Transform your turkey
Regardless of the size of your Thanksgiving gathering, one thing is always true: There will be leftovers. Some people, such as my husband’s family, like the leftovers almost as much as the dinner itself and roast the largest turkey they can so that there will be days of turkey sandwiches. Me? I tire quickly of eating the same foods, but what I do enjoy is making them into something new and equally delicious.
Turkey pot pie is one of those magical makeovers. If you made turkey, gravy, pie and anything with herbs and mirepoix, then you actually have all the ingredients you’ll need to make a fresh-tasting dinner that’s just as good as the Thanksgiving meal.
HOW TO MAKE TURKEY POT PIE
This version of turkey pot pie is baked in a cast-iron skillet (or any straight-sided large skillet) so that you can cook the filling in the pan on the stovetop, then continue baking right in the same pan. If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, you can make the filling in a frying pan and pour it into a baking dish before topping with the crust and baking.
The filling starts with sauteing carrots, onions and celery with a little thyme, then building a white sauce with some butter, flour and a combination of broth and milk. Cooked turkey and a big handful of frozen peas get stirred into the filling before it’s topped with a pie crust, and a few slits are cut into the crust to let some of the steam vent. Since the filling is already cooked, the pot pie just needs to bake until it bubbles and the crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
SOME TIPS FOR PREPPING TURKEY POT PIE
My absolute favorite part of making turkey pot pie is that you don’t really have to buy any ingredients that you wouldn’t already be getting for the holiday. It also means that if you have the time, you can prep a lot of the ingredients at the same time you’re already prepping for Thanksgiving dinner.
Veggies and herbs: Dice up extra onion, carrot and celery when you’re prepping them for stuffing or stock; pick some fresh thyme leaves or feel free to just use dried thyme instead.
Broth: If you’re already making turkey broth for gravy, set aside 1 ½ cups, or plan to turn that roast turkey carcass into stock the day after Thanksgiving. It’s also okay to just pick up some store-bought chicken broth.
Pie crust: Make an extra pie crust if you’re going the homemade route for your dessert pies and refrigerate or freeze it until you’re ready for pot pie. If you hate making pie crust, just add another refrigerated store-bought crust to the shopping list.
Turkey: Turkey shreds best when it’s still warm, so shred three cups right after Thanksgiving dinner and pack it away (and label it!) separately from the rest of the turkey. That way, you know you have enough stashed away for pot pie, and everyone can eat the remaining turkey however they want.
If you get all these components taken care of, it’s amazing how quickly turkey pot pie can get onto the dinner table. But even if you have to do some chopping and prepping, it’s worth it to turn all these Thanksgiving ingredients and leftovers into a warming dinner that everyone will savor.