Tired of the same old turkey sandwich for using up leftovers? I have a solution: make your leftovers into turkey and stuffing dumplings.
You’ll be able to use leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy to make this cozy meal based on my Most Delicious Southern Chicken and Dumplings recipe.
For ease of browsing, you can find all my Thanksgiving recipes in one place. Enjoy your turkey and dumplings, and thanks for being here!
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✅Skill Level: Intermediate
✅Skills: Making Stock, Shaping and cooking pastry dumplings, making a roux
✅Type: Cozy Stew
✅Number of Ingredients: 18
✅Prep Time: 30 minutes
✅Cook Time: 2 hours, including making the stock
✅Yield: about 8 hearty servings
Jump Straight to the Recipe
What to Expect from This Recipe
This is not a difficult meal to make, and once you’ve made it once, you will be able to make your own variations.
In short, this is how it will go:
- Cut turkey off of bones
- Turn the bones into a rich stock using any leftover gravy you have, boxed stock, some water, and herbs/seasonings.
- Turn the rich stock into a gravy by making a roux to thicken the stock and seasoning it to taste.
- Mix leftover stuffing into a flour-based dumpling mixture, roll out, and cut.
- Cook dumplings in the gravy, add back in the reserved turkey to reheat, taste and adjust seasonings.
If you know that turkey and dumplings will be one of the main ways you’re going to use your Thanksgiving leftovers, here are a couple of things you can do to make life easier.
- After the big meal, cut off all the meat from the turkey bones, pull into bite-sized pieces, and refrigerate.
- Put the bones directly into a stock pot rather than just refrigerating them on your platter. You can add the chopped onion and celery, slap the lid on, refrigerate the whole shebang, and turn them into stock within the next 2-3 days.
Ingredients and Procedure
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe, which sort of happens in three parts:
- Saving turkey
- Making stock and turning it into a sauce/gravy
- Making dumplings
Once you have all three components, you’ll cook the dumplings in the sauce and then add in the turkey before serving.
When you do make this recipe, it will help me and other readers if you:
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If you’re comfortable making stock and dumplings, you can head straight to the recipe.Making the Stock
Making the Stock
Here’s what you’ll need. I’ll provide substitutions where I can.
Photo of gravy in this collage by victoria. on Unsplash
- Leftover cooked turkey: you’ll need the bones/carcass and the meat. Cut the meat from the bones after your big meal and then shred into bite-sized pieces. If you roasted a chicken this year, by all means, use that. No need to buy a Special Turkey!
- onion, celery, fresh herbs (technically optional), gravy, stock, and water: You’ll add these Items to the bones and simmer until the the carcass is falling apart. Then you’ll know you’ve gotten all the gelatin and richness out of the bones. Depending on the amount of bones and gravy you have, you may or may not need water to completely cover, so play that one by ear. As I said, the herbs are optional, because we’re adding poultry seasoning, but if you have some parsley or thyme that need a job, go ahead and add a little of each. For the stock, you can sub in your favorite Better than Bouillon diluted with water–I did!
- Bacon fat and flour: Once you strain the bones and vegetable out of your stock, you’ll make a roux with bacon fat and flour. Or you can use butter, oil, or any fat of your choice. Just wipe out the pan you made the stock in and cook your roux in that.
- Salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning: This is not a fancy meal, and I like the Thanksgiving-y flavor profile of poultry seasoning. If you want to brighten the flavors a bit, add some lemon zest and/or a little bit of chopped, fresh tarragon when you add the turkey in to reheat before serving.
Making the Dumplings
Here are the dumpling ingredients. No real subs here, but if you have self-rising flour, you may use it in place of the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning: sub self-rising flour for the ap, baking powder, and salt if you have some. You can also mince up fresh herbs to go in the dumplings. You’ll whisk these ingredients up together in a large bowl.
- bacon fat: use your preferred fat, as long as it’s solid: butter, shortening, lard, ghee, etc. You’ll rub the fat into the flour mixture really well until there are no little lumps remaining.
- leftover stuffing (cold): Use a rather plain stuffing, one without fruits, nuts, meat, etc in it. Classic bread or cornbread stuffing is perfect. Or use Stove-Top. I won’t tell. Plus, Stove-Top stuffing is delicious! Just break it up, or cut it up if the bread chunks are large. Then thoroughly toss it together with the flour/fat mixture.
