wrap that it was wrapped in and finish rolling it out until it is the size of the pie dish. You can easily lift the pie dough and refrigerate it then if needed, but in this case, it is easy to grab the plastic wrap and carefully invert it onto the top of the Turkey Pot Pie.
The Turkey Pot Pie is ready for the oven.
No need to poke holes or slice steam vents, since you want all the steam to stay inside the pie dish. Bring the pie crust to the rim of the dish, so you have a nice crust to keep all the good stuff steaming inside. No need to do any fancy fluting or edges as you would a dessert pie. Now it’s time to bake your Turkey Pot Pie in a preheated 375° oven. Be sure to put a baking sheet under the pie dish to catch the bubbling juices that are sure to escape.
Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Pot Pie
Hungry yet? About now, you probably wish you had more leftovers. Next time plan ahead with your Thanksgiving leftovers so that you can create this amazing and delicious Turkey Pot Pie or maybe even two in a Flash!
Make Turkey, Chicken or Vegetable Stock
The next project is making Turkey Stock from the carcass and bones. Although, I ended up putting the carcass in the freezer for now and will get to that project later.
Happy Cooking and Happy Holidays from Fresh Food in a Flash!
Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie
There is nothing that says comfort food more than a steaming Chicken Pot Pie, fresh from the oven. The best time to make a chicken or turkey pot pie is when you have leftover chicken or turkey from Thanksgiving or another meal. If you have leftover gravy, all the better, as you can skip this step. This recipe also teaches you the technique of making gravy for any meal. Be sure to season with enough salt and pepper. If you are using commercially made broth, you might skip adding salt, since the salt is already in the broth.
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tablespoons canola oil
6 Tablespoons butter or turkey fat
6 Tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken broth or stock
2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4 grindings fresh-ground black pepper
2 carrots peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 cups peas
2 cups cooked chicken or turkey, cut into 1/2″ chunks
1 teaspoon each – sage, parsley, thyme leaves (if fresh, add 1 Tablespoon)
1 pie dough for 9-inch pie
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Prep vegetables. Add diced onion to frying pan and cook in canola oil until translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add celery and cook a little longer.
2. In a pot of water, add potatoes and carrots and cook on high heat until very tender. Drain and set aside. Do not overcook, since they will be cooking again in the oven.
3. Make gravy in a saucepan. Melt butter or turkey fat on low heat and whisk in flour to form a roux. Make sure that every grain of flour is coated with the butter or fat.. Cook the roux for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken broth, increase heat to medium and whisk the mixture until the roux melts into the liquid. Continue to whisk occasionally until the mixture begins to boil and thicken. Use a rubber spatula occasionally, to prevent mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
4. In a 9″ or 10″ pie plate, scatter the onion, potato, carrot, celery, peas and chicken or turkey chunks and herbs. Mix to distribute evenly. Pour in enough gravy to coat the vegetables well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Roll out the pie dough the size of the pie dish. Place the crust on the top of the pie bringing it to the rim of the pie dish. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.
Servings: 4 – 859 calories per serving
Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil
- 6 Tablespoons butter or turkey fat
- 6 Tablespoons flour
- 3 cups chicken broth or stock
- 2 small potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 4 grindings fresh-ground black pepper
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 2 cups peas
- 2 cups cooked chicken or turkey cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1 teaspoon each - sage parsley, thyme leaves (if fresh, add 1 Tablespoon)
- 1 pie dough for 9-inch pie
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Prep vegetables. Add diced onion to frying pan and cook in canola oil until translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add celery and cook a little longer.
- In a pot of water, add potatoes and carrots and cook on high heat until very tender. Drain and set aside. Do not overcook, since they will be cooking again in the oven.
- Make gravy in a saucepan. Melt butter or turkey fat on low heat and whisk in flour to form a roux. Make sure that every grain of flour is coated with the butter or fat.. Cook the roux for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken broth, increase heat to medium and whisk the mixture until the roux melts into the liquid. Continue to whisk occasionally until the mixture begins to boil and thicken. Use a rubber spatula occasionally, to prevent mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a 9" or 10" pie plate, scatter the onion, potato, carrot, celery, peas and chicken or turkey chunks and herbs. Mix to distribute evenly. Pour in enough gravy to coat the vegetables well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Roll out the pie dough the size of the pie dish. Place the crust on the top of the pie bringing it to the rim of the pie dish. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FreshFoodinaFlash.com
Nutrition
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Oooooh that crust looks like perfection! What a delicious dish.
Try my easy 15 Minute Pie Crust, which makes 4 pie crusts to use now or freeze for baking pies with a moment’s notice.
The secret is not overworking the dough, blending the butter into the flour until it is the size of peas before adding in the ice water mixture. You end up with small flecks of butter in the pastry as you roll it out. Those flecks create air pockets as the dough bakes, hence flaky pastry.