Leftover Thanksgiving Dinner Casserole Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the rule for Thanksgiving leftovers? ›

The answer is simple: leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days. This means you have until the Monday after Thanksgiving to eat all those delicious leftovers or place them in the freezer to enjoy later. If you store leftovers in the freezer, they will be of best quality within 2-6 months.

Apparently I'm in the minority, as this poll reported that 80 percent of Americans prefer the leftover version.

After two hours, perishable food enters the Danger Zone (between 40°F to 140°F (4°C to 60°C)) where bacteria can multiply quickly and cause the food to become unsafe. If foods have been left out for more than two hours, discard items to prevent foodborne illness.

Those popular spiral-cut hams or any store-wrapped cooked ham will last three to four days in the fridge. Cooked country hams will last a bit longer, up to a week. Do: Wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil before refrigerating. If you choose to freeze, it will be good for one to two months.

USDA recommends using cooked turkey within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. Turkey can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Although safe indefinitely, frozen leftovers can lose moisture and flavor when stored for longer times in the freezer.

If stuffing is prepared ahead of time, it must be either frozen or cooked immediately. To use cooked stuffing later, cool in shallow containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours. Use it within 3 to 4 days.

"For the third year in a row, cranberry sauce takes first place as the most disliked traditional Thanksgiving food. Over 31% of respondents, 82 million American adults, do not want cranberry sauce for their Thanksgiving dinner.

It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn't yet have mills to produce flour.

Turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, to the point that Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called "Turkey Day." Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that "no citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day", and Benjamin Franklin had high regard for the wild turkey as an ...

Leftovers can be kept for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. After that, the risk of food poisoning goes up. If you don't think you'll be able to eat leftovers within four days, freeze them right away. Frozen leftovers will stay safe for a long time.

What is the 2 2 2 rule for leftovers? ›

Non-profit organisation Love Food, Hate Waste recommends the 2:2:2 rule. Two hours to get them in the fridge. Two days to eat them once they're in there. Or freeze them for up to two months.

Slimy, super-wet, or oily textures on the outside of your ham might indicate bacteria growth. Juice can just be congealed oils, so use your senses to see if anything else is off. Slimy ham that's growing bacteria will usually have a smell that indicates spoilage.

Freezer storage time is for quality only. Frozen hams remain safe indefinitely. For more information, see Ham and Food Safety.

Thanksgiving leftovers should last up to four days in the fridge. But the key is to store the extra food properly! Here are some tips for storing your leftovers: Pack your leftover mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, gravy, and casseroles in several small containers (rather than one large container).

According to the USDA, leftovers should be frozen or eaten within four days, which means the Monday after Thanksgiving is your last day to safely eat leftovers. Starting Tuesday, they should be in the freezer or tossed.

Putting leftovers in the fridge

Leftover cooked rice is high-risk and must be cooled and put in the fridge within one hour of cooking. All other leftovers should be put in a clean, covered container and stored in the fridge within 2 hours of cooking. Always eat refrigerated leftovers within 3 days.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends throwing out refrigerated leftovers after three to four days. If foods are kept in the freezer, they can usually still be consumed for three to four months.

How to Properly Store Thanksgiving Leftovers. Hot or cold foods at room temperature should be left out no longer than two hours—that number goes down to one hour when the temperature is over 90 degrees. If food has been left out for more than two hours, it's best to throw it away.