Get Creative With Your Thanksgiving Leftovers And Make Some Egg Rolls

Arguably, one of the best parts of the holidays is taking home leftovers. When everyone brings a dish to share, there's often more than enough food to go around. At the end of the night, you can grab a plate, load it up with your favorite foods, and wrap it up to take home. And while Thanksgiving leftovers are delicious when reheated and enjoyed by themselves, turning them into egg rolls could totally elevate the food. 

Egg rolls traditionally feature ingredients such as cabbage, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and pork, rolled up and fried into a crispy handheld food. But there are no rules against experimenting when it comes to what you wrap up in egg rolls — so you can use up that leftover turkey and stuffing to turn them into a new dish. All you'll need to do is place a little bit of each leftover food into an egg roll wrapper, roll it up, seal it tightly, and fry.

To make Thanksgiving leftover-flavored egg rolls, you'll need a package of egg roll wrappers, as well as food for the filling. Make sure the leftovers are small enough to add in without overwhelming the wrapper — that means shredding the turkey and chopping up any larger pieces of stuffing and veggies.

Once the leftovers have been prepped, a little bit of each can be scooped into the wrappers. Seal the egg rolls, and you can fry them, bake them, or cook them in your air fryer. Once the egg rolls have been cooked up, you can use some leftover gravy or cranberry sauce as a dip.

You can even upgrade leftover desserts using egg roll wrappers. Simply scoop out a little bit of pumpkin or apple pie filling and spread it in the egg roll wrapper. Then, it can be baked or fried for a handheld dessert.

If egg rolls aren't your thing, there are other ways to use leftovers in a creative fashion. Of course, there's the classic leftover sandwich — affectionately dubbed "The Moist Maker" by David Schwimmer's character, Ross, on "Friends." Grab two slices of bread, spread on some mashed potatoes, and pile on the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy.

If you have tortillas on hand, sandwich the filling in with some cheese to create a quesadilla. If you'd prefer to mix everything together all at once, you can also grab a casserole dish and layer all of the leftovers in before baking. Or, you can save the mashed potatoes for the topping, and make a Thanksgiving leftover shepherd's pie.

The next time you come home from dinner with a plate piled high with leftovers, try grabbing a package of egg roll wrappers to transform the dish into something even tastier.