If you’re wondering what to do with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and cranberry sauce, I suggest stuffing them into a grilled sandwich along with grated gruyere, fresh tarragon and a bit of homemade tarragon mustard. It makes for a refreshing change after days of the same.
I love traditional Thanksgiving food but eating turkey with mashed sweet potatoes and green bean casserole always seems to get old really, really quickly. By Thanksgiving Saturday I’m absolutely tired of the stuff and that’s where this leftover Thanksgiving turkey cranberry grilled sandwich comes in.
It’s stuffed with turkey meat and cranberry sauce but because there are a number of other strong-flavored components in it, it goes into completely different directions than traditional Thanksgiving flavors.
The most important ingredient here is the homemade tarragon mustard. It’s very sharp and intense and peps up the, let’s face it, somewhat bland turkey meat beautifully. The tarragon adds freshness and delicious herb flavors that work great with the grated gruyere and the smokiness from the grilled bread.
If you’re out of cranberry sauce, not to worry, I have a recipe for homemade star anise cranberry sauce that works great in this sandwich.
How to make the sandwich:
The first thing you’ll need to do for this recipe is make the mustard and you can find the recipe here: homemade tarragon mustard. The mustard needs to mellow in the fridge for a few days, so be sure to plan ahead for that.
Once you have the mustard, the rest goes very quickly: simply stuff turkey meat, cranberry sauce, gruyere, mustard and chopped fresh tarragon between two slices of bread and grill them on a grill pan or a panini press.
I recommend a rustic, crusty bread for this grilled sandwich. (I used a walnut cranberry bread here for extra fruitiness.)
More delicious sandwich recipes:
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tarragon and Bourbon Caramelized Shallots
- Smoked Salmon Panini with Lemon Dill Mayonnaise
Made this recipe? It would be awesome if you could leave a rating. Either tap or click the stars in the recipe card or leave a comment below. Thanks!
Recipe Card
Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Cranberry Grilled Sandwich
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces leftover turkey meat
- 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce*
- 2 ounces grated gruyere cheese
- 2 tablespoons homemade tarragon mustard**
- 2 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh tarragon
- 4 slices rustic bread, such as cranberry walnut bread
Instructions:
- Stuff meat, cranberry sauce, gruyere, mustard and tarragon between two slices of the bread, then grill on a grill pan or a panini press.
Judy Thomas
they sound so delicious!
Nicole Branan
Thanks, they really are! :)