We asked 5 LA and Orange County chefs: What do you do with your Thanksgiving leftovers?

With Thanksgiving over, you might have more leftovers than you know what to do with. Fear not: we have a plan for you. Sure, it's easy to reheat turkey and stuffing on repeat, but there's a whole world of leftovers out there waiting to be reinvented.

We asked some of Los Angeles and Orange County's top chefs for their tips. From turkey tinga and hand pies to crunchy turkey carnitas tortas, mashed potato taquitos and a stellar sangria recipe, they offer multiple ways to get creative with what's in your fridge.

Turkey tinga + Turkey a la Mexicana

File photo of taquitos. At right: Elvia and Alex Garcia from Evil Cooks.

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Daniel Lloyd Blunk-Fernández/Unsplash, courtesy Elvia and Alex Garcia

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Elvia and Alex Garcia, husband-and-wife duo of Evil Cooks, are among the leading taqueros in Los Angeles, where they can be found slinging memorable dishes at their brick-and-mortar location in El Sereno.

Their inventive blend of black-metal iconography, creative tacos and other Mexican dishes has made them sought after in the Los Angeles taco scene. Evil Cooks felt like the perfect fit for crafting something yummy on the fly, using what you have on hand.

Here's how Elvia would do it: "I like to do turkey tinga. I usually have all the ingredients at home, which are onions, chipotle, cabbage, tostadas, crema, mayonesa, pico de gallo and salsita."

Here's how Alex would do it: "A la Mexicana means to make a guisado with the Mexican mirepoix (onions, tomatoes and cilantro). We add some shredded turkey and we put it in taquitos. We put it in a torta. You have some of those leftover panecitos (dinner rolls), so why not put them in there, add some gravy, maybe some mashed potatoes. That way you don't waste anything."

Thanksgiving hand pies

File photo of a pie. At right, baker Kristin Colazas Rodriguez

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Fruit & Flour, courtesy Kristin Colazas Rodriguez

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Kristin Colazas Rodriguez has been an outlier in the Long Beach bakery scene for over a decade, leading the charge behind the baker's bench and providing a fair and equitable workplace for her employees. Colossus Bakery is known for its pies this time of year, so using what she has on hand makes for a perfect bite of flavors.

Here's how she would do it: "My idea for your Thanksgiving leftovers is to make hand pies," she said. "So, you're just gonna take the pie scrap, the dough you left over from your pies ... Roll it out to your desired thickness, but it should be pretty thin cause you're gonna have two layers of pie dough."

Cut out circles of dough, then chill them in the fridge while you prep your Thanksgiving leftovers. "This is where you can kind of have some fun. You're gonna pair your favorite things," she said. "Maybe turkey and a spoonful of cranberry sauce. I think green beans or brussels sprouts would be really good, too."

Carefully spoon some of your mixture in the middle of one piece of dough, and top it with a second piece. Don't overstuff. "Crimp the edges with a fork." If you want to get creative, you can add a flourish, like a decorative cutout. "Cut some cute little vents in there ... You can do a little egg wash on top, and then you're just going to bake those in your oven."

About 350 degrees should do it, but the time will depend upon your oven and the size of your pies. Keep an eye on it and bake until just golden brown.

Turkey carnitas tortas

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Courtesy Aaron Melendrez

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Owner-chef Aaron Melendrez is is known for churning out some of the best sandwiches in town at his humble sandwich shop in Uptown Whittier, Uptown Provisions. So it was no surprise that he gave us a delicious torta recipe for his leftover idea. (A bolillo roll would be ideal for this sandwich, but so would leftover holiday rolls. Use what you've got.)

Here's how he'd do it:

• 1 pound of leftover dark meat
• 1 cup of Sunny Delight or orange juice
• 1 cup of water
• 4-6 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chili arbol
• Cumin, kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove meat and shred. Discard bay leaves. Continue to reduce the sauce for a few more minutes. Broil shredded meat for 3 to 4 minutes until as crispy as you like it.

To serve: Cut open a toasted bolillo roll, add a slather of mashed sweet potatoes if available, and top with turkey carnitas. Optional toppings include pickled red onion, a squeeze of lime, diced cilantro, shredded lettuce lightly tossed in white wine vinegar, cotija cheese, crushed pepitas, mayonnaise, crema and avocado. And some of that sauce.

Mashed potato taquitos with gravy verde

Chef Ryan Garlitos of Le Hut Dinette in Santa Ana displays his mashed potato taquitos with gravy verde, a creative take on Thanksgiving leftovers.

