Wondering what to do with leftover stuffing or what to do with leftover turkey? I'm very excited to share these Leftover Turkey Stuffing Balls with you! Everything you love about Thanksgiving in one bite! Well, except for the dessert part but you certainly can have that after you devour these, that is if you have room, lol!
I really have no idea what to call these. Thanksgiving Balls? Stuffing Balls? I mean, sure you can make these when looking for Thanksgiving recipes for leftovers, or with leftovers from Christmas or Easter. Anytime you have leftover turkey really (with the fixin's).
We could call them Leftover Turkey Balls, however, they have stuffing in them so I thought do I add that into the title. But wait, they also have mashed potatoes, so if you need to know what to do with leftover mashed potatoes this works as well. So what to call these??
All you need really need to know is that these Turkey Balls are a trifecta of deliciousness! These hit all the holiday food notes! Bite after bite!
You'll be grabbing a turkey breast occasionally throughout the year just to make these! I've made these balls using boneless turkey breast from my farmers market, and then making gravy with turkey wings I buy there as well. I have also made them from my smoked turkey and smoked gravy recipe leftovers and OMG next level!
Table of Contents
To sum up these Leftover Turkey Balls, make them, make them, make them!!
If you do Friendsgiving or any sort of Thanksgiving potluck, these would absolutely be a hit!
You can use store-bought gravy BUT If you make a killer gravy with fresh herbs like sage, tarragon, thyme, and Rosemary, I say make your own.
Someone asked me if I used an egg or eggs in these or anything to bind them with. The answer is nope! No need.
Just combine equal parts mashed potatoes and stuffing and then add in as much or as little shredded turkey as you like. Feel free to season the mixture with black pepper. Other than that everything was already seasoned, so no need for more.
Ingredients
- leftover turkey
- stuffing
- mashed potatoes
- panko
- gravy
- butter/oil (or you can bake)
Instructions
- This recipe couldn't be simpler when leftovers are around yet its one of those memorable foods that will have you making the mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey JUST so you can make it again!
- All you need to do is to combine equal parts mashed potatoes and stuffing and then add in shredded turkey meat.
- Form the mixture into balls like making a meatball and bake them for 15 minutes just to firm up the exterior a bit. The inside is light and fluffy as a cloud. If your ingredients are cold you may need to bake longer.
- Next, smother them in gravy and add a dollop of cranberry if you like and dig in!
- OR even better in my opinion and the way I now make these. Form them into balls, roll in seasoned panko, pressing to get the panko to adhere and fry them up in a bit of butter/olive oil just to warm them through. The brown bits make these turkey balls even better!
Tips
- Allow ingredients to come up to room temperature, makes these easier to form into balls.
- Or heat the mashed potatoes up a bit, adding a bit more butter if necessary.
- Same goes for stuffing, you can heat it up just a bit in the microwave, adding in a bit of broth if necessary (or water) to remoisten.
- Crusting the leftover turkey balls in panko and frying them up a bit does make a delicious difference! The gastropub where I first had these, rolls them in Panko and then deep-fries them. Stunning!
- If you need a homemade gravy without the drippings this is a good one.
What can I make with leftover mashed potatoes?
Besides making these Leftover Turkey Stuffing Balls, You can make my "famous" Mashed Potato Pie, or my leftover Loaded Mashed Potato Skillet. My friend Caroline makes Irish Colcannon with leftover mashed potatoes.
What can I make with leftover stuffing?
Besides making these Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing Balls, I love placing stuffing in my waffle maker to make stuffing waffles and then top those with all sorts of stuff. I have even wrapped stuffing in bacon and made Stuffing Bombs. Yummo!
Let me know if you make the Leftover Turkey Stuffing Balls OR if you come up with a better name for them. Maybe Gobble Balls?? Because, well turkey and you'll gobble them up...Haha!!
Enjoy!
More recipes for leftovers
Recipe originally published in November 2019, updated October, 2023 with tips & more.
