Years ago, the day after Thanksgiving, I was roaming around the kitchen, bored and hungry. I felt the need to come up with an inventive way to use up our Thanksgiving leftovers, beyond soup or a sandwich. I happen to have wonton wrappers in my fridge, so I decided to get creative.
With crab rangoon in mind, I added a little cream cheese, shredded turkey, stuffing, and gravy into a mixing bowl, spooned the mixture into wonton wrappers and fried it all in a skillet (or your turkey fryer with yesterday’s oil), served with a side of cranberry salsa. My husband now makes sure I’m fully prepped, picking up wonton wrappers at the store every Thanksgiving Eve so that there are no excuses not to make these.
You can be flexible with this recipe. In fact, I really don’t measure anything, and the Thanksgiving leftover recipe ingredients are interchangeable. Just toss in whatever sounds good to you and fry it up. You can even vary the ingredients in the cranberry salsa. I start with cranberry sauce, not the jelly, and toss in chopped yellow onion, minced garlic, and a diced jalapeño for a little kick.
This year, I was able to make a couple of very worthy changes. Usually, I fry these up in a deep iron skillet, but this year, since we made a fried turkey, I was able to use the deep fryer with the seasoned peanut oil from yesterday’s turkey. Another change, before sealing the wontons, I tossed in a dash of Chef Nikki’s Pro Seasoning. I always thought these wontons were great before, but that addition of Pro Seasoning made all the difference!
Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe – Turkey Rangoon Wontons With Cranberry Salsa
Ingredients
Turkey And Stuffing Wontons
- 1 1/2 c cooked and shredded turkey
- 1 c prepared stuffing
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 4 T thick prepared gravy
- 1 14 oz package won ton wrappers
- 1 T water
- 3 c canola, vegetable, or peanut oil I prefer peanut oil
- all purpose seasoning, to taste I use Chef Nikki's Pro Seasoning
Cranberry Salsa
- 1 c cranberry sauce not jelly
- 6 T minced onions
- 1 t minced jalapeno, to desird heat optional
- 2 t minced garlic
Instructions
- To prepare, heat oil over medium high heat in a large deep skillet, or use a turkey fryer. In a small serving dish, mix cranberry sauce, onions, jalapeno peppers to desired heat (optional), and garlic.
- Mix turkey, stuffing, cream cheese, and gravy in a medium bowl.
- Place about 1 T of the mixture in the center of each wonton wrapper and add in a dash of seasoning to taste. I used Chef Nikki's Pro Seasoning. Wet edges of each wrapper lightly with water, layer another wonton wrapper over the first, and press the edges with a fork to seal.
- Place a single layer of won tons in the skillet or fryer. Heat for about 3-5 minutes, until lightly golden brown, flipping once halfway through. Remove with a large spatula onto plate covered with paper towels. Repeat for remaining won tons.
- Let sit for a few minutes and serve while warm with a side of cranberry salsa.
