Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: All the best flavors of Thanksgiving in each bite. What could be better?
Texture: The pastry is flaky and buttery while the filling inside is hearty and satisfying. Pair it with a drizzle of red wine gravy and it’s the perfect texture combination.
Ease: Just a bit of assembly and a short bake and you’re on your way to the best leftovers.
Pros: Fun and delightful way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers.
Cons: A bit time consuming to assemble. I like to do so with a Christmas movie on in the background!
Would I Make This Again? Oh 100%
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These Thanksgiving Leftover Hand Pies will make you look forward to your Thanksgiving leftovers more than the actual Turkey Day dinner!
It’s hard to choose what the best part of Thanksgiving truly is.
The turkey? The sides? PIES? Or is it the leftovers?
If you’re loaded with Thanksgiving leftovers this year and want to spice them up, these Thanksgiving Hand Pies are the perfect recipe.
Whenever I’m making pie dough, I always double the batch to have leftovers if not for the freezer, then for exactly a recipe like this one.
Our amazing food stylist, Brendan, was actually the one to come up with this recipe. We made them all together in the studio and just about died over how delicious they are!
Pie dough enrobes a filling of leftover turkey, gravy, stuffing, and sweet potato – but you could get creative here and fill them with whatever you have on hand.
The best part is the two accompaniment options: red wine gravy (using leftovers!) and cranberry sauce!
How to Make Thanksgiving Leftover Hand Pies
What Thanksgiving Leftovers Can I Use for Hand Pies?
We used leftover turkey, gravy, stuffing, and sweet potato – but feel free to use whatever leftovers you have after Turkey Day. Mashed potato, mac and cheese, cheesy green beans, carrots, or corn would all be delicious! Just keep the filling measurements the same as the recipe, to prevent overflowing hand pies.
How to Roll Out Pie Dough:
Here are my top 3 tips for rolling out pie dough, but there are a lot more tips included in my Best Ever Pie Crust recipe.
- Make sure to keep everything as cold as possible. If your kitchen is warm, fill freezer bags with ice and a little water and set them on your work surface for 10 minutes to chill it before rolling out your pie dough.
- Flour your work surface, the dough itself, and your rolling pin throughout the process. I recommend investing in a flour shaker and bench scraper. The flour shaker lets you easily add flour wherever sticking might be happening. The bench scraper allows you to easily keep the dough moving as you roll it out, which is essential to prevent sticking.
- If at any point the butter begins to get melty and sticky, return the dough to the back of the fridge or your freezer immediately.
How to Store Thanksgiving Leftover Hand Pies:
These are best eaten the day they’re baked, though they will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. Store inside an airtight container or a ziptop bag. Reheat in the oven at 325°F until warmed through and the pie crust is refreshed.
Can You Freeze Hand Pies?
Yes! Place on a baking sheet in the freezer until solidified then remove to an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw and reheat as described above, or place frozen pies into a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes, or until warmed through.
More Thanksgiving Leftovers recipes:
P.S. Check out ALL my Thanksgiving recipes here!
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Thanksgiving Leftover Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 1
batch Best Ever Pie Crust - 1 cup cooked turkey, shredded
- 1 1/4 cups leftover gravy, separated
- 1/2 cup leftover stuffing
- 1/2 cup leftover sweet potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 cup red wine
- 5 black peppercorns
- 1 cup leftover cranberry sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Roll out pie dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8” thick. Cut out rounds of dough with a 4 1/2 to 5-inch round cookie cutter and move them to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Collect dough scraps, and reroll to make more round cutouts. You should have 12 rounds.
- Toss shredded turkey together with a 1/4 cup of the gravy in a small bowl. Top each pie round evenly with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of turkey mixture, keeping the filling on one half side of the pie round, and leaving a 1/4” border around the side. Top each evenly with 1 tablespoon of stuffing, then about a tablespoon of sweet potatoes.
- Beat egg and water in a small bowl to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash around the edges of each pie round. Fold over the pie dough rounds to cover the filling, making half-moon shapes. Lightly press the dough edges down with your fingers. Using a fork, securely seal the edges of the pie dough.
- Brush the tops of the pies with egg wash. Using a small pairing knife, cut three small slits across the top of each hand pie to let steam ventilate during baking. Bake until the dough is cooked through and golden brown in color, about 25 minutes.
- While the pies bake, in a small saucepan, simmer red wine and peppercorns over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Strain reduced wine into the remaining 1 cup of warm gravy, and whisk together.
- Remove pies from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Serve the warm hand pies with a side of red wine gravy and cranberry sauce for dipping.
