Thanksgiving Leftover Sourdough Sandwich Recipe
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Thanksgiving Leftover Sourdough Sandwich
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and all the best leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner stacked between golden toasted sourdough. The leftovers may actually be better than the main event.
Thanksgiving dinner is great. Thanksgiving leftovers are where people start making truly questionable and wonderful decisions.
This sandwich takes the best parts of the holiday table—tender turkey, savory stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and melty cheese if you're feeling ambitious—and stacks them between slices of golden sourdough.
It's sweet, salty, savory, crispy, soft, messy, comforting, and exactly the kind of sandwich you should be eating the day after Thanksgiving while insisting you are absolutely not cooking anything complicated.
🦃 Thanksgiving Leftover Sourdough Sandwich
Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and holiday leftovers piled high between crispy golden sourdough.
🥪 Ingredients
- 4 thick slices sourdough bread
- 6 ounces cooked Thanksgiving turkey, sliced or shredded
- 1 cup leftover stuffing
- 1/3 cup cranberry sauce
- 1/3 cup warm leftover gravy, plus more for dipping
- 2 slices Swiss, cheddar, or provolone cheese, optional
- 1 1/2 tablespoons softened butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, as needed
🔥 How to Make It
-
Warm the leftovers.
Heat the turkey and stuffing gently until warm. If the stuffing feels dry, add a spoonful of gravy and stir it through. -
Prepare the bread.
Lay out four slices of sourdough and spread cranberry sauce over two of the slices. -
Layer the turkey.
Divide the warm turkey between the two sandwiches. Season lightly with black pepper if needed. -
Add the stuffing.
Spoon the stuffing over the turkey and gently press it down so the sandwich doesn't become unnecessarily three-dimensional. -
Add gravy and cheese.
Drizzle a small amount of warm gravy over the stuffing. Add cheese if using, then top with the remaining sourdough slices. -
Butter and toast.
Spread softened butter over the outside of each sandwich. Cook in a skillet over medium-low heat for 3–5 minutes per side until the sourdough is golden and crisp and the filling is hot. -
Serve with extra gravy.
Rest for one minute, slice, and serve with warm gravy on the side for dipping if you want to fully commit to the situation.
🦃 The Secret Is Keeping the Filling Moist
Leftover turkey and stuffing can dry out quickly in the refrigerator, so warm them gently before building your sandwich.
A little gravy mixed into the stuffing and drizzled over the turkey brings everything back to life without turning the bread into a swamp.
The goal is juicy holiday leftovers. Not gravy soup trapped between bread.
🍞 Why Sourdough Is Perfect for Thanksgiving Leftovers
This sandwich has a serious moisture situation happening.
You've got cranberry sauce, gravy, turkey, and stuffing all competing to see which one can escape first.
Toasted sourdough gives the sandwich enough structure to hold everything together while adding a tangy, slightly chewy contrast to all those soft, rich holiday fillings.
In other words: sourdough is the responsible adult in a sandwich made entirely from Thanksgiving chaos.
🏆 Four Ways to Make Your Leftover Sandwich Better
🦃 Warm the Turkey First
Cold turkey straight from the fridge can keep the center of your sandwich cold. Warm it gently before assembling.
🍞 Don't Overload the Gravy
Add enough gravy to keep everything moist, but save most of it for dipping so your sourdough stays crisp.
🍒 Use Cranberry Sauce for Balance
The tart sweetness cuts through the rich turkey, stuffing, cheese, and gravy beautifully.
🧀 Add Cheese If You Dare
Swiss, cheddar, or provolone melts beautifully and turns an already excessive holiday sandwich into something even more unreasonable.
🤤 What Else Can Go in It?
If it survived Thanksgiving dinner and fits between two slices of sourdough, there is a reasonable chance it belongs here.
- Add mashed potatoes
- Add sweet potato casserole
- Use turkey gravy or chicken gravy for dipping
- Add crispy fried onions
- Add roasted Brussels sprouts
- Add Swiss, cheddar, provolone, or Brie
- Add a thin layer of mayonnaise or Dijon mustard
- Swap turkey for leftover roast chicken
🐿️ Squirrelly Girl Warning
The phrase “I'll just make a small sandwich” has very little meaning once stuffing and gravy become involved.
Build responsibly. Or don't. Thanksgiving already happened.
🥪 Keep Exploring the Squirrelly Girl Sandwich Series
Finished the Thanksgiving leftovers? We've got plenty more reasons to keep the sourdough on the counter.
Tender turkey, crispy bacon, creamy avocado, and fresh toppings on toasted sourdough. 🥓 Sourdough Club Sandwich
Turkey, bacon, tomato, lettuce, cheese, and creamy mayo stacked on golden sourdough. 🥩 French Dip on Sourdough
Tender roast beef, melted cheese, caramelized onions, and rich au jus for dipping. 🥪 Explore the Entire Squirrelly Girl Sandwich Series
Browse all our sourdough sandwich recipes and find your next lunch obsession.
🐿️ Want to Make the Sourdough Too?
Leftovers deserve better than ordinary bread. If you're ready to bake your own sourdough at home, start with Squirrelly Girl Sourdough Starter.
Meet Squirrelly Girl Starter →