What do I do with Christmas leftovers?

Storing it properly first, then the dishes that are genuinely good rather than dutiful.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 30 min
Read: 3 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Strip the meat off the carcass and refrigerate it within two hours, then make stock from the bones the same evening. The meat keeps two days; the stock keeps months and is the most valuable thing in the whole meal.

Leftovers get wasted because they are stored badly and then eaten reluctantly as a repeat of the original meal. Stored properly and used as an ingredient rather than a reheat, they produce several genuinely good meals.

Safety

Cool leftovers within two hours of cooking and refrigerate them. Use cooked meat within two days, reheat until piping hot throughout, and reheat only once. Strip meat from the carcass before refrigerating rather than storing the whole bird.

What you'll need

Containers
Large pot for stock
Freezer space (optional)

Step by step

Strip the meat off the carcass before refrigerating.Within two hours. A whole bird cools too slowly in a fridge, and stripped meat in a shallow container cools fast and stores properly.
Make stock from the carcass the same evening.Cover with water, add an onion and a carrot, simmer gently for a few hours. It is the most valuable thing produced by the whole meal and it freezes for months.
Use the meat within two days, or freeze it.Cooked poultry keeps two days refrigerated. Freeze what you will not use in that window rather than hoping.
Make a pie or a curry rather than reheating a plate.Turkey works better as an ingredient than as a repeat of Christmas dinner. A pie, a curry, a risotto with the stock, or a proper sandwich.
Fry the leftover vegetables together.Sprouts, potatoes, carrots and parsnips chopped and fried hard until crisp. Add an egg on top. It is better than the original vegetables were.
Use the cheese properly.Hard cheese ends into a sauce or a soufflé, soft cheese baked. Do not let a cheeseboard sit uncovered in the fridge for a week.
Turn stale bread into something.Breadcrumbs for the freezer, a bread and butter pudding, or croutons. Stale bread is an ingredient rather than waste.
Freeze in portions with labels.Contents and date. Unlabelled containers of leftovers are what get discarded in February.

Tips

The stock is the point. A large pot of turkey stock makes soups and risottos for months, and it costs nothing but an evening's simmering.
Leftover sauces freeze well too — cranberry sauce keeps for months and is excellent with cheese long after Christmas.
Plan one leftovers meal in advance rather than improvising. Knowing what Boxing Day is means the fridge gets used rather than emptied.

Common mistakes

Leaving the bird out for hours before refrigerating — Cooked poultry left at room temperature is a genuine food safety risk. Strip and refrigerate within two hours.
Storing the whole carcass in the fridge — It cools too slowly and takes up the whole shelf. Strip the meat and make stock from the bones the same evening.
Reheating leftovers as the same meal — It is dutiful rather than good, and it is why leftovers get wasted. Use the meat as an ingredient in something different.

Questions people ask

How long do Christmas leftovers keep?

Cooked meat keeps two days refrigerated if cooled and stored within two hours. Freeze anything you will not use in that window. Reheat until piping hot and only once.

What is the best thing to do with a turkey carcass?

Make stock the same evening — cover with water, add an onion and carrot, simmer gently for a few hours. It freezes for months and is the most useful thing the meal produces.