Cranberry Barbecue Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Leftover Turkey

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Cranberry BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes give your Thanksgiving leftovers new life. Turn them into an easy dinner recipe the family might love even more than the holiday feast. Leftover turkey is slathered with a tangy mixture of cranberry sauce and barbecue sauce and loaded on sweet potatoes. Then finish it off with a cheesy crumb topping made from extra cornbread or stuffing.

Cranberry BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Recipe Image with Title

Originally published on November 18, 2012. Updated in 2020 with new photos and more helpful information.

I love a good turkey sandwich. The day after Thanksgiving, I love to make a cranberry Dijon sauce, slather it on cinnamon raisin or wheat toast, then slap on several slices of leftover turkey.

But sometimes you have to try something different. As I always say, I don’t like to just serve leftovers. I prefer to repurpose a previous night’s dinner.

Everyone always seems to have leftover turkey. There might be a smidge of cranberry sauce. And hopefully, you grabbed a few extra sweet potatoes that you didn’t cook.

Because you can combine them all into these barbecue stuffed sweet potatoes that are an incredibly delicious way to use up all of those odds and ends.

Barbecue Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potato on a white plate

BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Combining leftover cranberry sauce and barbecue sauce will give you a sweet and tangy sassy sauce to slather your leftover Thanksgiving turkey. The crumbly cheddar topping is the perfect salty, cheesy counterpoint to the spicy sweetness of the turkey, sauce and sweet potato. Kids and adults will be devouring this

What do you need?

Sweet potatoes

As long as you have a few that you didn’t cook for a sweet potato casserole, you can just pop them in the oven. But it’s also easy to “bake” them in the microwave, slow cooker, Instant Pot, or air fryer. Use your favorite way to bake sweet potatoes while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Barbecue sauce

Feel free to use your favorite barbecue sauce. The taste of the final dish will vary somewhat based on what you use, whether it is sweeter, tangier, or spicier. My favorite is Stubb’s Original because it isn’t too sweet and has a subtle bit of heat.

Leftover cranberry sauce

You can use homemade cranberry sauce, but a canned variety is good too if that’s what you prefer or all you have left. Jellied or whole berry will work fine. And obviously, the flavor of your cranberry sauce will impact the flavor of your final sauce.

Leftover turkey

Whether you have white or dark meat left, either will be tasty in this dish. And if you don’t think your bird is big enough to have any leftover, it’s super easy to make a slow cooker turkey breast.

Cheddar cheese

Cheese adds a bit of salty richness to help make the crumbly toping turn golden brown and to balance the sweetness from the sauce.

Crumb topping

This is where you can get creative and use what you have on hand. Everything from corn muffins to gluten free cornbread to stuffing will work.

Barbecue Stuffed Sweet Potatoes on a Baking Sheet

How to make barbecue stuffed sweet potatoes

Get your sweet potatoes ready to toss in the oven, or choose one of the other methods for cooking them. They will need close to an hour in an over at 425°F.

While they bake, warm your cranberry sauce and BBQ sauce together in a small saucepan. Add the turkey and let it simmer until it is heated through.

Take your leftover cornbread or stuffing and combine it in a bowl with shredded cheddar cheese.

Slice open those baked sweet potatoes, pile in the barbecue turkey, and sprinkle the crumb topping over everything.

Pop them back in the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt and the crumbs to get golden brown. It’ll only take another 5 minutes or so.

Devour!

Variations

If you happen to have leftover mashed sweet potatoes, you could always make BBQ Turkey Sweet Potato Bowls.

For a spicier variation, try Turkey Jambalaya Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.

Or turn those extra sweet potatoes into fries and make BBQ Loaded Fries.

No sweet potatoes at all? Just use the cranberry barbecue turkey to make BBQ Tostadas!

And of course, this stuffed sweet potato recipe is also a great way to use up extra roast chicken or a leftover rotisserie chicken.

Fork with a bite from BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Make it a Meal

If you don’t have any Thanksgiving side dishes left, you can always whip up one of these easy veggies to complete the dinner menu:

And don’t forget to use that leftover pumpkin pie filling to make Pumpkin Pie Yogurt Parfaits for dessert!

Baked Sweet Potatoes stuffed with turkey and cranberry barbecue sauce on a plate

More leftover turkey recipes

More leftover cranberry sauce recipes

Barbecue Stuffed Sweet Potatoes on a Baking Sheet
5 from 1 vote

Cranberry BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Cranberry BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes give your Thanksgiving leftovers new life. Turn them into an easy dinner recipe the family might love even more than the holiday feast. Leftover turkey is slathered with a tangy mixture of cranberry sauce and barbecue sauce and loaded on sweet potatoes. Then finish it off with a cheesy crumb topping made from extra cornbread or stuffing.
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 4-6 sweet potatoes, scrubbed well
  • olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup cranberry sauce
  • 1 cup barbecue sauce
  • 2 cups shredded and/or chopped leftover cooked turkey
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • About 1/2 cup crumbled cornbread, corn muffin, or leftover stuffing

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 425°F.
  • Lightly spray or rub sweet potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Wrap individually in aluminum foil and bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until soft (potatoes can also be "baked" in the microwave, if you have less time).
  • While potatoes are baking, combine cranberry sauce and barbecue sauce in a medium saucepan, and heat over low to medium heat until the cranberry sauce melts into the barbecue sauce.
  • Add the turkey, and cook until heated through.
  • Combine the cheese and crumbs in a small bowl.
  • Place the potatoes in an oven-safe dish.
  • Slice down the potatoes lengthwise, spread open, and fill with the turkey mixture. Sprinkle the cheddar topping over the potatoes and bake for about 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and crumbs are slightly browned.
  • Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Cranberry BBQ Turkey Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Amount Per Serving (1 potato)
Calories 482 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Cholesterol 55mg18%
Sodium 889mg37%
Potassium 991mg28%
Carbohydrates 80g27%
Fiber 8g32%
Sugar 33g37%
Protein 17g34%
Vitamin A 32409IU648%
Vitamin C 6mg7%
Calcium 249mg25%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Enjoy!

42 Comments
  1. What an amazing combination of flavors! It’s so great that Bug loves sweet potatoes. My nephew is the same way. Ask him what he likes best about Thanksgiving and he says “Grandma’s sweet potatoes.”

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