Don’t eat boring leftovers! Instead use those leftovers to make an epic Thanksgiving Turkey quesadilla and chow down! And the best news is that you can have these iconic holiday flavors all year long if you’d like! Simple to make, and such a crowd pleaser, this is the ultimate way to use up that leftover cranberry sauce that always seems to get pushed to the back of the fridge until it’s finally thrown away a week later. Don’t pretend like this doesn’t happen at your house!
Leftovers. What the heck do you do with them all? I like to throw them together in a turkey sweet potato egg bake, or you guessed it, make quesadillas. Why quesadillas? Well for one, Dave loves them, and two, they are one of the easiest ways to transform leftovers without much extra work. Take this turkey quesadilla, I just layered cheese, cranberry sauce, turkey, sweet potatoes and arugula on a gluten free flour tortilla, and 5 minutes later, Dave was raving about how awesome I am. 🙂 I only invested about 5 minutes at the stove and about 2 minutes to grate cheese and suddenly I’m the world’s best girlfriend! If only every meal could be this simple!
When I was chatting with Dave about how I would make this for him all the time if we just had more leftovers, I realized this is exactly what my meal plans provide for people. You cook all your main food on Sunday night and then repurpose it throughout the week into new and inventive meals! This way it never feels like “leftovers’ but instead like a brand new meal that your loved ones will rave about.
It’s no wonder I felt so comfortable throwing this all together in a quesadilla and calling it dinner! Anytime I can save time while still providing a healthy, wholesome meal, I’m a happy girl. If you are anything like me, meal planning will not only save you time, but it will also save you money and a whole lot of headaches! If you are interested in learning more, check out more on my meal plans here!
Turkey Quesadilla Leftover Goodness
Ok back to all that leftover Thanksgiving goodness. I promised you could make this anytime of the year, and I’m going to keep that promise. I’ve been testing the recipes I want to make for Thanksgiving this year and came up with a pretty simple cranberry sauce. Fresh cranberries, maple syrup, a pink lady apple, stevia and a shake of cinnamon. Super simple and easy to make (about 10 minutes total). I’ll include the instructions in the directions below. But really, any cranberry sauce would be great here (I might judge you a little if you use that canned stuff though – so sweet!!). Nothing fancy here!
Everything else we had on hand from meal prep earlier this week. Pulled turkey, sweet potatoes (you could also make this quick apple sweet potato hash and use the leftovers here -delish) and something green. Since I’ve been studying for my nutritional coaching certification, I’ve really been looking for ways to add something green to our meals. This way I know we have the best chance of getting all of our required vitamins and minerals. And when you stuff veggies in with all these other bold flavors, there is much less push back from people who don’t love veggies (ahem Dave).
Looking for a delicious moist turkey recipe? Make sure to check out this easy slow cooker herb turkey.
Thanksgiving Turkey Quesadilla
Ingredients
Simple Cranberry Sauce
- 1/2 bag fresh cranberries
- 1 medium pink lady apple peeled and chopped
- 2 tbs maple syrup
- 2 packet stevia
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Turkey Quesadilla
- 4 gluten free flour tortillas
- 1/2 - 3/4 cups cheese or So Delicious Dairy Free Cheese
- 1/2 cups simple cranberry sauce
- 1 cup. shredded turkey meat
- 1 cup chopped cooked sweet potatoes
- 3-4 handfuls arugula or spinach
Instructions
Simple Cranberry Sauce
- In a small pot(with a lid) add all the ingredients and bring to slight boil (over medium heat). Once boiling (or almost boiling) turn down the heat to medium low and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with immersion blender or carefully transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.
Turkey Quesadilla
- Grate the cheese and set up an assembly station.
- Preheat a large pan over medium to medium low heat. Spray pan with coconut oil or other non-stick spray. Add 1 tortilla and cover the entire quesadilla in 1/4 of the cheese.
