4 Healthier Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes

Here are 4 easy ideas to help you salvage SOME of your Thanksgiving food so you can reduce food waste. This year has come and gone and we have already arrived at the “SuperBowl” of cooking – Thanksgiving.

Many people have a lot of angst around this time of year because while we want to enjoy our favorite, family indulgent recipes, we don’t want our enjoyment to totally derail our healthy eating efforts.

But you don’t have to! It’s fine to enjoy and then get right back on track!

Calories and macronutrients will need to be calculated by you. Since recipes for foods will vary from household, I just want to share some ideas that may help you take some of the food and re-package it in a much more calorie-conscious way.

I got all of the ingredients from my local Kroger grocery store so the additional items you will need for the thanksgiving leftovers recipes should be easy to find.

First recipe idea is a mashed potato waffle, made from mashed potato, egg, green onion, and reduced fat cheddar. Remember to keep it light with the seasonings because the mashed potato already has some flavors. Bake in a waffle iron, sprayed with some olive oil for about 6 minutes. Cut it off and enjoy a piece for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Next recipe is an egg white frittata. Prepare this recipe by sautéing garlic and red onion in olive oil, add leftover dressing or stuffing, toss in your favorite veggies, pour in the egg whites and top it off with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 400F.

Sweet potato salmon patties is another great idea to use the leftover sweet potato pie. Mushed leftover sweet potato pie mix with an egg, salmon, garlic, chili powder, cinnamon, green onion and red bell pepper. Mix it up and add almond flour to make a tick mass, just to be able to form the patties. Refrigerate or freeze the patties for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Cook them in a skillet for 2 minutes at each side, then transfer them to a baking sheet. Bake for an additional 10 minutes at 400F. Grab them from the oven and enjoy.

And the last, a leftover thanksgiving turkey recipe, of course! This is not a traditional turkey salad, this is a no mayo curry spiced turkey salad. We reduced the amount of saturated fats in this recipe by taking up the mayo and substituting with avocado. Mash up the avocado, add chopped leftover turkey, red onion, celery, greek yogurt, little rosemary and tarragon. Mix it up and season to taste with curry powder, sea salt and pepper.

WATCH THE VIDEO for context and to answer any recipe preparation questions.