Thanksgiving Leftovers Poutine – the most delicious thing you can do with some of those Thanksgiving turkey dinner leftovers! Sweet potato fries are loaded up with leftover turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, cheese curds and some chives for a heavenly meal you’ll want to save those leftovers for!

Anyone that knows me will know I absolutely love Thanksgiving food. In fact, as I hate the colder weather so much food is probably the only thing I look forward to about this time of year (aside from my birthday, haha!). But back to Thanksgiving – my mother makes the best turkey, if I do say so myself. I know everyone says that about a beloved family member’s turkey, but hers is really something special. She loads that bird up with lots of rosemary, sage, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and butter. Then, she wraps the turkey in bacon and it just comes out absolutely, incredibly delicious. The bacon helps keep everything moist, there is no need for basting! And that bacon is amazing to eat too, as it gets roasted and crispy, and coated in seasoning.

I am always so happy she makes a large turkey so that we have plenty of leftovers to enjoy in the days afterwards. Typically my go-to leftovers recipe has been these turkey, cranberry and brie grilled cheese sandwiches. They truly are delicious, and still a favourite of mine to make every year.

This year, I am going to make this Thanksgiving leftovers poutine to go along with that sandwich!

What is a poutine?

A poutine is a classic French-Canadian dish traditionally made with french fries, cheese curds and hot gravy. There are many variations on this concept now, with additional toppings added such as mushrooms, onions, peppers, roast beef, pulled pork, ground beef, chili and more! Basically, anything can be a poutine as long as you’ve got the fries, cheese curds and gravy!

Many of you dear readers are from Canada, and will know exactly what a poutine is and love it as much as I do. However, many of you are from the United States or other countries and perhaps have never heard of a poutine before! This is my fun take on a poutine, and I hope you enjoy it!

What leftovers are use on a Thanksgiving Leftovers Poutine?

This recipe will help you use up the following leftovers:

Turkey
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce

You can also add in other leftovers, if you desire, such as roasted veggies, peas, or even leftover stuffing.

Another option is, instead of store-bought, packaged sweet potato fries, you could use leftover sweet potato wedges/cubes and pile the toppings on those instead. Even leftover mashed sweet potatoes could work if you really wanted! It won’t look exactly the same but will taste similar. This recipe is very flexible to what you have available and what your preferences are.

What other ingredients go into this Thanksgiving Leftovers Poutine?

In addition to the above listed leftovers, you also need:

Sweet Potato Fries (see note in above paragraph for another option)
Cheese Curds
Chives

I used a store-bought package of sweet potato fries, as I like to keep things easy. I find the portion most packages available here in Canada come with is perfect for two people too.

Alternatively, you could make your own sweet potato fries if you have a good recipe you know and love.

Additionally, as mentioned above, sweet potato leftovers served in other ways such as cubed or mashed could also work in a pinch here. It may not be a “poutine” in doing so, but will have a similar flavour profile.

Some tips for making this Thanksgiving Leftovers Poutine:

Enjoy the poutine immediately after serving! It tastes best while hot, and will prevent the fries from becoming soggy.
Heat your gravy up fully before pouring it over the poutine. This will help the cheese curds melt a bit and become stretchy!
I prefer bringing the cranberry sauce to room temperature or even slightly heated before adding it to the poutine. This makes it a bit more sauce-like and easier to spread throughout the poutine. If it is cold out of the fridge it is thicker, and harder to distribute throughout the poutine. However as always, go by your preference!

I really enjoyed this meal, and had a lot of fun creating it! It has all of your favourite thanksgiving flavours, and truly is a fantastic way to use up those leftovers. I even once made some turkey just so that I could have this poutine again (oh, the crazy things I do for good food!).

Whether you celebrate Canadian or American Thanksgiving, I wish you a delicious and happy Thanksgiving!

If you make this Thanksgiving Leftovers Poutine please let me know! You can leave a comment below, rate it, post on the Zest & Simmer Facebook page or share photos on Instagram with the hashtag #zestandsimmer. I am always thrilled to hear from you!

Print Recipe

5 from 8 votes