Winnie Chen is a big fan of leftovers — especially Thanksgiving dinner leftovers. The executive chef and partner at Fu’s Repair Shop — Edify’s Best Overall Restaurant 2025 — is happy to eat them for as long as she can enjoy them in a number of different ways. It’s just how she was raised.
“My mom always makes turkey macaroni soup,” says Chen. “She’ll take the carcass and bones and whatever else is left and make a really nice stock and broth out of that.” That same spirit of resourcefulness shows up in Chen’s own modern Chinese menu — like turning day-old chen bao into a rich, comforting bread pudding special.
When it comes to days-old turkey, Chen doesn’t see anything wrong with enjoying a delicious sandwich — especially if it’s Ross Geller’s gravy-soaked “moist maker” — but she thinks we should be more “ambitious” and test the limits of our leftovers. “There are tons of things that you can do,” she says. For example, at a past kitchen job, she would dry out risotto and fold in leftover turkey, adding cranberry sauce to the middle to make what she called “Thanksgiving arancini.” She adds, “That’s super easy because you can throw all of your turkey leftovers into a food processor, break it all down and make a rice ball.”
For chef Scott Downey of The Butternut Tree and The Marc, Thanksgiving leftovers carry nostalgia for a simple meal shared in the comfort of family. He’ll even freeze the excess food and heat it up weeks later for a taste of the holidays.
His children are fans of dad’s leftovers fritters — a deep fried mix of vegetables and turkey. But when they’ve had enough of that, a good baked casserole will do the trick — a baked dish of eggs, sweet potatoes and, of course, turkey. And they love his cranberry jam-filled gingerbread cookies.
But stretching out your leftovers isn’t just about the love of food — it’s a great way to prevent food waste. According to a 2024 study by Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization, 46% of all food in Canada is wasted every year. “It’s so important to be repurposing food and reducing waste as much as possible,” says Chen. It’s just one way of giving thanks.