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Ron De Angelis

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Chef Ryan Garlitos, executive chef at Santa Ana's Le Hut Dinette, is known for his innovative comfort food and commitment to seasonal ingredients. He brings this creative approach to Thanksgiving leftovers, drawing inspiration from his family traditions.

His wife is Mexican, and her family usually makes turkey taquitos with leftovers, but since Garlitos is a fan of potato tacos, he has incorporated leftover mashed potatoes into the taquito tradition in recent years. He also makes a "gravy verde," a delicious mash-up of Mexican and American holiday flavors.

Here's how he'd do it:

• Leftover mashed potatoes
• Corn tortillas, whatever size you prefer
• Oil for frying
  

Add oil to your desired frying vessel (a medium sauce pot or Dutch oven) and preheat to 325 degrees, or use a deep fryer if you have one.

Preheat a medium-sized frying pan over low heat to warm tortillas, making them more pliable to work with.

Take a warm corn tortilla and place enough mashed potato on top to slightly overfill the taquito. If you need to get rid of turkey, too, there's no harm in adding some shredded turkey to the taquitos as well.

Roll to a medium tightness and secure closed with a toothpick or skewer.

When the oil reaches the desired temperature, gently place the taquitos into the oil. Hold them shut with a pair of tongs for about 30 seconds to help keep them from unraveling.

Fry until tortilla is golden and crispy, about 3-5 minutes. If some of the mashed potato filling falls out during frying, just fill the taquitos with more warm mashed potatoes to top them off.

For the gravy verde (yields 1 quart):

• 2 cups leftover Thanksgiving turkey or chicken gravy
• 2 cups tomatillo salsa (homemade or store-bought)
  

If you want to do this the most pain-free way possible, use your favorite store-bought tomatillo salsa; otherwise, making your own isn't too difficult, either, as long as you have a blender.

Tomatillo salsa recipe:

• 2 cups peeled and cleaned tomatillos, cut in half
• 1/2 cup Anaheim chile, stem and seeds removed, chopped
• 1/4 cup jalapeños, stem and seeds removed, chopped
• 1/4 cup white onion, julienned
• 5 cloves of garlic, smashed
• Salt to taste

Char the ingredients over a barbecue grill (or even a stovetop burner) until charred, or toss them in oil and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes, then purée in a blender for added depth of flavor.

Once you have your tomatillo salsa, measure out equal parts leftover gravy and tomatillo salsa (in this example, 2 cups of gravy and 2 cups of salsa). Next, combine the sauce and salsa in a small sauce pot or sauté pan, whisk together and bring to a simmer — season with salt to taste.

The finished "gravy verde" can be used as a salsa or dipping sauce, or you can cover your taquitos with it if you have a lot of gravy to use up.

To finish:

Place a healthy pile of taquitos on a plate. Smother with gravy verde until the taquitos are resting in a pool of sauce. At this point, you can dig in, or you can top with sour cream, queso fresco, pickled onions and cilantro for pizzazz. They'll be tasty either way.

The Catalina wine mixer

Chef Johnathan Benvenuti with his Catalina Wine Mixer, a sangria cocktail that's regularly on the menu at Bar Becky in Long Beach.

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Courtesy Bar Becky

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Chef Johnathan Benvenuti, owner and chef at Bar Becky in Long Beach and an alum of TV's Hell's Kitchen, is known for his inventive takes on seasonal vegetables and pasta dishes. This time, he suggests a way to use up any leftover wine by turning it into a drink on Bar Becky's menu called The Catalina Wine Mixer. It’s his creative take on a classic sangria, using hibiscus, which adds a hint of "what the heck is that?" to keep you sipping until the next one.

Here's how he'd do it:

Red wine syrup:

• 1 cup wine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried hibiscus flower
• 1 clove

Sangria:

• 1 ounce red wine syrup
• 1 ounce red wine
• 1 ounce vodka
• .75 ounce lime juice
• 1 ounce sparkling water (or champagne)
• Garnish with ice and any leftover sliced fruit.

"Food is subjective. Unless it's burnt, there's nothing wrong you can do," Benvenuti said. "Add what you want. If you have some white wine open, feel free to add it to your syrup. If you have champagne, use that to top your drink instead of sparkling water. Add fruit or any leftover warm baking spices you have. If you want to shake the syrup, wine and vodka, then you get extra credit. If you don't, then your drink will taste just as great."