Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got leftover chicken, lamb, duck, pork, turkey or beef, this Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza is a cute and tasty way to use it up along with some of the leftover vegetables and even the stuffing! Turn that Sunday roast into a Monday Pizza!

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This recipe first came about as I was trying to come up with some more inventive ways to use up leftover turkey and other bits and bobs from a Christmas dinner. Leftover turkey curry will only get us all so far, delicious as it is! Once I’d made it, I tried making similar pizzas with leftovers from other roast dinners and they were equally as amazing.

So rather than pigeonholing this as a Christmas leftovers recipes I want you all to try it with any roast dinner leftovers. Leftover roast pork is especially amazing, as is leftover roast chicken. I’ve even tried using leftover roast lamb and switching out the cranberry sauce topping for mint sauce – amazing! Leftover roast beef is also fab with a few dollops of horseradish cream.

The beauty of this leftover Sunday dinner pizza is that it doesn’t just help use up the leftover meat. You can also make the most of any leftover stuffing, cauliflower cheese, veggies like sprouts, roast potatoes or parsnips and even bread sauce. I now actively make sure I’ve made too much so there are enough leftovers.

I’ve included instructions to make an easy pizza dough from scratch in the recipe. I do more often than not make my own pizza bases. I think they are far superior to anything you can buy.

However that’s not to say that you can’t skip that bit entirely and use a shop bought dough or a shop bought base. You can even take a really cheap cheese pizza and just add to it.

How to Serve Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza

As I am not a cold pizza fan, I am going to say fresh and hot out of the oven!

It is important to note that I add the cranberry sauce to the top of the pizza after it has finished cooking. I have tried it baked on and it is fine. But it is much better added on fresh.

This recipe as written makes two roughly 12inch (30cm) pizzas. You can mix up the size a little by rolling the dough a little thinner or thicker. It is rolled fairly thin as it is however.

For me, each pizza serves one adult. For smaller appetites you could either share the pizzas or simply split the dough into more pieces and make more, smaller pizzas.

Make Leftover Sunday Dinner Pizza into a Feast

I truly believe that you can make any dish into a proper feast! Whether thats a feast for one after work on a Tuesday, a casual feast for four on a Friday evening or a feast for 12 for a special occasion!

These pizzas are a feast unto themselves. But if you’re looking to stretch them, there are a few classic sides you could add. My favourite with almost any pizza is a great creamy coleslaw.

For the full Pizza Express experience, you can make doughballs using extra pizza base dough (just increase the recipe to 3 portions). Or you can go the Pizza Hut route and add a portion of sticky chicken wings. Don’t forget cheesecake for dessert.

Don’t forget to head over to my Feast Collection pages to find all of my tips and tricks to help you host a fun and stress-free feast. Plus remember to check out my recipe index to create your own awesome Feast!

Ingredients for Leftovers Pizza

Yeast

I use dried yeast in this recipe. There are two types available. The instant kind that you can throw directly into the flour and mix. Or the regular kind which you activate in liquid and sugar first.

It doesn’t matter which variety I buy, I always activate it first to check it is alive and well. I would rather find out at the start of cooking if my yeast is dead and not the end when it is too late to do anything about it. So you can use whichever you have.

Bread Flour

Strong white bread flour is the best flour to use for pizza base. The only other great alternative is Italian “OO” flour. You can use regular all purpose/plain flour if that is all you have. It just won’t be quite as good. Please do not use self raising/rising as you could create a monster.

Cheese

I love to use store bought grated mozzarella on my pizzas. I find the fresh stuff can be very wet and you end up with a soggy pizza.

If you like stronger flavours or have other cheeses to use up, you could sub those in. Although mixing them with the mozzarella would be a better plan. The great melting qualities of mozzarella do make for the best pizza.

The Leftovers

It pays to be flexible here. And pizza toppings really are the most flexible. I’ve listed the various leftovers which I used in the recipe along with the weights. A little bit of each actually stretches a really long way. I’ve tried to list a few alternatives below.

The Meat

It doesn’t really matter what meat you want to use – turkey, chicken, gammon, pork, lamb, beef or duck for starters. The only thing that it really wants to be is cooked. So if you don’t have leftovers, you can still use deli meats, etc.

Meats really want to be sliced fairly thin and torn, shredded or sliced into bite sized pieces. There is nothing worse than biting into a pizza and taking all of the toppings off in the first bite because of a large slice of something.

I’ve also used leftover pigs in blankets and sausagemeat stuffing. If you don’t have pigs and wanted to, you could add some regular sliced sausage or cooked bacon.

