My Grilled Potato Holiday Leftovers Quesadillas are the perfect way to transform those holiday leftovers into a completely new dish.

November 27, 2021 Updated December 14, 2021 Jump to Recipe
My Grilled Potato Holiday Leftovers Quesadillas are the perfect way to transform those holiday leftovers into a completely new dish.
After just about any holiday that includes a big meal, we all usually end up with an overwhelming amount of leftovers.
Most of us have probably put those holiday leftovers in a sandwich before.
But have you ever put holiday leftovers in a quesadilla before?
Because you should.
Thanks to the genius idea of one of my best friends, I put Thanksgiving leftovers into a quesadilla yesterday. And it was absolutely amazing.
Think about it. You could literally put just about any of your favorite Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Easter, etc., sides into a tortilla, add cheddar, and end up with an incredibly delicious quesadilla.
In our case, that meant putting mashed potatoes, dressing/stuffing, Beyond Meat sausage, and caramelized bell peppers and onions into a tortilla, adding freshly grated cheddar, and grilling it to perfection before dipping the quesadilla in cranberry compote.
I’m convinced there’s no more delicious way to use holiday leftovers. All those familiar traditional flavors are present in these quesadillas, but at the same time, those flavors are completely transformed into a new dish.
Use my recipe below as a good holiday leftovers quesadilla base, but get creative with the leftovers you’ve got on hand. Obviously, sticking that sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping into a tortilla probably isn’t the best idea…(not saying it wouldn’t work, just saying I take no responsibility for the end result if you try it 😄). The possibilities here are truly just about endless.
So if you’re starting to get sick of all those leftovers, make these Grilled Potato Holiday Leftovers Quesadillas. You’ll never look at holiday leftovers the same way again.
I make quesadillas a lot. (Remember these? And these? And these?). So I definitely have a favorite spatula for quesadilla flipping. Here it is on Amazon [aff. link]. Yes, technically this little spatula was made for getting cookies off the cookie sheet. But its slim size actually makes it perfect for flipping quesadillas. In fact, this is the only spatula I ever use, whether I’m flipping quesadillas, taking cookies off the cookie sheet, or sautéing vegetables.
This Post Has 10 Comments
That’s probably one of the most creative and unique ways to utilize leftovers. While I love the sweet and savoury & salty combinations, it never would have occurred to me to use it for quesadilla. Stunning!
Thanks Ben! Haha it’s definitely a unique quesadilla!
I never thought before about how versatile quesadillas could be ! What a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers!
Thanks Jeff! Aren’t they versatile? The possibilities are truly endless!
Great idea, alas we don’t have any Thanksgiving leftovers. But we’ll have some Christmas leftovers soon to try your idea with. You know over this way we love our Swedish Tunnbrödsrulle which most often has mashed potatoes in it, at least mine do…
Thanks Ron! Oh my goodness I need to try Swedish Tunnbrödsrulle. Now I know exactly what to eat the next time I’m in Stockholm, yum! 😋
I love this, Shannon! One of Laura’s favorite sayings is all leftovers – no matter what they are – can be repurposed into tacos or quesadillas. However, we’ve never tried it with Thanksgiving leftovers. Putting this on the list! We actually froze a lot of our Thanksgiving leftovers this year, and we plan to pull them out over the holidays – I suspect we have some delicious quesadillas in our future!
Haha I love the way Laura thinks, that’s awesome! And great idea to freeze leftovers, I definitely need to do that.
I cannot get enough of your quesadilla recipes! I’m more excited about using my leftovers next time I make mashed potatoes for a meal than I am for the meal they are intended for!
Thanks so much Karen! Haha that’s awesome! 😄