Would Black Friday really be Black Friday without a good leftover turkey dinner? It’s an essential part to any Thanksgiving package. And every year I try to share at least one new way to use up the Thanksgiving leftovers. Last year I focused heavily on using up the cranberry sauce. It’s always the one dish that I seem to have so much of left over. If you’re like me, and looking for ways to use up your cranberry sauce, try out this cinnamon spiced Dutch baby or these perfect popovers, which are both topped with cranberry butter. Two of my favorite recipes, delicious. This year, I’m going back to focusing on turkey leftovers, and sharing my first ever easy turkey pot pie recipe. It’s kind of hard to believe I haven’t shared a pot pie before, but I’m exited to be sharing my twist on this classic. One of the tips I’ve said most over this past month is to make extra turkey for leftovers. One, I feel like some people look forward to the leftovers more than the actually dinner itself. Two, I’ve known all month long that I wanted to share these turkey pot pies. So I was really trying to encourage everyone to buy larger turkeys this year… Hoping you did just that, and have plenty of leftovers to make this turkey pot pie. Pot pie is one of those recipes that my mom has been encouraging me make for years and years now. Honestly, I just felt as though pot pie was pot pie. It’s nothing new, so why would I share it? That’s actually my thinking with a lot of recipes. I really only like to share recipes that I feel I’ve created a fresh new take on. Something I can really call my own. When brainstorming recipes a few weeks backs, the idea of a turkey pot pie just sounded really good. It’s something I’ve never made before on the blog. So I set out to test some recipes, and to figure out just how I was going to give a classic, like turkey pot pie, an updated twist. Enter these cute little mini turkey and wild rice pot pies. They’re loaded with veggies, fresh herbs, and a little lemon for freshness. The perfect comfort food. Just like most pot pie recipes, this one starts off by making the creamy sauce. I used shallots or onion and fresh herbs for flavor, then also added a splash of leftover white wine. I then tossed in a leftover over parmesan rind, to really enhance the sauce. To keep the flavors pretty traditional, but yet give the pot pie some texture and color, I decided to use wild rice and veggies. I always make a ton of wild rice for Thanksgiving and usually have leftovers, same goes with the veggies. So these two were a natural fit. I added the wild rice and veggies in with the leftover turkey and my pot pie base was complete. As you can see, the theme is to really try to use up all the leftovers. At this point, you can either leave the base in your skillet (assuming it’s oven safe), or divide between ramekins. You could also bake in a casserole dish. I chose the ramekin route, for the sole reason that the ramekins are just so cute. Then simply top with pie dough (use leftover dough if you have it!) or even puff pastry, bake and done. Nothing crazy fancy, or hard, but all things delicious. If you have house guests this week, or just need a good dinner to come home to after a day of shopping, you need to make these pies. They’re comforting, so cozy, and SO GOOD. And most importantly, everyone loves them! If you make this pot pie please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
