Toasted baguette slices are topped with sweet and tangy cranberry sauce, leftover turkey meat, and melty Swiss cheese, all drizzled with hot honey to create perfectly bite-sized holiday crostini.
Put Those Thanksgiving Leftovers to Good Use!
You know the drill. It’s our annual conundrum. What do you make with all of that leftover holiday turkey meat?
Sure, you can help yourselves to seconds of the hallowed bird, but why not treat it like the star of the show instead of the lowly leftovers?
Enter: leftover turkey and cranberry crostini drizzled with hot honey. It’s basically an open-faced turkey sandwich, but bite-sized and perfect for passing at parties.
Melty Swiss cheese brings back a comforting childhood grilled cheese memory that’s been sweetened with cranberry sauce and a drizzle of hot honey over a two-bite slice of sourdough baguette. The colors alone of this Thanksgiving crostini are enough to put you in the holiday spirit.
Enjoy a plateful of this easy crostini for lunch or serve as a halftime snack or even as an appetizer for a holiday party.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Choose a smaller-diameter loaf of bread if serving as an appetizer. My top choice is a French or sourdough baguette, but French bread works too.
Hot honey adds a kick of sweet heat. If you don’t have any on hand, a drizzle of regular honey works.
Mix and match your leftovers. Roasted a chicken instead of a turkey this year? Have a can of cranberry sauce to use up? Are other fresh herbs hanging out in your produce drawer? Consider this recipe a springboard for your own crostini creations.
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Cranberry sauce — If you’ve got leftover cranberry sauce on hand, go ahead and use that. Otherwise I’ve shared my go-to recipe for ginger cranberry sauce in the recipe card below.
- Baguette — I used a loaf of sourdough baguette, but you can use any kind you like.
- Cooked turkey — It doesn’t matter if you roasted a whole turkey or a turkey breast, grilled a rotisserie turkey, or smoked your bird on a pellet grill, all turkey leftovers are welcome!
- Swiss cheese — Swap with another favorite melting cheese (Brie, goat cheese, or a creamy fontina would be especially delicious here).
- Hot honey — I like Mike’s Hot Honey, but any brand will do, or regular honey if that’s what you have on hand.
- Fresh herbs — I used rosemary, but any of the usual holiday herbs will do.
Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions
- Instead of cranberry sauce, top with no-cook cranberry relish, or a hot pepper jam.
- I like to roast my own turkey breast, then thinly slice it. However, good-quality thinly sliced turkey from the deli counter works well too. Or, try it with thinly sliced ham.
- Any melty, white cheese works well here. Try using a fontina or smoked gouda for even more infused flavor.
How to Make Turkey and Cranberry Crostini in 4 Easy Steps
- Make the cranberry sauce. It takes just 5 minutes to make, and tastes so much better than canned. But, if canned is what you have, add a little zested orange to zhuzh it up.
- Slice and toast the baguette. You can toast the bread slices in the oven or toaster oven. Keep an eye on them! Since this is the first of two toasts, you want them to be slightly crisp, but not overly browned.
- Pile on the cheese and turkey. I make a mound of shredded Swiss and then top it with the thinly sliced turkey. The melted cheese will bind the turkey to the bread and prevent your crostini from falling apart at the first bite.
- Top with cranberry sauce and rosemary, then drizzle with hot honey. You can add as much or as little cranberry sauce as you like.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Swiss, Turkey, and Cranberry Crostini Recipe
PrintIngredients
Cranberry Sauce*
- 3 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
Crostini
- 1 French baguette, cut into ¼ inch slices
- 6-8 ounces cooked turkey breast, thinly sliced or shredded
- ¾ pound Swiss cheese, shredded
- ⅓ cup fresh rosemary chopped
- 2 tablespoons hot honey
Instructions
- Cook the cranberry sauce. Add 3 cups fresh cranberries, 1 cup water, ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon orange zest, and 1 tablespoon orange juice to a medium-sized saucepan. Stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a rolling simmer, and cook until reduced by half and cranberries are beginning to burst, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to thicken.
- Toast the baguette slices. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Toast in a toaster oven or full-size oven until lightly browned and crisp.
- Add the turkey and swiss cheese, and melt. Layer each baguette slice with a mounc of shredded swiss cheese and sliced or shrdeed turkey breast. Toast again until the cheese melts, about 4-5 minutes.
- Spoon with cranberry sauce, sprinkle with rosemary, and drizzle with hot honey. Remove the turkey toasts from the oven and place a spoonful of cranberry sauce on each crostini, then garnish with chopped fresh rosemary. Drizzle with the hot honey, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
What to Serve With Thanksgiving Leftovers Crostini
- Curried Butternut Squash Salad
- Wild Rice Kale Salad
- Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
- Potato Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
Storage Tips
Once assembled, the crostini are best enjoyed right away. You can refrigerate the turkey, cranberry sauce, and Swiss cheese in separate containers and then quickly assemble fresh crostini with the leftovers.
More Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes
- 20+ Leftover Turkey Recipe Ideas
- 15+ Recipes to Make with Leftover Ham
- Ham and Potatoes au Gratin
- Ham Salad Sandwiches
- Turkey Tetrazzini
- Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Turkey Pot Pie Soup
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