Whether your Christmas Day menu stars a traditional roast turkey, a festive ham, or a vegan nut loaf, chances are you’ll be left with enough leftovers to feed a small army. We all know that these lavish Christmas dishes are far too good to go to waste, so, in the name of waste-free eating, this collection of failsafe recipes will have you enjoying the remains of your Christmas Day feast in all sorts of original and flavoursome ways.
Leftover Christmas dinner ideas
Max La Manna’s Best Festive Leftover Sandwich
Boxing Day just wouldn’t be Boxing Day without the leftovers sandwich. In this recipe, Max La Manna shows you how to make the ultimate festive stack, piled high with stuffing, veg, mustard mayo and cranberry.
Paul’s Hand-raised Boxing Day Pie
Paul Hollywood’s classic, comforting pie is the ideal Boxing Day bake, made with all the best bits of your Christmas Dinner from the turkey to the cranberry sauce.
Potato, Camembert and Bacon Bake
Use up any leftover scraps of leaks and leafy greens with this potato bake. It is creamy and comforting, with bits of crispy bacon throughout, making it the perfect winter dinner.
Brussels Sprout Soup with Candied Bacon and Roasted Hazelnuts
Transform those leftover sprouts into a truly luxurious soup, topped with candied bacon and toasted hazelnuts. This soup freezes well, so make a batch and stow it away in the freezer for those chilly January evenings.
Crab and Brussels Sprout Croque Monsieur
Another way to use up those leftover brussels sprouts is with this delicious cheese toastie with crab meat. Buttery, crispy and beautifully gooey, this makes a fantastic filling lunch.
Pigs In Blankets, Cranberry and Deep-fried Brie Salad with Toasted Pecans
If you thought salads were just for summertime, think again. This festive salad is packed with festive touches, from cranberry sauce to deep-fried brie, and is the perfect way to use up any leftover pigs in blankets.
The Christmas Boy
Re-live the Christmas dinner feast with this incredible burger. Featuring a turkey thigh confit, a stuffing patty and a veggie patty, as well as Monica Geller’s famous moist-maker, it is an efficient – and utterly delicious – use of any leftovers.
Thanksgiving or Boxing Day Croissant
Start Boxing Day the right way, with Michael Zee’s decadent Boxing Day croissants. Not only does this recipe make the most of any leftover stuffing, cheese, cranberry sauce and even gravy, all squeezed into a lovely hot pastry, it’s also got hangover-cure written all over it.
Leftover turkey recipes
Ed’s Victorious Turkey Hash
Jazz up whatever’s left of your Christmas turkey with this inspired recipe from Nigella Lawson’s famous Christmas cookbook, Nigella Christmas, bringing delicious flavours of the Mediterranean into your Boxing Day feast.
Turkey Sloppy Joes Tasty Slaw with Gherkins and Chilli, Homemade BBQ Sauce
These turkey sloppy joes from Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook are a real crowd-pleaser, perfect for a family gathering on Boxing Day.
José Pizarro’s Chicken Cannelloni
In Catalonia it is tradition to have cannelloni – a type of rolled up pasta baked with a cheesy béchamel sauce – on Boxing Day. It is the perfect way to use up any leftover cooked meat from Christmas. This recipe from José Pizarro uses chicken, but feel free to swap in roasted turkey, lamb, pork or whatever meat you have an abundance of.
Turkey Chilequiles
The clever GBBO team have come up with this inspired recipe for turkey leftovers, livened up with a dash of herbs and spices and a tasty Mexican twist for a moreish brunch or dinner dish.
Nadiya Hussain’s Chicken, Brie, Cranberry and Pink Pepper Pithivier
A pithivier is a classically French puff-pastry pie, which can be filled with either sweet or savoury ingredients. Here, Nadiya uses chicken (but you could easily swap in turkey or other meat), spiced and sweetened with pink peppercorns and cranberries, enveloping a centre of melted Brie.
Jessie and Lennie Ware’s Leftover Turkey Casserole
“This dish is by no means a sexy show-stopper, rather a nostalgic warmer and something my brother and I are always so happy to be greeted with at the table”, says Jessie Ware. Take about 15 minutes to prep this recipe, then leave the oven to do the rest of the hard work.
Eat Well For Less Turkey Lasagne
This recipe uses turkey mince, but you can easily swap in leftover cooked turkey. Simply skip the first step, then shred in the leftover meat along with the spinach. This recipe is a lighter take on lasagne, made using Quark in place of the classic white sauce.
Boxing Day Pasties
This is a super-easy recipe for Boxing Day pasties from Jack Monroe’s A Year in 120 Recipes, which you can fill up with whatever is left from your Christmas dinner. These pasties give even the most succulent turkey sandwich a run for its money.
Leftover ham recipes
Christmas French Toastie
This festive toastie from Amy Sheppard brings together leftover ham and Christmas cheeseboard stilton for a delicious Boxing Day lunch or snack. Don’t skip the ruby red onions, which are cooked down with cranberry sauce and leftover red cabbage for extra flavour. You can flex the fillings to use up your sprouts, stuffing and turkey, if you like.
The Batch Lady’s Ham Mac and Cheese with Stuffing Crumbs
This is mac and cheese with a festive twist. Featuring leftover ham and a cheesy stuffing topping, this recipe is an easy way to use leftovers and can be frozen until ready to cook.
Quick Cassoulet
If you’re left with more Christmas ham than you know what to do with, Tom Aikens’ quick and easy cassoulet is a foolproof way to make the most of those meaty flavours.
Smoked Ham and Piccalilli Salad
If the Christmas festivities have left you feeling a little full, this Gizzi Erskine recipe for a light but satisfying salad is the perfect way to balance out the over-indulging, and still make the use of any leftover Christmas ham.
Ham, Pea and Mint Casserole
A simple and comforting casserole recipe from Jack Monroe, great for making the most of your ham leftovers, and just what you’ll need to warm you up after a chilly Boxing Day walk.
Recipes using leftover cheese
Cheese Crackers
These cheese crackers from the team at Biscuiteers are a genius way to use up the odds and ends from your Christmas Day cheeseboard. Customise the flavours with herbs, spices or seeds of your choice.
Brie and Bacon Risotto
This recipe from Jack Monroe is the ideal way to use up whatever’s left from the cheese course, and any bacon that didn’t get cooked for Christmas breakfast, combined together to make a deliciously rich and creamy risotto.
Leftover panettone recipes
Bonkers Bread and Butter Panettone Pudding Tart
Jamie Oliver certainly knows how to make a cracking pudding, and this recipe from Jamie’s Comfort Food is no exception, bringing together the very best of British and Italian Christmas baking. So if you’ve got any leftover panettone, you know what to do.
Matt Tebbutt’s Christmas Panettone Trifle
With layers of ricotta cream, custard, slices of panettone, and festive fruit and nuts steeped in Marsala, this Christmas trifle from Matt Tebbutt is a show stopping dish. A fantastic alternative to Christmas pudding, this recipe is the perfect way to transform leftover panettone into an impressive dessert.
Use up leftover Christmas chocolate
Chocolate Orange Blondies
A celebration of a truly classic Christmas flavour combination, these chocolate orange blondies are the answer to a glut of leftover Terry’s.
From the book
Finch Bakery
Peanut Butter Chocolate Fondant
And last but definitely not least, what to do with all that chocolate? This peanut butter chocolate fondant recipe from Step-By-Step Desserts is an easy solution to that problem.
