The best part of Thanksgiving, to me, is seeing everyone I love.
The second best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers.
Think about it.
You have a fridge full of food that you spent days planning and preparing to serve, just waiting for you to indulge on post Black Friday shopping.
Now, of course, you could keep these to yourself, give them to your family and friends, and have a proper Thanksgiving feast every day for the next week.
But what if there was another way to use all of the leftovers from your Thanksgiving recipes?
A more creative, yummier recipe to use that would give you some variety among all of the Thanksgiving food?
I’m not talking about a Thanksgiving sandwich.
I’m talking about a Thanksgiving pizza.
This one is a bit different from the one we’re making today, but it still has the same sentiment.
A good rule of thumb here is that if the leftover was from your Thanksgiving table and served at the holiday dinner, it belongs on the pizza.
Yes, even green bean casserole or anything else like that.
There are no rules or limits here.
This is what we’re using today.
Ingredients:
Turkey: This can be turkey that’s leftover from your Thanksgiving table, or in our case, cold cut turkey breast from the local deli. No matter what you use, you can’t go wrong.
Mashed Potatoes: This is the base of the pizza. Yup, you heard me right—no traditional pizza sauce in this one.
Leftover Stuffing: This is so controversial, but in my opinion, stuffing is the best part of Thanksgiving dinner. Add some of it, add all of it. Just makes sure it gets on there.
Leftover Cranberry Sauce: If you don’t like cranberry sauce, grow up. It’s 2023.
Leftover Gravy: And lots of it. In fact, don’t be afraid to dump it all on there at the end.
Squash: This might sound weird, but honestly, if your family is the type to serve mashed butternut squash on Thanksgiving, throw some of it on the pizza too. Squash and cheese just go together.
Cheese: For this pizza, I like to use a mixture of mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. Of course, though, feel free to use whatever cheese you’d like.
Pizza Crust: Buy some from the store or make your own homemade pizza crust!
How To Make It:
On top of your pizza dough, spread a thin layer of mashed potatoes, and top with the cheese.
Pile your turkey, stuffing and squash on top of that, and bake pizza in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Once the pizza is out of the oven, top it with warm gravy and cranberry sauce. Slice and enjoy!
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Thanksgiving Pizza FAQs:
Q: I don’t like mashed potatoes. What else can I use?
A: If you don’t care for mashed potatoes, you can use an Alfredo sauce, garlic cream sauce, or a bechamel sauce on your pizza.
Q: Can I freeze or refrigerate this pizza?
A: Due to the density of the ingredients, the contrast of all of the ingredients, and the way this pizza is prepared, we don’t recommend freezing or refrigerating this pizza. However, you can always freeze the base and make this pizza another time using deli turkey, boxed stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes, and canned cranberry sauce.
Q: What kind of dough should I make this on?
A: Since this is a dense pizza, we recommend making this on a thicker pizza crust. Our Roman pizza is perfect for this!
Thanksgiving Pizza Recipe; With All Of Your Leftovers
Ingredients
- Pizza crust of your choice (store-bought dough or homemade pizza dough)
- 1–2 cups of mashed potatoes
- 4–8 oz leftover turkey
- ½ cup cheddar cheese
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup gravy
- ½ cup cranberry sauce
- 1 cup stuffing
- ½–1 cup squash (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Spread your pizza crust over a lightly floured surface and drizzle with olive oil.
- Spread a layer of the mashed potatoes over your pizza crust. On top of those, spread your cheese in a single layer across the dough.
- Spread your turkey, squash and stuffing all over the pizza.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
- While the pizza is baking, heat up your gravy.
- Once the pizza is out of the oven, spread gravy and cranberry sauce all over the top.
- Enjoy!
