Thanksgiving Potato Skins

Name: Thanksgiving Potato Skins
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 4 baking potatoes; 2 cups leftover turkey; 4 tbsp melted butter; 2 cups leftover dressing; 1 1/2 cups leftover gravy; 1 cup this Pico de Gallo, or store bought*; 1/2 cup fresh cranberries; 2 green onions, cut into scallions

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My Thanksgiving Potato Skins are a great way to use all those leftovers when you’re tired of turkey sandwiches. These are baking potatoes scooped out, filled with the most important and delicious elements of thanksgiving dinner, and rebaked until perfect and topped with delicious cranberry pico de gallo.

You can make lots of things with leftover turkey – sandwiches, soup, tetrazzini, etc.

I have no desire to make turkey sandwiches or turkey soup. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, I just want to make something different and not-so-predictable. Something that isn’t already expected.

But how can you take remnants from an entire Thanksgiving meal and make a unique, fantastic dish?

How To Make Thanksgiving Potato Skins

Prep the potatoes.

This is my very favorite way to prepare potatoes is to brush and clean them, then poke holes in them all over. I then rub them with olive oil and give them a sprinkle all over with coarse sea salt. You can use a pastry brush if you don’t like getting your hands oily, but I usually just toss them around with the oil in my hands.

If using the oven or air fryer, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil. If putting them in the microwave, leave them as they are and put on a microwave safe plate. Either way will work, but for the absolute best opt for the oven.

This is my very favorite part – The olive oil and sea salt baked on the skins of the potatoes turns a regular, plain potato into a rockstar. It really is so good, you’ll wonder why you never ate the skin of potatoes before.

The Leftover Filling

I filled these with leftover shredded turkey, dressing (yep, I’m Southern, so no stuffing here), gravy and the best part of this entire dish, to me at least, is the Cranberry Pico. This simply won’t be the same dish if you skip this part. I think it adds the whole sweet/savory thing, which is the je ne seis quai

I was late to the fried turkey party, but this year I joined in. Everybody kept raving and telling me about I had to fry a turkey. They were not joking.

I didn’t actually make the turkey this year, a good friend of ours did, so I can’t take credit. We wanted a fried turkey, but I have yet to try it myself so I wanted him to do it so I could watch the technique. Our turkey was injected with marinade, rubbed with a creole seasoning and deep fried. It was so juicy and absolutely fabulous.

There’s still plenty left. I’ll probably make Turkey Tetrazzini, and maybe turkey nachos, then we’ll probably have had enough turkey at that point.

Variations

Turkey, green beans, and cranberry pico.
Ham, brussels sprouts (halved) and mac ‘n cheese.
Oyster dressing, corn souffle and cranberry pico.

These potato skins are really so good you’ll be craving Thanksgiving in the summer.

I made a few versions; I had an idea of the taste I wanted. The first one I made was sweet potatoes filled with turkey, dressing (see note above), gravy and cranberry pico de gallo.

Oh, and please disregard the middle child that fell apart on me. It still tasted just as delicious; this is one of those things that doesn’t have to be put together all pretty.

You’ll love the cranberry pico.

Here’s the printable-

Thanksgiving Potato Skins

Yield: 8 potato skins

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

The answer to your Thanksgiving leftovers dilemma! Potato halves filled with turkey, leftover dressing, gravy, then rebaked and topped with cranberry pico de gallo.

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes
2 cups leftover turkey
4 tbsp melted butter
2 cups leftover dressing
1 1/2 cups leftover gravy
1 cup this Pico de Gallo, or store bought*
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
2 green onions, cut into scallions

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°.
Wash and scrub potatoes, pierce with a fork, rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Bake for one hour, remove and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Slice potatoes in half and let cool another 5 minutes.
Scoop out most of the potato, reserve for something else like potato salad.
Brush each potato skin with melted butter.
Layer turkey, dressing and gravy in each skin.
Heat on low broil for 5-7 minutes.
Mix Pico with cranberries, spoon on top and serve.

Notes

*For convenience, if you don't , you can purchase premade pico de gallo in the produce section at most grocery stores.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 489Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 898mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 14g

The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.

Want more leftovers inspiration? Check these out from some of my food blogger friends –

Cranberry Balsamic Dressing (Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe) from Seduction in the Kitchen

Turkey Wild Rice Salad with Tarragon from Bacon Fatte

Brussels Sprouts Tots with Bacon and Cheese from This Is How I Cook

This post was updated on November 28th, 2024.

Author

Shea Goldstein

Shea Goldstein is the voice behind Dixie Chik Cooks. She's a recipe developer, brand ambassador and food writer. She has been published in Redbook, Parade, Food Blogger Magazine and more. Shea is a Southern Belle Who's Thinking About What's For Dinner While Eating Lunch.
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