Take some ground turkey and a few Thanksgiving leftovers and you’ve got the makings of delicious Thanksgiving Sloppy Joes! It uses mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and anything else you have on hand to make these delicious!
I have had this post forever. Well, at least since year before last, I think? So, when Ashley over at Cheese Curd in Paradise said, “#NationalSloppyJoe Day?” I said HELL YEAH! Because I have a ton of sloppy joe recipes on my blog. They’re so deliciously fun to make and to eat.
I have TWELVE sloppy joe recipes on my blog. And that’s not including the sloppy Eds which are made with eggplant for a meatless version of the fun sandwich. I thought they tasted good, but the hubs on the on the fence. You’ll just have to try them yourself to see what you think.
Every Thanksgiving there’s just the two of us. And, well, it’s not easy making things like green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and stuffing with just enough for a meal and one or two meals of leftovers. So, we always have LOTS of leftovers.
Well, one year I was thinking of interesting and different ways to use them and serve them up for dinner. I can’t really remember how I came up with this idea. I might have seen something similar and put my own spin on it. I mean, who doesn’t love a fun and delicious sandwich that’s made with a mashed potato waffle base, topped with stuffing, ground turkey swimming in gravy, green bean casserole and topped with either more gravy or another waffle for a sandwich? Yes, I realize that is a super long sentence.
This post was not written when I published it. With all this COVID-19 insanity that is going on, I have been completely exhausted. Not from lack of sleep or worrying about it, but all the damned meetings about it. I think half of my day is spent in meetings with different groups talking about the plan should work go mission critical personnel only; which they did Tuesday.
This leads to an impromptu two days off and a telework list of tasks I can work on next week. Don’t ask my what happens after next week. Hopefully, things will calm down a bit and we can get back in there to do quarter close prep work. I have one GL report to create for last month. There’s things to work on and do.
Seriously. Just look at that goodness right there!
Ground turkey sautéed with poultry seasoning and simmer in gravy makes it taste like roasted turkey. That’s sitting on the left-over green bean casserole and dressing. We make dressing and not stuffing. And all this is sitting on top of waffles I make with the leftover mashed potatoes. You can dress these up with some chives or cheese to kick these sloppy joes up. And, by the way, they’re delicious on their own, too!
And, if you’re on the fence, I’m here to tell you that if you repurpose Thanksgiving leftovers into toppings for sloppy joes you will not be sorry! It’s like having Thanksgiving dinner all over again, but in a such a fun way. All the kids, big and little, will love them!
Besides, you must admit that it’s one of the most fun and creative Thanksgiving leftover recipes I’ve shared. I have a few of those on my blog, too. Not only is it creative but you can easily make it a healthy sloppy joe recipe especially if you control the ingredients in the gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.
I’m drooling. I might have to whip up another batch of these before Thanksgiving. Which isn’t impossible to do even this time of year. There’s always turkey breast, wings, tenders etc. out there to whip up some delicious gravy. Everything else can be made throughout the year. So, you don’t have to until Thanksgiving to make this Thanksgiving sloppy joes recipe.
Being on the mashed potato waffles, they’re a healthy sloppy joe no bun recipe anyone can make. You can swap out the mashed potatoes for some cauliflower in the recipe to make them lower in carbs for those following a keto diet. Just throwing that out there for a great way to fit this into your diet.
And since they’re made with lean ground turkey, they are hearty healthy sloppy joes! Yes, I know it seems strange to say that. But I’m an advocate for controlling some of the ingredient in my food. Yes, we use the canned mushroom soup in the green bean casserole, but I check the fat content on the cans. I use alternate butter flavored items to keep cholesterol in check.
So, if you’re trying to figure out what to make after Thanksgiving, try these delicious Thanksgiving sloppy joes. Skip the typical Manwich version and whip up this super easy sloppy joe recipe made with leftovers. It’s a great way to use them and serve your family a fun Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.
Thanksgiving Sloppy Joes
Take some ground turkey and a few Thanksgiving leftovers and you've got the makings of delicious Thanksgiving Sloppy Joes! It uses mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and anything else you have on hand to make these delicious!
Ingredients
For the sloppy joes:
- 20 ounces ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup turkey gravy
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 batch of waffled twice baked potato pancake bites
Toppings:
- 2 cups stuffing
- Leftover green bean casserole, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, etc.
Instructions
For the sloppy joe mix:
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray or coat with olive oil. Crumble the ground turkey into the skillet and brown.
- Stir in the garlic salt, poultry seasoning, and black pepper.
- Cook for a few more minutes before adding the gravy and Worcestershire
- Simmer until the gravy is thickened.
To assemble:
- Place a waffle on a plate. Top with 1/2 cup leftover stuffing, green bean casserole, Brussels sprouts, or other leftovers.
- Spoon 1 cup ground turkey mixture on top.
- Top with additional gravy and another waffle if desired and serve.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 795Total Fat 46gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 30gCholesterol 171mgSodium 1807mgCarbohydrates 49gFiber 5gSugar 6gProtein 46g
795? This recipe calculator is killing me!! I don't believe it for a second.
Celebrating National Sloppy Joe Day!
- Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Sloppy Joe Bites from Eat Move Make
- Thanksgiving Sloppy Joes on Mashed Potato Waffles from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Delicious Sloppy Joes from Palatable Pastime
- Instant Pot Simple Sloppy Joes from Shockingly Delicious
- Asian-Style Sloppy Joes from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Baked Sloppy Joe Cups from Our Crafty Mom
- Sloppy Joe Casserole from Making Miracles
- Healthy Homemade Sloppy Joes from Our Good Life
- One Skillet Sloppy Joe Pasta from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes with Hoisin and Cilantro from The Spiffy Cookie
Sloppy Joe Recipes
From traditional to spicy, Italian to Mexican, and even leftover Thanksgiving, there's a sloppy joe recipe for you!
Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes
Trying to figure out what to make after Thanksgiving? Have ALL the turkey, stuffing, and other leftovers? Then you've come to the right place!
Cheese Curd In Paradise says
Oh my goodness this is genius! I love the look of these and I bet the combination of flavors is amazing! I love that you use potato in the waffle!
Chris says
It really did taste like a turkey dinner. I was surprised and impressed with myself.
Liz Mays says
Oh I love this! I definitely would enjoy the turkey and the other flavors sound great too. We’ll definitely be trying it out!
Chris says
It was so fun to eat! I hope you like it.
Karen says
This sounds delicious and is so totally clever! I need to make some stuffing so I can make this!
Chris says
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Sue Lau says
This is a clever idea! Sometimes I make stuffing in the off season and this would make great use of the extras.
Chris says
I make stuffing year round. It’s such an easy and delicious side for roasted chicken and pork chops.