- Add about 1/4 of the cranberry sauce, turkey, sweet potato and arugula to one half of the tortilla. Fold the quesadilla over and cook for 2 minutes. Flip carefully and cook another 2 minutes.
Nutrition
What about you?
- How do you like to eat your Thanksgiving leftovers?
- What’s the craziest combination you’ve put in a quesadilla?
- What are dish are you most excited to eat for Thanksgiving?
Alayna
Totally inspired! I had thought about doing sandwiches with the leftover cranberry sauce but quesedillas are a much more unique idea!
I am co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty link party this month and would love to have you stop by for a visit. The door opens for the next party tonight at midnight! http://alaynascreations.co/blog/
Emma
We love quesadillas in our house and they are the perfect place for leftovers. I’ve just taught my mum how to make them! #freefromfridays
Chellie
Love this idea for leftovers! Looks very flavorful. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Maria
What a great way to use up left overs. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Maria
http://theclassifiedchic.com
Love
These quesadillas look so yummy and healthy too! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Chef Devaux
What a wonderful idea. For thanksgiving it’s too late but for Christmas it is perfect.
Carly @ FitLiving blog
What a genius idea! I love my leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches – they are so good! Especially with a little brie cheese thrown in there. Yum. Thanks for linking up with us for Fitness Friday!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt
Gorgeous! Anything turned into quesadillas is ok by me! 🙂
Savvy
You are so right about the cranberry sauce. It is sitting on my counter waiting to be thrown out; nobody can handle another bite. Perhaps I can save another spoon or two with this recipe.
Chris
Love quesadillas for leftovers but never thought of adding cranberry sauce!!!!!! Yum!!
Thanks for linking up to Funtastic Friday!
Audrey
What a scrumptious looking lunch. Thanks for sharing on the Tasty Tuesdays Linky Party. I hope you will join us again next week.
Erin - Suburan Simplicity
Always looking for delicious ways to use turkey leftovers…yum, this one sounds and looks amazing!
jill conyers
I don’t even eat turkey and I still think this looks and sounds amazing Sam. Kinda makes me wish I ate turkey. Nah.
Jess @hellotofit
I’ve done turkey leftovers sandwiches, but QUESADILLAS?! You went there.
I have a problem of not enough green foods throughout the day…gotta work on that.
XOXO
lindsay
confession… i’d like this instead of plain turkey! Can we make that happen? haha YUM!
Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious
Good call on the quesadillas! I feel like Mexican food is good for repurposing leftovers into something brand new. Happy Thanksgiving Sam!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner
Looks good for the rest of my family. Have a great thanksgiving!
Lisa @ Lisa the Vegetarian
I always love a good quesadilla. I’m sure this would also be good using some veggie leftovers!
Sarah @ BucketListTummy
Yum! I love finding neat, creative ways to utilize leftovers so nothing goes to waste!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness
I’m suddenly very sad that my family is Canadian, which means I am not celebrating tomorrow and will have NO leftovers to make this glorious quesadilla. AND YES, the cranberry sauce. I made some for a recipe weeks ago,
Still in the back of my fridge! It’s an epidemic.
Susie @ SuzLyfe
Way ahead of you there–I make the equivalent of a leftovers meal for the main entree at Thanksgiving!
GiGi Eats
That sweet potato is insanely hunky 😉 Sexiest veggie/tuber alive perhaps?
Kat
Oh my goodness girl, this is such a great idea!! I need to find me some gluten-free tortillas so that I can give this a shot! For leftovers we typically just make turkey pot pie 🙂 Your recipe is way more creative!
dixya | food, pleasure, and health
generally im not into left over turkey but this quesadilla looks amazing.
Janelle
Could this BE any more delicious?? This has all my favorite ingredients.. yummmmm! Now I know what I can make for lunches with all the Thanksgiving leftovers! 🙂
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
Tacos and quesadillas are always my favourite way to use up leftovers. Anything with a bit of chilli sauce on tastes better 🙂