Leftover Thanksgiving Sandwich

Faced with a mountain of leftover Thanksgiving food? Make a leftover Thanksgiving sandwich! This loaded turkey sandwich features gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and even mashed potatoes for a hefty, hearty way to repurpose this traditional holiday fare.

Years ago I ate a Gobbler sandwich from Wawa and it's been stuck in my memory ever since. Stuffing is my #1 favorite Thanksgiving dish, so getting to enjoy it off-holiday in a warm sandwich? That's a yes from me every time.

While a sandwich made with leftover Thanksgiving components isn't anything unique, mine takes inspiration from the Wawa version of my dreams and goes with the option of adding sour cream mashed potatoes as a creamy spread for the ultimate post-Thanksgiving turkey-gravy-stuffing-cranberry sandwich.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Optional: Make a quick garlicky mayonnaise *if* your mashed potatoes aren't very garlicky and you'd like a little extra flavor. If using regular mashed potatoes I mix together mayonnaise with pressed garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. If starting with something like roasted garlic mashed potatoes, just use regular mayo.
2. Mix a few teaspoons of this mayo into your heated mashed potatoes, then spread them over one slice of bread.
3. Add lettuce, turkey, and gravy.
4. Top with stuffing, then spread cranberry sauce on the other slice of bread. Spicy cranberry sauce, made with a little chipotle pepper in adobo, is especially good here.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Use sturdy bread. This leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich is a doozy, so use bread that can hold up well to a hefty filling. I love to use a seedy Italian five grain bread or sourdough loaf, two of my favorites for an air fryer grilled cheese, too.
• Mix the mayonnaise with the mashed potatoes. This helps the mashed potatoes become creamy again and act like more of a spread for the sandwich.
• Ate up all the mashed potatoes? Make a quick and easy version with this better-than-the-bag-instructions instant mashed potatoes recipe.
• Heat up (most) foods separately. Heating the mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, stuffing individually just prior to assembling the sandwich is ideal.
• Don't grill the whole thing. With how stacked this Thanksgiving sandwich is, the filling is likely to fall out and become messy if you try to heat the whole thing and flip it in a pan. Rather lightly toast just the bread (à la Wawa) before assembling if you'd like some crunch.

More Recipes for Leftovers

I love to rework leftovers. Here are some more recipes that transform yesterday's meal into something special.

• Leftover risotto thickens up significantly, losing its signature creaminess. Take advantage of this by making risotto cakes! This post has both pan fry and air fry instructions.
• Extra mashed potatoes? Keep the theme going by cooking up mashed potato cakes.
• Leftover steak never hits the same as freshly cooked. Reinvent it into the BEST leftover steak sandwich. I don't use the word "best" lightly. This is a family favorite in my house.

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!