Have you been searching for a unique and tasty way to use up leftover turkey? Your family will love these leftover turkey pasties, a colorful and appetizing way to enjoy leftover roasted turkey.
Need more creative ways to use leftover turkey? You're going to love our turkey cranberry mini pies or our turkey stroganoff.
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Ingredients
Our leftover turkey pasties take common veggies and other pantry staples. Let's talk about the key ingredients!
- Turkey: We used a combination of white and dark leftover roasted turkey.
- Vegetables: We used sweet potatoes, yellow onions, and garlic to add lots of flavor.
- Cranberries: Adding fresh or frozen cranberries to the pasties really adds a bright pop of flavor.
- Spices: We flavored the simple homemade gravy with fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.
How to Make
Gather the ingredients for our turkey pasties. You'll need chopped leftover turkey, onion, garlic, sweet potato, and cranberries. For the gravy, you can use leftover gravy from Thanksgiving, or you can make your own with chicken broth, butter, flour, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.
- Let's start with making the gravy, if you don't have any leftover gravy. Melt the butter over medium-high heat until bubbling, then add the flour and whisk constantly for 2 minutes. The resulting paste is called a roux, and it will thicken the gravy.
- Gradually pour in the chicken stock, whisking vigorously until the mixture is smooth. Add the spices and bring the gravy to a boil over medium heat, then turn the heat to medium-low and cook until thickened. Once the gravy is done, whisk in a tablespoon of butter to add additional richness.
3. Dump in the chopped leftover turkey and stir until evenly mixed. Set aside the mixture to cool while you chop the vegetables.
4. Once all the veggies are cut up, roll out the rough puff pastry (or store-bought puff pastry) to about ⅛ inch thick. Cut out six circles, each measuring 6 ½ inches in diameter.
When you re-roll the scraps to cut more circles, stack the scraps instead of rolling them into a ball. This preserves the delicate layers of butter and dough in the pastry, ensuring beautiful flaky layers when the pastry is baked.
5. Place a spoonful of leftover turkey gravy mixture in each one, then put 4-5 sweet potato chunks and 4-5 cranberries on each one. Sprinkle a little bit of onion and garlic on top, then brush the edge with egg wash and fold the pastry over. Seal the edges with a fork.
6. Place all of the leftover turkey pasties on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and brush them with beaten egg. Cut two or three vent holes in each pasty with the tip of a sharp knife, then chill them in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to firm up the pastry.
7. Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes, until they're a rich golden brown. Let them cool for 20-30 minutes on a wire rack before eating, as they will be very hot inside.
8. Serve these leftover turkey pasties while they're still warm, and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Pasty (pronounced PAST-ee) is a disc of pastry folded in half with a filling inside. Pasties are typically savory and are served as a main course and are a great way to use up leftover ingredients. They can be made with almost any kind of pastry and can have a wide variety of fillings. Chicken empanadas are a variation of these hand-held pies.
They are originally from England, where they were a popular food with miners and other workers. The men could have their meat and vegetables all in one convenient package that they could easily reheat over a candle flame or fire. The workers would hold the pasty by the crimping as they ate, and afterward, would discard the crimped edge of the pastry because of their soiled hands.
The best way to shape the pastry is to roll it out and then cut it into largish-sized circles using a cookie cutter. In a pinch, you can use a glass or use a knife to cut around a bowl to make the shape.
They are similar but not the same. They both contain a pastry with a filling. However, a pasty is meant to be eaten hand-held and usually contains a savory filling rather than a sweet one.
Store
Make ahead: Unbaked leftover turkey pasties need to be wrapped well and stored in the fridge for up to three days. If you bake them ahead of time, they keep their crispness quite well in the fridge, as long as they are fully cool before going in the fridge.
Leftovers: Since they contain meat, they need to be refrigerated. Do not leave them at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Leftovers will keep for up to five days in the refrigerator.
Freezer: They can be frozen before or after baking. If freezing before baking, skip the egg wash and flash freeze them on a cookie sheet for a few hours until solidly frozen. Seal them in a zip-top freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen; increase the baking time until the pastry is golden. If you want to freeze after baking, seal the fully cooled pasties in a zip-top freezer bag and press out the air. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost them in a 375 F oven loosely covered with foil or in the microwave until heated through.