Leftover Turkey Stuffing Balls
Ingredients
- 3 cups mashed potatoes
- 3 cups stuffing
- 1 ½ cups shredded turkey
- Gravy
- Optional: Black pepper
- Panko (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray.
- Warm-up your potatoes and stuffing so that they are easy to handle.
- In a large bowl, combine potatoes, stuffing and turkey and season with black pepper if you like. (There should already be enough salt in the ingredients)
- Form into balls, pressing down firmly as you would when making a snowball.
- Place balls onto the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Plate and coat with hot gravy.
- Dig in!
- See notes for the addition of panko and frying these balls up.
Sue Ringsdorf says
These meatballs are pretty AMAZING! I love how you can simply bake them in the oven using whatever you have. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, Colleen!
Laura says
That board is beautiful. And I'm saving this recipe for all my Thanksgiving leftovers.
Colleen says
They really do great work!
Anne Lawton says
Thanksgiving in a little ball of stuffing. I wouldn't wait for leftovers to make these!
Colleen says
Yes! How we feel exactly!
Eileen Kelly says
I love everything about this recipe. Such a great way to use leftovers and make an amazing dinner.
Carlos at Spoonabilities says
Loving this recipe! This is like a heavenly bite of Thanksgiving at once. This is the kind of recipe I love because it's using leftover ingredients the day after thanksgiving. The appearance looks like Swedish meatballs!
Colleen says
Thanks! They are true comfort!
Terri says
I am not only drooling over those turkey balls, I'm drooling over that gorgeous cutting board! I also have a thing for cutting boards 🙂
Ariella says
What a great idea for re-purposing leftovers. Like how the measurements are flexible.
Caroline says
What a great way to use up leftovers, including the mashed potatoes - so easy too!
Stephanie says
Do you think you could freeze these?
Colleen says
I have not tried it however I can't see why not. Just freeze the gravy separate.
Ashlyn says
Oh My Gosh!!!!!!!
I realize this is from 2yrs ago, just hoping for a reply!!!
Has anyone frozen these?
(w/o gravy)?
If so, what temp & how long?
I'm the only one who would eat this,
(I KNOW!!!) Therefore, don't want to make a little bit, nor a lot and they'd go to waste.
Thank you SO MUCH, Colleen ❣
Colleen says
You can totally freeze these! Freeze balls on a plate or cookie sheet first for a couple of hours, and then package. Freeze gravy separately. Enjoy! I can't wait for November to make these again, everyone here is obsessed with them lol!
Ann says
I made these the day after Thanksgiving. OMGOODNESS. They are the BOMB! I fried mine. Loved the crunchy crust. The inside was moist. I’m making these for Christmas dinner. My mouth is already watering, with delight. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Colleen says
Woot!!Love hearing that Ann!
Lori says
I was wondering if adding some dried cranberries would taste good. Or even maybe making a cranberry sauce Gravy? Anyone have any thoughts. I will be cooking my turkey in the next couple of weeks. It's just me and my husband so we will have lots of leftover turkey and would love to make these and freeze for future meals.
Colleen says
Dried cranberries would be tasty if you enjoy a pop of sweet. The balls are soft, so you would def have the texture of them apparent. If I were to make and freeze, I would assemble the balls and once thawed THEN roll in Panko and fry up. Cranberry sauce on the side is delish or a cranberry sauce gravy as you mentioned. Enjoy!
Patti says
Very good and easy to put together. I did mine in the air fryer. I did coat them in panko, sprayed them with a bit of avocado oil and preheated my air fryer to 380. I cooked the balls for 6 minutes then turned them over, sprayed again and color them for 6 additional minutes. They turned out great! I also ended up freezing extra uncooked balls for later.
Colleen says
Glad they worked in the air fryer! Thanks for your comment on your technique Patti!!
Marina says
My Mom made these 40 years ago! She called them turkey balls. If she didn't have enough gravy she made a white sauce to hold them together. Then deep fried them. We loved them!!
Colleen says
Love that!!