Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Pot Pie Recipe

Calling all turkey lovers! Are you trying to figure out what to do with those delicious leftover turkey bits from your holiday feast? Let me tell you, you’re in for a treat! I’m talking about an easy leftover turkey pot pie that will make you want to cook an entire turkey just for the chance to whip this up! Here is the recipe for a flavorful thanksgiving leftover pot pie.

leftover turkey pot pie

I love our big Thanksgiving meal! The turkey smells so good cooking all day, we cook our traditional side dishes, we get to hang out with our family all day long and enjoy a good meal together, and we get to slow down to focus on how truly blessed we are and be thankful! Not sure if it just our family… but one of our favorite parts hosting Thanksgiving is getting all the yummy leftovers! I have been known to make a turkey throughout the year just to get leftover turkey meat to make our favorite Turkey Soup and Turkey Pot Pie Recipe! 

Last year my husband (the leftover king) decided we needed an 18lb turkey to feed our family of 5 (our extended family was sadly scattered last year).  So we had wonderful turkey sandwiches for 5 meals. Then we enjoyed our Amazing Leftover Thanksgiving Soup for 3 more meals.  But I still had some turkey leftovers so I decided to make a Turkey Pot Pie! It was so incredibly delicious I just had to share it with you too!

We have lots more yummy recipes to choose from including apple snicker salad, pumpkin roll thanksgiving desserts, family favorite broccoli cauliflower cashew salad, and cranberry pineapple relish recipe.

thanksgiving leftover pot pie

Your whole family will love this delicious recipe that is a snap to throw together in just a couple of minutes. Not only does it use up leftover chicken or turkey, but it tastes amazing! Your family will be excited to all sit down together at the dinner table to enjoy this delicious meal. I just love meals that parents, children, and picky eaters will enjoy.

This recipe makes 2 homemade pot pie. We are a family of 8 and we don’t even eat it all, but we LOVE the leftovers for lunch the next day. So feel free to half the recipe if you like, but we’ve found having an extra pie in the freezer for a busy weeknight supper or to take to a new mom is a always handy!

Basically, there are 3 steps to this delicious turkey pot pie recipe.

thanksgiving pot pie

Now you can certainly use a prepaid crust if that is easier or more comfortable to you. It will still be super yummy. But if you want a natural, no preservatives added, sensational flaky crust – it is sooooo easy to make your own homemade pie crust. Let me show you how:

leftover thanksgiving pot pie

In a medium bowl add 4 cups all purpose flour and 1  and 1/2 teaspoons salt. Again, this is to make 2 complete pie crusts – you can make 2 pot pies (for now or later) or 1 main dish pot pie and one dessert pie with the fruit of your choice. Or half the recipe to make just 1 pie crust recipe.

Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives cut in 1 and 1/3 cup shortening. What is shortening? We typically use the blue box of crisco vegetable shortening, but we prefer to use good old lard if we can get our hands on any fresh from the farm.

thanksgiving turkey pot pie

Continue cutting in the shortening until you have a well blended mixture with pieces larger than a pea.

Add 1 cup cold water and stir with a fork until you can form a ball with your hands. Although you can add more water if needed, make sure you can’t form a ball before adding an additional 1-3 tablespoons water.  Don’t over mix; pie crust will be the flakiest if it is mixed and handled as little as possible.

HINT: One of my tricks is to put ice cubes in a glass of water and use really cold water.

turkey pot pie recipe

Separate your dough into 2. Now take a little more than half of the first ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large circle. Use a spatula to fold it over twice to transfer to a pie pan; unfold carefully. Leave the extra hanging over the side for now. Set aside the pastry lined pie plate and and slightly less than half ball. Grab the half of the original dough and repeat the process to make a bottom crust for a second pie plate.

We will roll out the remaining 2 balls after we put in the filling. Don’t clean up the floured surface yet!

turkey leftover pot pie

This is where I am going to save you a TON of time without sacrificing any flavor! We don’t sauté up the vegetables – instead we use frozen mixed vegetables and cold leftover turkey for a simple and quick pot pie recipe.

In a strainer, measure out 6 cups of frozen mixed vegetables – we buy the large bags from Costco that have peas, green beans, carrots, and peas. Now pour warm water over top until the vegetables are no longer frozen. No need to cook or heat further – they will get plenty done cooking in the oven. Strain well to make sure you don’t have extra liquid!

Now spoon half of the vegetable medley into each pie crust. Then add in about 1 cup or so of shredded or cut cold leftover turkey per pie (you could use leftover chicken if you prefer).

leftover turkey pie

Making homemade gravy, for some reason, intimidates a lot of people. I promise it is super simple to make and is super yummy. This is what will make your best chicken pot pie recipe super flavorful and moist without being runny.

leftover thanksgiving pie

In a LARGE skillet melt 2/3 cups of butter over medium high heat. We use organic salted butter, but any kind will work. While it melts slowly (you don’t want to burn it), add the seasoning: 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon celery seed, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper.

turkey pot pie leftovers

Now add 2/3 cups flour and whisk until you have a paste. Continue whisking over medium high heat until it browns slightly. This is SUPER IMPORTANT as it will change a pasty flour taste to a yummy nutty gravy recipe! It only takes a minute, and you can’t leave it unattended or it may brown.

leftover turkey pot pie recipes

Pour in 2 cups of turkey stock or chicken broth while whisking until smooth. Now add in 1 and 1/3 cups milk (we use organic whole milk), again making sure there are no chunks. Continue cooking over medium low heat until gravy thickens.

turkey meat pie recipe

Pour half of the gravy over each of the pot pies. Toss ever so gently to distribute gravy without tearing the bottom pie crust. It doesn’t need to be perfect – it will blend during baking.

turkey pie recipe

Now on a lightly flowered surface roll out each of the remaining balls to a circle the size of the pie pan. Again, using a spatula to avoid tearing, put the top crust on top of your easy pot pie recipe.  Fold the crust that is over hanging the pan on top of the edge of the top crust and tuck down all around the pie to seal in all the flavorful pot pie goodness. Now press a fork in the top of the crust a couple of times to allow steam to escape.

Place your pies on the middle rack in an oven that is preheated to 425 F. Your delicious, easy pot pie will be ready in just 30 minutes!!

leftover turkey pie recipes

If you prefer, you can also make these as adorable, personal size, individual pie dishes.  We used ramekins which were the perfect size.  You could even make one pie to freeze and individual ramekins for dinner tonight. The crust ratio is higher which made my husband happy =) The only difference in the recipe is you only cook them for 20 minutes.

turkey leftovers pie

How good does that look? Slightly golden brown, flaky crust. The filling sauce is perfect – no oozing or spilling. It has the perfect amount of crust. It is almost too good to eat.

thanksgiving leftover pie

No need to let it cool, simply put it on a hot pad or trivet and dinner is served. We cut slices with a knife and then use the pie server to easily slide them out.

turkey pot pie from thanksgiving leftovers

These Turkey Pot Pies have the most marvelous flakey crust and flavorful sauce that will be a favorite with company, guests, and kids alike. It is such a yummy comfort food that will be a much requested recipe for family dinner over and over again. Don’t let me stop you – DIVE IN!

• Open Face Turkey Sandwiches (bread, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, and gravy) – YUM!
• Thanksgiving Soup Recipes– super easy, creamy, and oh so flavorful!