9 Food Blogger-Approved Thanksgiving Leftover Hacks

Recycle several of your Turkey Day dishes with this croquette recipe by Serena Cosmo of the cooking blog, Rustic Plate. These small pan-toasted rolls are made from your leftover mashed potatoes and roasted turkey, and feature -- surprise! -- an oozy center of cranberry sauce and cream cheese.

Work your baggies of take-home turkey into this light and mild version of gumbo created by the Steamy Kitchen food blog. The tomatoes, okra, and Polish sausage in this dish will serve as a nice reprieve from the typical Thanksgiving flavors.

We all make sandwiches from our leftover turkey, but why not try a more adventurous take on the Black Friday classic? This recipe by $5 Dinners uses up leftover cranberry sauce as well as turkey, and requires only two other ingredients.

If you've visited Manhattan, you've seen the food carts on the street selling Halal-style chicken and rice prepared right there on the cart. But you don't need to be in New York to get the same taste. The Steamy Kitchen food blog has created a clever hack recipe you can do at home using your leftover turkey.

By the second or third day of leftovers, you'll probably be dreaming of ordering pizza just for the sake of change. But you can get all that melted cheesy goodness and still make use of those pounds of turkey. This free-style recipe from the blog Foodie with Family calls for all the pizza classics like crispy crust and multiple cheese varieties but "trashes" it up with BBQ sauce, olives, onions, cilantro, and cubes of avocado.

Still got mounds of mashed sweet potatoes? Too many spoonfuls of cranberry sauce? Try this recipe by Erin Chase of the cooking blog $5 Dinners for a sweet and easy breakfast-take on Thanksgiving flavors.

Leave behind the classic flavors of Thanksgiving and work your leftover turkey into a warm, spicy Vietnamese noodle soup with this recipe by food blog Foodie with Family. Add a couple of jalapeno slices, sriracha, and hoisin sauce to the bowl and you'll barely realize you're still eating turkey all these days later.

Reinvent your leftover stuffing by turning it into bite-size morsels with any extra pie crust you may have from baking pumpkin or apple pies for the holiday. For advice on how to form your flaky pie cups -- or ideas for jazzing up your stand-by stuffing recipe with a few extra ingredients -- see $5 Dinner's recipe.

Here's one that was definitely not served at the first Thanksgiving feast: Try turning your leftover pumpkin puree or even sweet potato casserole into a creamy pasta sauce with this recipe from the food blog Two Red Bowls. If you're feeling especially ambitious, the recipe includes guidance on making your own noodles.