Any other stuffing is also great – it is likely that it will work with whichever roast you have cooked anyway. If you don’t have any stuffing, you can also make up some packet stuffing or simply leave it off.

Cauliflower Cheese

Mashing my leftover cauli cheese and using it as the “pizza sauce” is my proudest moment with this recipe. It works so well.

If you don’t have any cauliflower cheese, you could use something like mashed potatoes with a little added butter, mashed dauphinoise potatoes or simply a layer of butter. mashed butternut squash is another nice option.

I don’t do tomato on my pizzas but if you’d rather go for a traditional base, you could use a regular pizza sauce. Homemade or jarred would be fine.

You will be my true hero if you use (thick) leftover meat gravy as the sauce layer.

Vegetables

Other than the cauliflower cheese, I only had sprouts for my pizza. Other traditional veg like roast parsnips, broccoli, kale, spring greens and green beans would be great. I’d also include roast potatoes, sweet potatoes and butternut squash as ideal options.

There are a few veg that I’m not keen to add to my pizza. Boiled cabbage gets a pass as do boiled or glazed carrots.

Herb Garnish

I dipped some sage leaves in butter and added them to my pizza. The butter makes them lovely and crunchy. You could do the same with rosemary or simply sprinkle over a little fresh or dried thyme or oregano/marjoram. Which herb you choose will depend on what meat you are using. Or you can simply leave it off all together.

Sauce

I’ve used two sauces. Bread sauce and cranberry sauce. The bread sauce gets baked on. It adds such a lovely flavour and texture I do highly recommend trying it. The cranberry sauce goes on after cooking and is a cracking cool and sweet contrast to the rest of the pizza.

If you prefer something slightly more tangy, you could use a chutney instead of a fruity sauce.

You can switch out the sauce for anything that works with the meat you are using.

Make it Vegetarian or Vegan

Easy! If you’re looking for a veggie or vegan version, chances are your leftover roast dinner items will also be veggie or vegan as appropriate. You can use anything you have like nutroast, seitan, quorn or tempeh. I would think twice about using leftover wellington!

The pizza base recipe is vegan suitable so you’ll simply need vegan cheese for a vegan pizza.

Make it Allergy Friendly

This recipe is free from egg and nuts. This does however assume that none of your leftovers contain egg or nuts so please do be careful. The same caveat applies for gluten and dairy.

Gluten Free: The pizza base recipe can be made using a gluten free flour blend.

Dairy Free: Switch the cheese for a dairy free variety. And use a dairy free butter for the herb garnish if using.

Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.

Equipment Notes for Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza

I don’t use any very specific equipment for making pizza, certainly nothing fancy. Saying that, having a decent stand mixer does make any bread kneading a dream. If you have a bread maker, you can use the dough setting.

Whilst I do have some cheapy round pizza trays, I tend to just use a regular large rectangle baking tray, especially if making two pizzas. A rolling pin is also useful as is a flour shaker.

A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.

Get Ahead

Pizza dough can be made up to a day in advance and left to rise in the fridge. Bring it to room temp and allow it any further time it needs to fully double in size before rolling.

Or you can get to the rolling stage and then freeze it as a flat base. Doing this in bulk can be a brilliant time saver if you have the freezer space. Make sure to separate each base using well floured piece of baking paper. I then use large sandwich bags to keep them. Allow to thaw before cooking – shouldn’t take long at all.

Assuming that you are indeed using leftovers for most of the toppings for this recipe, you should otherwise be pretty ahead of the game anyway.

Leftover Leftover Pizza

Leftover leftovers?! It isn’t really advised to reheat leftovers more than once. So cooking the leftovers on the pizza is technically the limit. You could eat leftover pizza cold.

Of course I like to live on the edge so I’d totally microwave leftover leftovers but I’ll leave any such decisions to you. And I do prefer to microwave leftover pizza in general. I find it goes too hard in the oven. I do sometimes give it a few minutes in a dry hot pan on the hob after heating to crisp up the bottom a little.

Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza Tips

Don’t be afraid of experimenting. What’s the worst that could happen?

The pizza dough is springy and it will take a minute or two to roll out. Just be patient. Step away from it for a couple of minutes if it is being very difficult. Allowing it to rest for a moment will let the gluten relax and it will be easier to work with.

Keep an eye on the cooking time, there are lots of variables. So take it out when it is at your personal preferred level of done.

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?

