Christmas Day Leftover Recipes
Posted on 17 December 2021
Here’s our pick of the best recipes for Christmas Day leftovers, all tried-and-tested by one of the team.
Serves 4-6
Our chef Jamie has been with us for 20 years and what he doesn’t know about cooking, isn’t worth knowing. Check out his recipe for leftover turkey curry below.
Ingredients
- Small bunch of coriander
- Glug of olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Small thumb of ginger, peeled and grated using the smallest grater
- 2 x bay leaves
- 1 x cinnamon stick
- 2 x cloves
- 1 tsp Madras powder (Add an extra tsp if you like a spicier curry)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 350–400g cooked leftover turkey meat, cut into rustic sized pieces, or shredded
- 4 large tablespoons of natural yoghurt
- 2 tsp mango chutney
- 1 tsp salt (6g)
- 200ml water
- Any leftover veggies/roast potatoes cut into rustic sized pieces
Method
- In a saucepan or Wok over a medium heat, heat the oil and then fry the garlic until golden in colour.
- Once golden, add the diced onion, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaves & salt. Cook for around 15 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and beginning to caramelise (make sure it doesn't burn).
- Add the grated ginger, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, ground coriander, chilli powder and tinned tomatoes.
- Cook for a further 30 minutes on a low to medium heat to cook out the spices, stirring every couple of minutes to prevent from burning.
- Remove the bay, cloves & cinnamon stick, add the 200ml of water and bring up to a simmer.
- Stir in the turkey and leftover veggies, bringing back to a simmer.
- Finally stir through the yoghurt, mango chutney and most of the coriander leaves.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.
- If the curry is a little thick, add a splash more water.
Serve the turkey curry with the remaining coriander leaves scattered on top with rice with naan and a large glass of Christmas cheer!
Serves 6
Super easy, very little prep time, and just 40 mins in the oven. Delicious and gobbled up by children and adults alike. Serve with as much veg as you can get away with, as it feels like it needs a bit of a healthy side kick!
Ingredients
- Glug of olive oil
- Knob of butter
- 1 large onion, halved and sliced
- 6 sausages or 8 chipolatas (leftover pigs in blanket also good)
- 2 tsp English mustard powder
- 50g plain flour
- 1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
- 150ml white wine 500ml chicken stock or leftover gravy
- 6 stuffing balls
- 300g cooked turkey, shredded
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 100g low-fat crème fraiche
- Small bunch parsley, chopped
- 800g leftover roasted potatoes
- 20g mature cheddar, grated
Method
- Firstly, grab your leftovers: sausages, stuffing, turkey and roasties and cut / break them into bite size pieces. Keep to one side…trying not to snack your way through all the ingredients!
- Make the ‘sauce’ by heating the oil and butter and cooking the onion in it for 10 mins or so until it’s soft. Push to one side of the pan or whip the onion out, and then stir the mustard powder, flour and stock cube into the remaining oil / butter for a couple of minutes before adding the white wine. Let it bubble for a min, and then add your 500ml of stock or leftover gravy, stirring for 5 minutes to keep it smooth, and finally season.
- Place the sausages, stuffing and turkey into the sauce, stir through the crème fraiche and a dollop of wholegrain mustard, sprinkle the parsley and then crumble the potatoes and grated cheese on top.
- Place in a preheated oven, 200C for 40 minutes or so, until bubbling.
Source: BBC Good Food
Serves 4
A warming and healthy pho (type of Vietnamese soup) that tastes of Christmas…just a lighter, fresher version! The basis for this recipe is the stock, which needs to be made in advance, but it’s so easy to do and once the stock is ready it only takes minutes to turn it into the pho. Ideal for a busy Boxing Day, post bracing walk.
Ingredients
- For the stock:
- 50g ginger, thickly sliced
- 2 onions, halved
- 3 star anise
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ½ tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 cloves
- 1 turkey carcass, stripped of meat
- 2 – 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
For the pho:
- 200g flat rice noodles
- 400g cooked turkey
- 100g beansprouts, blanched
- Handful of Thai basil, mint and coriander leaves
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Method
- Fry the ginger and onion in a dry frying pan over a high heat until deeply coloured. Transfer to the slow cooker and heat to low. Add the Christmassy spices: cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves and coriander. Then add the turkey carcass along with 3 – 4 litres of boiling water, to cover all the bones. Cook for 8 – 10 hours.
- Strain the stock, getting rid of all the bones and spices. Season with the fish sauce and sugar and transfer the stock to a jug so it’s easy to pour.
- Cook the noodles as per pack instructions, then drain and divide between bowls.
- Top with the leftover turkey and blanched beansprouts.
- Pour over the stock to fill the bowls.
- Scatter over the herbs and chilli and serve with lime wedges.
Source: BBC Good Food
The bread is the star of the show here, it’s an undisputable winner any time of year – from both a taste and ease perspective. Served with leftover turkey or ham and slathered in ‘slaw makes it the champion of sandwiches.
Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups of flour
- 1.5 cups of water (it doesn’t really matter what size the cup is, just use the same one for the flour and water)
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp yeast
Method
- Mix / fold the ingredients together and cover with a tea towel, leaving it somewhere warm-ish for about 12 hours.
- Take the tea towel off and cover with flour, pour the mixture onto the tea towel and fold it into a square parcel. Leave for about 2 hours.
- Wipe oil around a casserole dish and put the bread mixture in. Lid on, and place it in a pre-heated oven at 250 degrees. Cook for 35 minutes, taking the lid off for the last 5. Baste the top a couple of times during cooking. To check it’s cooked… just flick it and listen for a hollow sound!
Winter Coleslaw
Ingredients
Quantities are variable, but in general you want about the same amount of grated carrot as you do shredded cabbage. For a big bowl of the stuff, then try:
- 2 or 3 carrots
- 1 bulb fennel
- ½ small celeriac
- ½ red cabbage
- ½ red onion
- Big dollop of wholegrain mustard
- 250ml yoghurt or mayonnaise if you prefer
- Fresh soft herbs if you have any
Method
- Peel and grate everything (Magimix perfect for doing this in minutes) then dress with the yoghurt / mayo, mustard and lemon juice.
- Mix and season well, sprinkling with herbs to serve.
- Spoon this on top of your turkey / ham and tuck in.
If you’ve ever been gifted a Panettone at Christmas…then you’ll know that rarely does it all get eaten! This recipe for posh cheese on toast is a great way to use the darn thing up.
Ingredients
- Panettone
- Cheddar Cheese
- Ham (optional)
Method
- Cut 2 even slices of Panettone. Add slices of Cheddar cheese to one piece of the cake, or is it bread, let’s go with cake-like bread!
- Add a knob of butter to a pan over a low-medium heat and allow to melt.
- Add the panettoastie and cook until golden on the underside, pressing lightly with a spatula and checking regularly, as the high sugar content in the bread means it can easily burn.
- Very carefully, flip the toastie over and cook until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden.
- Serve hot with ham or turkey sprinkled on top.
Naughty but nice
Source: BBC Good Food
This is a nice lunch leftover for after a blustery walk with a cup of soup. You can use a mix of leftover vegetables but a mix of root veg and then some green veg is a good place to start. If you have any frozen peas or spinach lurking around at the back of the freezer, this is a good way to use them up. If you have any leftover veggie stuffing or nut roast it works well, but if you don’t, no problem.
Ingredients
- 1 pack ready roll shortcrust pastry
- 1 onion finely chopped
- Leftover veg - A mix of potatoes, parsnips, swede, carrots and Brussel sprouts all chopped into about 1-2cm chunks. A handful of peas and some wilted spinach will work well.
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary finely chopped or a pinch of dried rosemary.
- 1 tsp mild mustard (optional)
- 1 egg for eggwash
Method
- Preheat the oven to about 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
- Put a splash of oil in a pan and gently cook the onion until it’s soft but not coloured. Set aside to cool.
- Roll out your pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick, cut into 20cm diameter circles (use a small plate to cut around if easier). Pop in the fridge so they don’t get too warm.
- Then make the filling. Chop all the veg up and place in a bowl, add the cooled cooked onion. Add the rosemary and season with black pepper and a pinch of salt.
- Take the pastry out of the fridge, take one of the circles and spoon some filling into one half of the circle, take a couple of tsp of leftover stuffing if using and add to the top of the vegetables. Try not to overfill otherwise the pasty won’t close. On the other half of the pastry, gently smooth ½ tsp of mustard across the pastry, fold the pastry over the veg so that the two sides are touching. Join the edges by either using a fork to push them together or crimping with your fingers. Fold the end corners underneath.
- Pop the pasties on a baking tray, brush each pasty with beaten egg for a shiny finish and cook for about 40mins.
- Serve on their own or with a bowl of soup.
This is a nice tip if you have any leftover mince pies but would also work with leftover Christmas cake (without the icing) and Christmas Pudding.
Method
- Take a tub of good quality vanilla ice cream, leave it to soften at room temperature for about 10 minutes or until it is just easy enough to scoop.
- Take a freezer proof dish like a tupperware, scoop in some ice cream to cover the bottom and crumble over some mince pie, pastry and all. Scoop in some more ice cream and then crumble over more mince pie until your Tupperware is full. It’s nice to finish with some mince pie crumbled over the top.
- Cover and place back in the freezer to harden up. When serving, allow the Ice Cream to soften slightly.
- If you are serving this to adults a little drizzle of your favourite tipple over the top is magic. Our top three choices would be Amaretto, Brandy or Pedro Ximenez sherry.
We hope these recipes come in handy and wish you a Happy Christmas!
All at COOK