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Ella Cooks

Leftover Turkey Nachos with Cranberry Pico

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This is the best thing you can do with Thanksgiving leftovers, and it takes about 20 minutes. The turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce get piled onto seasoned chips under two kinds of melted cheese. Then a cold, sharp cranberry pico goes on top and there’s a bowl of hot gravy for dipping. It feeds the whole house the day after, and it works just as well on December 26
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Appetizer
Calories: 780
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
  

Ingredients
For the nachos
  • 10 oz thick restaurant-style tortilla chips thin chips break and go soft
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or 1/2 teaspoon each dried sage and thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and a pinch of salt
  • 2 cups shredded leftover turkey about 10 oz, white and dark meat mixed
  • 2 tablespoons leftover gravy plus about 1/2 cup more, warmed, for dipping
  • 1 1/2 cups leftover stuffing crumbled into small pieces
  • 2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar 8 oz
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack 4 oz
For the cranberry pico
  • 1 cup leftover whole berry cranberry sauce
  • 1 jalapeño finely diced
  • 1/4 red onion finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • Juice of 1 lime
To finish
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 green onions sliced

Method
 

How to Make Them
  1. Toast the stuffing. Heat the oven to 400°F. Scatter the crumbled stuffing over a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are crisp and golden. Tip it into a bowl and keep the pan.
  2. Season the chips. Whisk the poultry seasoning, garlic powder and salt into the melted butter. Gently toss the chips in it in a large bowl. Use your hands, because tongs break them.
  3. Loosen the turkey. Toss the shredded turkey with 2 tablespoons of gravy. Leftover turkey is dry, and this stops it going leathery in the oven.
  4. Layer twice. Spread half the chips over the sheet pan in a single, slightly overlapping layer. Top with half the turkey, half the stuffing and half the cheese. Repeat with the rest. Two layers means the chips at the bottom get cheese too, not just the top ones.
  5. Bake. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling at the edges.
  6. Make the pico while it bakes. Stir the cranberry sauce, jalapeño, red onion, cilantro and lime juice together. Taste it. It should be sharp, not sweet, so add more lime if it needs it.
  7. Top and serve straight away. Spoon the cranberry pico over the hot nachos and add small dollops of sour cream and the green onions. Put the warm gravy in a bowl on the side for dipping.

Nutrition

Calories: 780kcalCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 34gFat: 44gSodium: 970mgFiber: 4gSugar: 20g

Notes

Make It Your Own

Use what’s left. Roasted Brussels sprouts, green beans or sweet potato cubes can all go in with the turkey layer. Chop them small. If you have leftover sticky garlic soy Brussels sprouts, they’re especially good here.
 
Swap the cheese. Smoked gouda makes them taste like a cozy deli sandwich. Brie torn into small pieces is lovely if you have the end of a wheel left from the cheese board.
 
Gravy cheese sauce. If you’d rather have a queso, whisk 1/2 cup of warm gravy into a batch of my cottage cheese queso and pour it over just before serving.
 
No leftovers? Use rotisserie chicken or deli turkey, a box of stuffing mix and canned whole berry cranberry sauce. It’s still a 30-minute party appetizer.
 
For Christmas. Leftover ham works just as well as turkey. If there’s a little of the glaze left, toss the ham in that instead of gravy.

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