Juicy Lucy Thanksgiving Sliders
Leftover cranberry sauce and cheese from your charcuterie board combines to make Juicy Lucy Thanksgiving Sliders! A fun and delicious lunch for the family.
Our Thanksgiving is not a typical dinner. We don’t visit family. None of them are close enough to visit just for dinner. Heck, Mom’s like 2 days away by plane to get to. So, for us Thanksgiving is just dinner. Granted it’s a larger than normal dinner, but it’s still just a dinner.
No matter how hard I try, I can never find a turkey that is smaller than 12 pounds. I hear those of you saying just get a breast. But hear me out on this one. And I know I’ve said this before. Why spend more for less meat? I’m fine with a 12 pound turkey and all the leftovers that come with that large bird. I wouldn’t get just a breast and miss out on all those leftovers.
Now, I’m going to sound like that dude from Forest Gump.
There’s turkey tetrazzini, turkey soup, hot browns, sandwiches to no end including turkey salad, turkey enchiladas, turkey tacos, turkey divan, turkey noodle casserole, turkey pot pie, turkey cranberry sliders. I mean, I could go on and on for probably days and never run out of ideas. Why on Earth would I want to miss out on all that?
Not to mention the amazing stock that I make from the carcass. I wouldn’t get near as much flavor if it was just a breast because I put the legs and wings in there to simmer and bring all that collagen goodness to the broth.
Even though there is only two of us, we still cannot make side dishes just for two. The green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sprouts, broccoli cheese casserole; all of them are enough for at least 4 people if not more. Yes, we typically try to have a meal of just leftovers, but that’s not always easy to do this time of year.
The hubs works in retail. I see you nodding your head in understanding. Yes. This time of year is not the best time of year for spending time together. It’s long hours and strange hours for him. And, well, he’s not much of a leftovers person unless I remake it into a new dish. Sometimes I just have a salmon melt for dinner.
Hence these sliders!
It’s not a Thanksgiving without the cranberry sauce. With just the two of us, there’s ALWAYS leftover cranberry sauce. Sometimes I crack open the can early and use some of the sauce for cranberry margaritas to sip throughout the day. That’s one way to eliminate the leftovers.
But if you have leftovers and want to make something deliciously different with them, try these Juicy Lucy Thanksgiving Sliders! Now, you can make your own or use the canned sauce. It doesn’t matter to me. They’re your sliders so use whatever you want.
Since the Juicy Lucy must have cheese inside, I grabbed some of the leftover sliced cheese. We have breakfast and then nibble throughout the day as things cook. So, there’s typically cheeses and some salamis along with some olives and pickles. Yes that’s the makings of a charcuterie but I just put it on plates instead of a board.
I used ground turkey in these sliders, but you can use pork or beef. Heck even lamb or duck would be good with the cranberries. Or a mix of meats. Seriously. They’re your sliders. I’m just planting the idea in your head. You change out what you want and make them your own.
Look at that bite of cheesy cranberry goodness right there!
Yes. I made the slider buns. It was a burger challenge where we had to use certain ingredients and one of them was marshmallows. So, I opted for some fluff in the buns. We also had to use turkey, cranberries, and something else. I can’t remember what.
Yes, I went and looked up the ingredients for that challenge. It was turkey, sage, cranberry, and marshmallow. I was good with the turkey, sage, and cranberry. The marshmallow was a but much for me. I contemplated a browned marshmallow topping to the burger. Or even a fluffernutter burger.
Don’t give me that look. People put peanut butter on burgers.
But not this burger. There’s just delicious turkey with sage mixed with the meat. And inside the burger is leftover cranberry sauce and cheese from the charcuterie style nibbles. It’s a great way to repurpose those leftovers into something completely delicious and irresistible!
And I’m serious when I say irresistible! The sharp cheese and the tart cranberries really elevate the ground turkey. I personally don’t find ground turkey to be blah, but some do. And this is one way to make sure it’s not blah.
You can’t tell me that’s a blah looking burger. Since they’re sliders, you can eat a few of them! They’d be perfect to whip up for lunch after your Black Friday shopping. Or even for some game day nibbles for the weekend. You can serve them up with some hot brown ham sliders dipped in cheese sauce. If you have both ham and turkey those sliders are perfect for lunch!
You don’t have to make the buns, obviously. I did for the challenge. Because I made this burger about a year or more ago. I can’t believe I’ve been sitting on this gem for a year. But, as karma would have it, I needed a recipe for the Thanksgiving leftovers event and thought I’d resurrect and share this one. I’m glad I did. I can’t wait to make them again this year! With our leftover cheese and cranberries.

Juicy Lucy Thanksgiving Sliders
Leftover cranberry sauce and cheese from your charcuterie board combines to make Juicy Lucy Thanksgiving Sliders! A fun and delicious lunch for the family.
Ingredients
For the buns (makes 12):
- 1 cup warm water (115F to 120F)
- 7 ounces marshmallow fluff
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 4 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
For the sliders:
- 7 ounces ground turkey
- 5 ounces sliced Manchego or other sharp cheese
- 1/4 cup roasted shallot cranberry chutney
Instructions
To make the buns:
- Stir the warm water and the marshmallow fluff in the bowl of a stand mixer until the fluff dissolves.
- Sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and stir to combine. Allow to the yeast to proof 5 to 10 minutes or until it begins to bubble.
- Add the melted butter and egg. Whisk until combined.
- Using the dough hook, stir in the flour one cup at a time until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides.
- Set the mixer to medium and knead 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. The dough should be soft and elastic.
- Place the dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray and allow to raise in warm spot until the dough has double in size.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Punch the dough down and form into 16 balls about 1 1/2 inches in size.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment. Cover with a clean towel and let raise 30 minutes.
- Bake the buns at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
To make the sliders:
- Form a 3 inch patty of ground turkey in the palm of your hand. Top with a teaspoon of roasted shallot and cranberry chutney and a 1/2 ounce slice of the cheese. Form a smaller patty of ground turkey to place on top.
- Press the edges of the two patties together to seal the seam. Repeat these steps to make a second slider.
- Heat a grill pan on medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray or coat with olive oil and cook the patties on medium heat 7 to 10 minutes per side or until cooked through and no longer pink.
- Top with 2 ounce slices of Mahón-Menorca Cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted.
- Top two of the buns with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion, and additional roasted shallot cranberry chutney as desired. Place one of the patties on top, top with other half of the bun, and serve.
Nutrition Information
Yield
2Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 5792Total Fat 85gSaturated Fat 42gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 33gCholesterol 347mgSodium 808mgCarbohydrates 1049gFiber 38gSugar 66gProtein 187g
Yeah, no. I'm sure it's because the bun recipes makes a bunch of buns. These recipe things are whacked but necessary for SEO.
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This is such a creative and delicious idea. I love a sweet and savory combo!
Thanks! I had some leftover cranberries and cheese and thought, “Sliders!” Don’t ask my why. I just did.
We always went to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving, then my mom would cook another turkey on Saturday so we could have leftovers.
These sliders sound delicious with the cranberry sauce inside. I will need to keep this in mind for my leftovers.
It’s fun making unique things with leftovers. I’ve made enchiladas and sloppy joes with leftover Thanksgiving dinner.