- milk: Start with about 1/4 cup of milk (2 oz), and stir in until it is all absorbed. If there’s any loose flour, add more milk, a little at a time, until it is all absorbed and you have a rough dough that is soft and not sticky.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning in a large bowl.
- Add the fat and rub in until no little lumps remain.
- Toss in the stuffing and then evenly distribute it throughout the flour mixture.
- Add milk and stir it in to make a soft-but-not-sticky dough with no loose flour remaining (err on the side of less milk rather than more)
- Press together and place on a floured work surface and liberally dust the top with more flour
- Roll out like pie crust, adding more flour if it starts sticking at all.
Putting it all Together
Once you have your stock and dumplings, you’re ready to put everything together. The process is the same whether you’ve refrigerated your stock or make everything on the same day.
NOTE: make the roux with flour and fat of choice, and add your hot stock to that to start the thickening process. That part is not pictured, but I do explain it in the recipe card.
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- Heat stock. In the first photo, you can see how rich my stock is. TRICK: After you’ve made your stock and while it is still very hot, bloom a tablespoon of gelatin in cold water for about 5 minutes and stir it into your stock. This add extra richness and a lip-smacking mouthfeel. You can find the particulars in the recipe card.
- Once the stock is hot, but not too hot to taste, add salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning until you’re happy with the flavor.
- Bring the stock to a hard boil.
- Drop dumplings into the boiling stock and let boil for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan, and steam the dumplings for an additional 15 minutes.
- Add in your leftover turkey, and bring back to a gentle simmer. If the dumplings haven’t thickened your sauce to your liking, add a slurry of flour and milk and let gently boil for a couple of minutes to cook off the raw starch flavor.
It sounds like a lot of work, but honestly, if you read the recipe through a couple of times, I think you’ll be just fine.
And this is what you have to look forward to!
Tender dumplings in silky, rich, thickened turkey broth with bite-sized pieces of turkey. It truly doesn’t get much better!
They really are pretty hard to resist.
Remember, here are your steps:
- Reserve leftover turkey meat, gravy, and stuffing
- Use the leftover gravy and turkey carcass to make your stock
- Make a roux and thicken up your stock a bit to cook the dumplings
- Use the cold, leftover stuffing in your flat dumplings.
- Cook the dumplings in the thickened gravy
- Add turkey in to reheat, and thicken more with a flour/milk slurry if you think it needs it
- Eat!
Make an Easier Version
What if you don’t have any bones lying around? What if you ate at family’s or friends’ house and they sent you home with turkey?
You can still make this.
Use two boxes of stock and enrich with gelatin as in the original recipe.
Use some Stove Top stuffing or just make plain dumplings as in my chicken and dumplings recipe.
Cook your dumplings in your enriched stock, add in a flour/milk slurry if you want it thicker, and then reheat your leftover turkey in it. Tada!
Other Ways with Thanksgiving Leftovers
Another comforting and tasty way to use up almost any leftovers you can think of is to make my Thanksgiving shepherd’s pie with stuffing crust. It’s even a fun and casual way to serve the main meal!
More Thanksgiving Recipes
If you think cranberry sauce on its own is too tart, try my cran-raspberry jam. A little sweet, a little tangy. Good stuff!
A fun and different side dish, which can easily be made gluten-free if necessary, are these tasty potato stuffing waffles. All the Thanksgiving flavor is a savory waffle!
For dessert, try my pumpkin spice latte flan, vinegar pie, or coconut custard pie.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love These Turkey and Dumplings? Please Rate and Leave a Review!
