It’s the day after Thanksgiving and you’ve got a fridge full of leftover turkey, potatoes and gravy! What can you do to use everything so there’s no waste and change it up a bit at the same time? Make Turkey Potato Croquettes – the best recipe for Thanksgiving leftovers!
Thanksgiving leftovers are unavoidable it seems. I get so excited to make our meal every year that I can’t help but make way too much food, especially turkey and mashed potatoes. Over the years I’ve come up with creative ways to make Thanksgiving leftovers into new exciting recipes, but I think these Turkey Potato Croquettes might be my favorite! They’re crispy on the outside with pillowy soft mashed potatoes on the inside.
Three Reasons to Love Turkey Potato Croquettes
- Thanksgiving Leftovers Reinvented: Turn your Thanksgiving leftovers into something new with turkey potato croquettes. Roasted turkey meets mashed potatoes for a flavorful combo that ensures no bite goes to waste.
- Family Fun in the Kitchen: Make cooking a family adventure with turkey potato croquettes. From shaping to breading, this hands-on recipe is perfect for quality time with the kids. Create lasting memories while crafting a batch of delicious croquettes.
- Irresistible and Crispy: These crispy, golden-brown croquettes are absolutely delicious. Perfect as appetizers or snacks or even dinner, these croquettes are a crowd-pleasing sensation.
The Ingredients
- Mashed potatoes: Preferably mashed potatoes that are a day old. If you make fresh, you’ll want to refrigerate them before you start so they’ll hold together better
- Eggs: One goes in the mashed potatoes and one is used in the breading station.
- Roast turkey: This is the perfect recipe for leftover Thanksgiving turkey!
- Shredded cheese: You can use any cheese you like. Monterrey jack, mozzarella, or cheddar work great!
- Breadcrumbs: White, whole wheat or even gluten free breadcrumbs are perfect.
- Oil: For shallow frying. Choose your favorite!
How to Make Turkey Potato Croquettes
- Prepare the Mashed Potatoes: Whisk one egg and add it to your mashed potatoes. Stir to combine. Adding the egg helps the potatoes keep their shape when they’re cooked later.
- Prepare the Turkey and Cheese Mixture: Chop your leftover turkey into small pieces and combine with the shredded cheese. Use whatever cheese you like best. We love sharp cheddar for this recipe, but mozzarella or a blend work great too!
- Form the Croquettes: Take 2 teaspoons of the turkey cheese mixture and form into 1 inch balls. You want to roll them tight so the turkey and cheese bind together. Next, take 2 tablespoons of the potato egg mixture and form a patty in the palm of your hand, place the turkey cheese ball in the center and carefully fold the potato mixture around the turkey cheese ball to make a larger ball.
- Add the Breading: Place a whisked egg in one bowl and breadcrumbs in a separate bowl. Roll each croquette gently into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs covering them completely.
- Fry: Add oil to cover the bottom of a stock pot. Heat the oil until it reaches about 360° F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the oil by throwing a few breadcrumbs in. If they sizzle immediately, most likely, your oil is hot enough. Carefully place the croquettes in the oil and fry for 60 seconds, turning occasionally, until the outside is brown and crispy.
- Serve: Using a slotted spoon, transfer the croquettes to a paper towel lined plate and salt immediately. Serve with leftover gravy or cranberry sauce.
More Recipes Using Leftovers
Limiting food waste, whether it’s the holidays or just a weeknight dinner, has become a passion of mine. There are tons of creative ways to use your leftovers to create new and exciting dishes. Here are some of my favorites that cover Thanksgiving leftovers and beyond!
- Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Shepherd’s Pot Pie
- Turkey Cranberry Bagel Sandwich
- Mashed Potato Pancakes
- Leftover Rice Pudding
- Brown Rice Cakes
- Spaghetti Cakes
Let me know what you’re making with your Thanksgiving leftovers in the comments! And tag me on Instagram if you make these Turkey Potato Croquettes!
Turkey Potato Croquettes
Thanksgiving leftovers won't be leftovers for long once you make these Turkey Potato Croquettes!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes (preferably leftover or refrigerated)
- 2 large eggs, whisked in separate bowls
- 1 cup roast turkey, chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheese (Monterrey jack, mozzarella, or cheddar)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (white, whole wheat or gluten free)
- olive, vegetable or canola oil (for cooking)
Instructions
- Stir the mashed potatoes and 1 whisked egg in a bowl until combined and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the chopped turkey and shredded cheese stirring to combine.
- Take 2 teaspoons of the turkey cheese mixture and form into 1 inch balls. You want to roll them tight so the turkey and cheese bind together.
- Take 2 tablespoons of the potato egg mixture and form a patty in the palm of your hand, place a turkey cheese ball in the center and fold the potato mixture around the turkey cheese ball to make a larger ball.
- Place the second whisked egg in a bowl and the breadcrumbs in a seperate bowl.
- Roll each potato croquette gently into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs covering them completely.
- Add the oil to a heavy bottomed pot over medium/high heat. The oil is hot enough if you put a few leftover breadcrumbs in and they sizzle immediately.
- Add the croquettes to oil and fry for about 60 seconds, turning occasionally, until the outside is crispy. Alternately, you can bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the croquettes to the paper towel-lined plate and immediately season them with salt.
- Serve with gravy or cranberry sauce.
Nutrition
Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 373mg | Potassium: 344mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 208IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 142mg | Iron: 2mg
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Another recipie that is a success with my 2 years old daughter!. I cooked them with the veggie nuggets mix and she loved them! Thanks again!
I would love to try this, but I’m wondering if I can do it with ground turkey or even turkey breast? I don’t have the space to do your brine recipe (which sounds delicious), but Im hoping to add all the ingredient to the ground or breast meat. Any suggestions?
I probably solhudn’t admit how it takes me back to childhood Christmases, but I do love this stuff. I am still looking for those Christmas decorations (large, about 18 tall) that were made out of melted together plastic chips into shapes like a big Santa, reindeers, bells, etc . inspired to check again on ebay.
I tried this for lunch today. But the mashed potato/egg mixture was very soft and fell off. It was a terrible gooey mess. Have I done something wrong? Did anyone else have this problem? I even used day old mashed potatoes.
I just reread the instructions & it dawned on me that I forgot the second egg. That is probably why the potatoes fell off when frying – whoops!