Leftover Turkey and Cranberry Sandwich

This Thanksgiving leftover turkey and cranberry sandwich is a most delicious way to eat your leftover turkey and cranberry sauce. It’s made like a monte Cristo sandwich but with Thanksgiving leftovers and a special sauce for that stuffing flavor! Take a bite and it tastes like Thanksgiving dinner in a Monte Cristo sandwich.

You might also like this leftover turkey waffle or leftover turkey burrito!

Two things about me. I’m not a big Thanksgiving food person like the rest of my family and I just had my first Monte Cristo sandwich this past summer. So when I was trying to think of things to make with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and cranberry sauce, I remembered that delicious sandwich from the summer and came up with this Thanksgiving leftover turkey and cranberry sandwich but with a Monte Cristo twist.

It was fantastic! Really it is. You have the combination of juicy turkey, sweet but tart cranberry sauce and then I used some mayo and herbs to make a special sauce that tasted like stuffing. It was like the best of Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich.

What is a Monte Cristo sandwich?

The Monte Cristo sandwich is essentially a ham and cheese sandwich that is dipped in egg and pan or deep fried (source). We are making a variation on a Monte Cristo sandwich just using turkey leftovers!

Below you can see where the bread was dipped in egg and pan fried. If you have an aversion to eggs you can just slather the sandwich with butter and pan fry like a grilled cheese sandwich. I liked the egg though.

This sandwich is great with leftover smoked turkey breast.

If you’ve ever smoked a turkey and this would be an amazing sandwich to make with leftovers. I have an easy smoked turkey breast recipe and a make your own lunch meat post.

You would be surprised how good making your own lunch meat tastes. And it’s not full of preservatives and fillers. My son LOVES turkey sandwiches so we do this often.  Below you can see what it looks like.

Thanksgiving leftovers and ingredients I used.

Of course we are using leftover turkey and cranberry sauce. From there you also need some mayonnaise, thyme, poultry seasoning and sage to make the special sauce. When you spread this sauce over the bread it has all the taste of stuffing!

And then there is the egg to dip your sandwich in and melted butter to fry it up. As for the bread you can use your favorite bread of choice. Be it whole grain or plain white, just make sure it’s not to thinly sliced.

I used sugar free cranberry sauce I made with fresh cranberries.

I wanted to make a sugar free homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and I came up with a recipe.  It just uses fresh cranberries, sweetener and orange extract. Below you can see what it looks like and it’s what I used in this sandwich.

However you can use any kind of leftover cranberry sauce you want; jellied or sauce. If you are using that jellied kind that comes from a can, you might want to mix it up a bit so it stays in place on your sandwich.

This special sauce gives it that stuffing flavor.

The special stuffing sauce is merely mayo with poultry spice, sage and thyme. That coupled with the grilled bread gives you the stuffing vibe. It really adds to the sandwich so don’t skip this!

How to make a leftover turkey and cranberry sandwich.

1. Lay out two thick slices of bread and place on a plate. Make sure to use thick bread so you only get egg batter on the surface of the sandwich and not the filling when you dip it later on in the process.
2. In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise and spices. Spread on each of the bread slices.
3. Then layer your turkey slices on both slices and top one slice with cranberry sauce. Put the two pieces of bread together to make a sandwich and smoosh it down a bit with your hand.
4. Get out a skillet and heat to medium high heat. Add butter to melt and sizzle in the pan.
5. In a shallow bowl beat the egg then carefully dip the sandwich in the egg on both sides. Then place it in the skillet. Turn the heat down to medium.
6. Once it has browned on once side, flip sandwich and brown the other side. Then take it out and enjoy! Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card. 

I think I like this so much because turkey is one of my favorite sandwiches in general especially with a sweet jam-y element similar to this turkey apricot cheddar sandwich I made in the summer!

So that is my turkey leftovers solution – a turkey and cranberry sandwich with stuffing flavored spread. It really is so good. I could eat this all year round not just Thanksgiving season. I hope you like it as well.

And if you are looking for more things to make with leftover turkey check out these 21 keto leftover turkey recipes!