There’s nothing like a huge Thanksgiving feast. We munch on turkey, stuffing or dressing, piled high on the plate and topped with mounds of gravy and rich cranberry sauce, lovingly shared with family. Our entire extended family gathers at our house for an evening of delicious food and conversation. I always prepare a variety of dishes to suit every taste. When the rest of the family arrives with their dishes the kitchen is literally covered with food. That brings us to the subject of leftovers. I try to send relatives home with full plates to rid myself of them. Meanwhile, my in-laws are trying to sneak off and leave me with their leftovers too. My family will usually eat one meal of leftovers before they declare, “I can’t eat any more leftovers! We have had the same meal for days!” I usually spend a lot of time after Thanksgiving transforming our leftovers into other dishes, like this tasty Turkey and Vegetable Cobbler. It’s easy to make, naturally, and uses up several cups of my leftover turkey. I learned this trick from my frugal relatives growing up. They believed in making sure leftovers never went to waste and added them to pot pies and soup on a regular basis. Although, when they were tired from a long day of work, they were not above saying, “You can eat the leftovers and like it.” Those were not my favorite nights.
Start by melting the butter on the stove, using medium heat. Add the flour , being sure to whisk constantly to keep the mixture from becoming clumpy. This should take about a minute. Add the milk, herbs and bouillon. You will need to stir this mixture constantly for around six to eight minutes to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Quickly add the vegetables and turkey, allow to cook on low heat for four to five minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thoroughly heated. Spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray and add the mixture. I like to use the Good Cook Nonstick Lasagna and Roast pan, which spreads heat evenly throughout the dish and is deep enough to hold all the filling without running over in my oven.
After adding the filling, roll out the pie crust on a sheet of waxed paper and cut into strips. Arrange the strips in a lattice pattern on top of the filling. Bake at 450 degrees for 40 minutes until the crust is browned and the filling is warm and bubbly. Don’t eat turkey for Thanksgiving? No problem. Feel free to substitute ham.
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 each teaspoon dried thyme & dried Rosemary (or use 2 tablespoons each fresh herbs, chopped)
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
- 2 cups diced cooked turkey
- 1 (20-oz.) package mixed veggies
- 1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts (or use a frozen pie crust)
- Preheat oven to 450°. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Add milk, herbs and bouillon; cook, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in turkey and vegetables; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated. Spoon into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
- Unroll each piecrust on a lightly floured surface. Cut piecrusts into 1 1/4-inch-wide strips. Arrange strips in a lattice design over turkey mixture. Bake at 450° for 40 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly.
What are your favorite ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers?
That looks so good! Great way to use the leftovers, too. Yum! I will absolutely have to try making this in a larger pan for our crew, thanks for the inspiration!
Oh I can just taste it already! This would be especially wonderful if I was feeling a bit under the weather.
I love pot pie and I have never made it on a large scale.
Just pinned so I can make this later!
This looks fantastic. What a great use for leftovers. We love good Cook products
Yum, I love pot pies. Too bad everyone else got all of the leftovers or I would try to make these tonight.
i love pot pie its one of my favorite dishes. i may make this this week!
I would love to try this. It looks yummy!
Oh I never thought to do a pot pie with my left over turkey! I just threw mine in the crock pot for soup haha.
Mmm, what good comfort food! Wish I had a plate right now!
Yummy dish to make with our Thanksgiving leftovers!
I’ve always loved pot pie and this one looks delicious. I love how you can bake it in the oven and how you can put it on top of rice or pasta. It’s just a hearty meal for the cold fall and winter months ahead.
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it,especially since I know that my family with love it.
YUM! I’ve got to try doing a lattice top on pot pie.
YUMMM.. this looks like the perfect after Thanksgiving dinner… thanks for sharing; I make my sauce like that as well.. use it for many different dishes .. the base is always the same the spices always different.. YUMMM..thanks for sharing
This looks so yummy and I love the way you did the top crust. Thanks for sharing your creative ideas.
Sounds yummy. Turkey sandwiches are still my favourite thing to make with leftover turkey but this sounds like a good way to make a dinner out of the turkey!
Oh wow that sounds absolutely delicious.
we still have turkey coming out our ears! looks yummmmmmy. i love pot pie
What a fun idea for a new twist on an old classic. Loving all these fun gadgets to make cooking for fun and creative!!
That looks so pretty, what a great job!! Their were no real leftovers this year which was shocking!!
Your pot pie looks delicious! We never have enough leftovers to really do anything because our family is so big!
Sounds good to me! Makes me wish we had some more leftover turkey!!