Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Cranberry Sauce Pizza
Who is ready to try leftover Thanksgiving turkey pizza? My favorite part about making homemade pizza is creating new unique pizza combinations. Call me weird if you want, but I believe almost everything has the potential to become a pizza and Thanksgiving dinner is no exception. For this unique pizza combination I paired two traditional staples to make a Thanksgiving leftover pizza with turkey breast and cranberry sauce. When most people think of leftover Thanksgiving food pizza is usually not the first dish that comes to mind, but I am telling you, turkey and cranberry sauce bring big flavor to a pizza. Trust me, you are going to love it! Full recipe card below.
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Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Cranberry Sauce Pizza
I know what you are thinking, “did she really put cranberry sauce on pizza?!” Yes, yes, I did and you should too! This all started several years back when we had a lot of leftovers and I was really burnt out on eating turkey sandwiches. I was really craving pizza, as I always do and thought, “what if we put the leftovers on the pizza?” I’m not going to lie, this was definitely an experiment and Barry thought I was crazy, but what else is new, haha! It turns out this was actually a great idea! The leftover cranberry sauce acts as the pizza base and adds a TON of flavor to the pizza with some chopped up smoked turkey.
Ingredients
This specialty pizza is a great way to use up leftovers in a new way. Most pizza recipes have a few basic ingredients that are consistent across the board but this unique combo takes pizza making to a whole new level! I will break down what I use and why and give you a few alternatives.
Pizza Dough – I almost always make homemade pizza dough. Ever since we got a pizza oven a few years ago, I haven’t looked back and actually don’t even like takeout pizza anymore. If you have never made pizza dough before, it can be a little nerve racking at first, but I promise it is very easy! There are only a few extra steps and most recipes only require all purpose flour, yeast, water, salt, and sugar.
If you decide to go the homemade route, this is my favorite pizza dough recipe but it does take about 24 hours to make. If you don’t have that much time, this is the best pizza dough for beginners and has a short rise time. But if you need a quick fix, this is one of my favorite ways to make a fast flatbread with a cookie sheet.
Pizza Sauce – Because this is a unique pizza combo, I didn’t think a traditional pizza sauce was appropriate. For this specialty pie, I used homemade leftover cranberry sauce that I made for Thanksgiving. My recipe is full of fresh ingredients and has a ton of flavor that really shines in this pizza. You can use whatever you have on hand but I have not tried this with canned cranberry jelly.
Turkey Leftovers – Every year we smoke our Thanksgiving turkey. This year we made a turkey breast but I have also made this pizza with leftovers from a whole turkey. I chose to cube my turkey this time but you can also use shredded turkey.
Onion – I chose to use a white onion because it is what I had on hand. But you can use a red onion, yellow onion, or green onions here. In fact my cranberry sauce has green onions in it so I technically used both. You can add whatever kind you want or skip it. They just add a bit of extra flavor.
Jalapenos – I love a little spice in my life and always add jalapenos to pizza. Feel free to skip if you don’t like spicy food or remove the seeds for less heat.
Cheese – You can use what ever type of cheese you would like here, but I recommend a white cheddar mozzarella blend. The cheddar adds a nice bite that pairs really well with the cranberry sauce and the mozzarella is a good mild melting cheese.
If making your pizza in a high heat pizza oven, I recommend shredding your own cheese. When cooking at high heat shredding real cheese is better because the melting point of bagged cheese is different since they coat it in cornstarch during packaging. If you have a stand mixer you can use this cheese grater attachment to shred your cheese in seconds!
Dipping – Next to eating the pizza itself, dipping the crispy crust is my favorite! If you haven’t tried it yet, try dipping your pizza crust in Mike’s Hot Honey! It is spicy but oh SO good! Dipping pizza crust in honey is a Colorado thing but I promise it’s not as weird as it sounds. And if honey isn’t for you, you could always dip in leftover gravy for a Thanksgiving trifecta!
Pizza Equipment – Being a pizza aficionado, I own a lot of tools and gadgets for pizza making. You definitely don’t need anything more than a pizza stone, pizza pan, or sheet pan to make this pizza, but if you have a pizza oven, you will probably want a pizza peel too. These work well to slide pizza into the oven.
Baking Methods
There are multiple options for cooking pizza. I have made this pizza combo both in my pizza oven as well as in my regular oven in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. The type of dough you use will determine how it should be cooked.
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Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Cranberry Sauce Pizza
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 pizza 1x
Description
Looking for Thanksgiving leftover ideas? I have the perfect thing for you, leftover Thanksgiving turkey pizza! Combine two of the most popular Thanksgiving recipes into a delicious pizza with tons of flavor. Sweet and savory come together with leftover cranberry sauce as the base, smoky turkey as the meat, and combo of melted cheese. Thanksgiving leftovers pizza is the perfect way not to waste anything from the big feast when you are tired of eating leftovers. So if you like being adventurous with your pizza toppings, you have to try this Thanksgiving pizza recipe!
Ingredients
- Pizza Dough (homemade or pre-made dough)
- 1/4 cup Cranberry Sauce
- 1/4 cup Leftover Turkey
- 1/4 White Onion sliced
- 1/3 Jalapeno chopped seeds removed
- 1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup Sharp White Cheddar Cheese shredded
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven according to pizza dough instructions.
- On a lightly floured surface, stretch out pizza dough into a circular shape.
- Spoon the cranberry sauce onto the top of the dough and use the back of the spoon to spread it evenly across the whole thing leaving about an inch of dough exposed along the edges.
- Add chunks of turkey, onion slices, and jalapeno to the top of the pizza.
- Top with a mixture of the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
- Bake pizza in the preheated oven according to pizza dough instructions or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
Notes
This is enough to make one 10-12 inch pizza. Cooking time will vary based on what type of pizza dough you use and what type of oven you bake it in.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Love great pizzas with unique toppings? Try my bacon blue cheese and apple pizza, white garlic goat cheese and salami pizza, lemon ricotta and basil pizza, Hidden Valley ranch veggie pizza, or my buffalo chicken pizza.
Storage
In the event you have leftover pizza, you can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days but make sure to use all leftover turkey within 4 days of original cook date. If you make one of my homemade doughs, use or freeze uncooked dough within 3 days.
When to Make Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Pizza
Obviously this pizza is a great alternative to the traditional leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches with turkey and is how I came up with it. I make this every year and I am reminded just how good it is! But this is also a great recipe anytime you have leftover turkey and are looking for something a little outside the box. This pizza has so much flavor with the sweet cranberry sauce and smoked turkey. You can make this delicious pizza during the warmer months on the patio or for a chilly night in during the winter. Heck in my house there are 52 pizza nights a year which means there are plenty of opportunities for turkey pizza.
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