Variations
Are you out of a certain ingredient or simply want to change up the flavors? Here are some suggestions for substitutions and variations you might want to try.
- Meat: chicken or Cornish hen would be the closest substitutes for leftover turkey.
- Veggies: try russet potatoes, turnip, parsnip, carrot, or celery for a change.
- Gravy: alfredo sauce or cheese sauce would be tasty changes.
- Pastry: try empanada dough, flaky shortcrust, or hot water crust.
Expert Tips
- Use homemade pastry for the best flavor; you'll have fun making it, too.
- Speed up the prep time by using leftover gravy; you only need 1 cup. Don't use jarred or powdered gravy; it won't taste very good.
- You can use frozen or fresh cranberries; just make sure that they are rinsed and well drained before using.
- Be careful not to overfill them, or they may split open in the oven. Seal the edges tightly to reduce leaks.
- Chill the leftover turkey pasties for at least 10 minutes before baking. This makes the pastry crispier and flakier.
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Recipe
Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potato Pasties
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 1.3 lb rough puff pastry or puff pastry
- 1 large egg*
For the Meat and Vegetables
- ¾ cup sweet potatoes, peeled and finely diced
- ⅓ cup yellow onion, chopped
- ¼ cup garlic, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup fresh cranberries
- 2 cups shredded turkey
For the Gravy (or use 1 cup leftover gravy)
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 ¼ cup turkey or chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
Instructions
Preparing the Vegetables & Turkey (45 min)
- Peel and finely dice the sweet potatoes, then chop the onion and garlic. Rinse the cranberries and discard any bad ones. Chop the turkey into bite-size pieces and set aside.
Making the Gravy (15 min)
- There's no need to make a gravy if you have 1 cup (240 ml) of leftover turkey gravy. Simply mix the meat with the gravy as in step 4 below.
- Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until melted and bubbling. Add the flour and whisk continuously for 2-3 minutes.
- Gradually pour in the turkey stock, whisking continuously, then bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook the gravy for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until it has thickened.
- Season with the salt, pepper, and herbs, then stir in a pat of butter. Mix the chopped turkey into the gravy.
Assembling the Pasties (45 min + 10 min chilling + 20 min baking)
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll the chilled rough puff pastry to ⅛ inch thick, then cut out six 6 ½ inch circles from the pastry. Stack the scraps and re-roll them as needed.
- To assemble each pasty, place a spoonful of the gravy mixture in the middle of the circle. Push 4-5 sweet potato cubes, 4-5 cranberries, and a sprinkle of onion and garlic on top. Be careful not to overfill.
- Brush half of the pastry edge with beaten egg, then fold over the top. Press the seam together gently and crimp with a fork to seal. Transfer to the prepared cookie sheet, and repeat steps 3 and 4 with the remaining pastry.
- Brush all of the pasties with beaten egg, poke two vent holes in each one, and chill for 10 minutes in the fridge.
- Bake at 400 F for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry has puffed and is a rich golden brown.
- Transfer the pasties to a wire rack and let them cool for 20-30 minutes before eating.
Notes
- Use homemade pastry for the best flavor.
- Speed up the prep time by using leftover gravy, or make your own as in the instructions above.
- Use fresh or frozen cranberries, whichever you have.
- Prevent broken pasties by not overfilling and by sealing the edges tightly.
- Chill for 10 minutes before baking to make the pastry extra flaky.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on December 8, 2017 and was updated on August 5, 2022.
Kim
Where can I find the rough puff pastry recipe? This looks amazing, and I want to try it.
Emma
Thank you, Kim! I used to have my puff pastry recipe up on this blog, but I deleted it. The BBC Food recipe for rough puff is excellent if you want to make some, but store bought puff works really well if you're in a hurry.
Alex
I love the soft sweet potatoes, and the cranberries add a bit of sour kick to the pasties. I really like the soft pastry; it is buttery and so good! I really enjoyed these pasties! I could eat one and a half of them. 😋
Emma
Thank you, Alex! I'm really glad that you enjoyed the pasties.
Beth
The flaky pastry surrounding the tangy, spiced gravy, soft sweet potatoes, and succulent chunks of turkey make your mouth water a lot.
Emma
😂 Thanks for your kind words! These pasties really are tasty little morsels.