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Turkey and Stuffing Dumplings
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Ingredients
For the Turkey
- 3-4 cups leftover turkey white and/or dark meat
For the Stock and Gravy
- bones/carcass from leftover turkey
- 1 large sweet onion peeled and chopped
- 2 ribs celery roughly chopped
- fresh Italian parsley and/or thyme stems 3-5 of each
- leftover gravy at least a cup or so
- 1 box low-salt chicken or vegetable stock
- water if needed, enough to cover the bones by an inch
- 2 Tablespoons butter, turkey fat, lard, oil, or bacon fat
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning to taste
To Enrich the Stock, Optional
- 1 Tablespoon plain powdered gelatin 15 grams
- 2 Tablespoons cold water
For the Dumplings
- 4.5 oz all-purpose flour about 1 cup
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- heavy pinch kosher salt
- several grindings black pepper
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1.5 Tablespoons butter, turkey fat, lard, oil, or bacon fat solid, not melted
- 4.5 oz leftover plain stuffing about 1 cup, preferably without any fruit/sausage/nuts, etc. Chopped up finely if it's a very chunky stuffing
- 2-3 oz milk 1/4 cup-1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons
To Thicken up the Gravy After Cooking the Dumplings (If Needed)
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 oz milk or water 1/4 cup
Instructions
For the Turkey
- Cut as much of the turkey meat off the bones as you can. Shred it into bite sized pieces.
- Cover and refrigerate until needed.
For the Stock
- Place turkey carcass, onions, celery, fresh herbs (if using), leftover gravy, stock, and water (if needed) into a 5 quart Dutch oven (or similar).
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low-ish, and simmer until the carcass is completely falling apart, about 90 minutes or so. Speed this step up by using an electric pressure cooker, if you like.
- Strain through a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl or other pot.
To Enrich the Stock, Optional
- Bloom powdered gelatin in cold water for five minutes. Stir into the hot stock. Refrigerate for up to 3 days, or continue with the recipe.
To Make the Gravy
- Wipe out the Dutch oven, and place over medium heat.
- Add your fat of choice, and melt completely.
- Whisk in the flour and let sizzle, whisking almost constantly, for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the stock mixture, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning to taste, and bring to a hard boil.
- Drop dumplings (Instructions Below) into the vigorously boiling stock, and boil for about 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let the dumplings cook/steam for another 15 minutes. Stuffing dumplings are fairly delicate, and smaller ones may dissolve into the stock. That's what we want, though, because it will help to thicken and flavor the sauce.
- Add the refrigerated turkey meat and cook an additional 5-10 minutes to heat through. Taste, and adjust seasonings.
For Extra Thickening, If Necessary
- If you think your sauce still needs to be thicker, make a slurry of 2 Tablespoons flour, a pinch of salt, and 2 oz (1/4 cup) of milk or water, and add to the pot. Bring to a boil to cook out the raw starch flavor, and you're ready to eat. Serve in bowls or plates depending on how thick your gravy is. Enjoy!
For the Dumplings
- In a large glass bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Whisk well.
- Add in the solid fat and, using your fingertips, blend it into the flour mixture completely.
- Add the stuffing, tossing it together with the flour mixture until it's pretty evenly distributed.
- Add 2 oz (1/4 cup) of cold milk, and gently stir into the flour/stuffing mixture. If there is still loose flour in the bottom of the bowl, add additional milk, a little at a time, until all flour is moistened. Knead in the bowl 2-3 times to bring the dough together.
- Generously flour a large work surface, and then dump the dumpling dough into the middle. Flour the top of the dough.
- Roll out as you would pie crust, until the dumplings are roughly 1/8" (3-ish millimeters) thick. If the dough sticks at all, work your bench knife underneath and dust with a bit more flour.
- Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut dough into approximately 2" strips, then cut across so your dumplings are roughly 2" x 3" long. Cover with a towel until you're ready to cook. If you're not cooking them within an hour or so, transfer to a parchment-lined half sheet or cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you're ready to cook.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
- You may use chicken, vegetable, or even roasted garlic base (like Better Than Bouillon) and water in place of boxed stock.
- For a super rich, lip-smacking stock, bloom 1 Tablespoon plain powdered gelatin (like Knox) in some cold water, let sit for about 5 minutes, and then stir it into the hot stock right before you strain out the bones.
- If you need to split the work over two days, once you strain the stock, cool and then refrigerate it. Finish making the dish within 3 days.
- If you love dumplings, feel free to increase the ingredients by 1.5 to even 2x so you’ll have PLENTY of dumplings.
- Make this into more of a soup than a stew by skipping the roux and adding some lightly sauteed mirepoix (chopped onion, celery, and carrot) when you add the turkey back in to reheat. Then you’ll end up with a nice, brothy turkey and dumpling soup.
Nutrition
And that’s it! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and have no shortage of ideas for how to use up those leftovers!
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