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The Recipe

Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza Recipe

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It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got leftover chicken, lamb, duck, pork, turkey or beef, this Leftover Roast Dinner Pizza is a cute and tasty way to use it up along with some of the leftover vegetables and even the stuffing! Turn that Sunday roast into a Monday Pizza!

5 from 8 votes

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KEEP SCREEN ON

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Proving Time1 hour hr

Total Time2 hours hrs

Servings 2 pizzas

Author Chloe

Equipment

• Mixing Bowl – Medium
• Baking Tray – Large
• Silicone Spatula
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Scales
• Measuring Jug – Small
• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

 

MetricUSA Measurements

 

0.5x1x2x4x

Pizza Dough

• 150 ml Water
• 7 g Fast-Acting Dried Yeast
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 200 g Strong White Flour (Bread Flour)
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Sea Salt Flakes

Toppings

• 130 g Grated Mozzarella
• 150 g Cauliflower Cheese
• 50 g Stuffing
• 80 g Pigs in Blankets
• 60 g Brussels Sprouts - Cooked
• 100 g Sliced Meat - e.g. Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Duck or Lamb
• 3 tbsp Bread Sauce
• 1 tbsp Salted Butter - optional
• 10 Fresh Sage Leaves - optional
• 3 tbsp Cranberry Sauce - or another complementary sauce like horseradish cream or mint sauce

Instructions

 

Make The Pizza Dough

• Measure 150ml Warm Water into a jug. Do make sure that it is warm and not hot or you will kill the yeast.
• Add 7g Dried Yeast and 1 tsp Sugar to the water and give it a good stir. Set aside.
  
• Weigh 200g Strong White Bread Flour into a mixing bowl (use your stand mixer bowl if using) then add 1 tbsp Olive Oil and 1 tbsp Sea Salt Flakes. Give the salt a crunch in your fingers to break the flakes into slightly smaller pieces.
  
• Keep an eye on the yeast mix to see when it starts getting a little bubbly. If after a good 5 minutes, it hasn’t started bubbling, your yeast might be dead. Give it a stir and another 5 minutes. If it still isn’t doing anything, you need to find new yeast.
  
• Once you know it is active, add the yeast mix to the flour mix. Mix it together until a dough forms.
  
• Knead the dough for around 8 minutes in a mixer using the dough hook. You will need to knead for about 15 minutes if kneading by hand. Either way you are looking for the dough to become smooth and to stretch without breaking.
  
• Leave the dough in its bowl, cover and leave to prove until doubled in size. How long this will take will depend on the room temperature. In my oven with just the light on, this takes around 1 hour.
  

Prepare the Toppings

• Which toppings you choose to use will depend on what leftovers you have available/personal preference. I have stated the amounts that I used for 2 pizzas leftover from a Christmas Dinner.
  
• Mash 150g Cauliflower Cheese to make the sauce. Tear 50g Stuffing into small pieces. Slice 80g Pigs in Blankets and 60g Cooked Sprouts. Tear or chop 100g Sliced Meat (e.g. Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Duck or Lamb) into smallish pieces.
  
• Optionally you can make a herby garnish by melting 1 tbsp Salted Butter and dipping 10 Sage Leaves into it. I let them sit in the butter until they go on the pizza.
  
• Gather the remaining topping ingredients like 3 tbsp Bread Sauce, 130g Grated Mozzarella and 3 tbsp Cranberry Sauce.

Make the Pizza Bases

• Turn the over onto 200c fan | 220c non-fan | 430f
• Take the risen dough out of the bowl and give it a light knead on a floured board. This removes most of the air bubbles.
• Split the dough into two and form them into rounds with a smooth top. You achieve this by tucking the sides of the dough underneath the ball. Leave them to sit and rest for 5 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile line or grease a baking tray. Or 2 smaller trays.
• Lightly flour your board and rolling pin then start rolling out one of the balls. It doesn’t matter what shape you go for. I went with rectangles so I could comfortably fit two on my tray. Either way you are looking for the dough to be around 3-4mm (1/8 inch) thick. Keep turning the dough as you roll to stop it sticking.
  
• The dough will keep springing back. If it is a struggle, just leave it for 2 to 3 minutes for it to rest again.
  
• Move the rolled out dough to the tray. You can continue stretching it out a little with your hands. And repeat with the second ball of dough.
  

Assemble and Cook the Pizzas

• Start by spreading the mashed cauliflower cheese over the base of the pizzas. You can leave a small edge of dough showing.
  
• Add two thirds of the cheese on top of the cauliflower cheese.
  
• Add the stuffing and pigs in blankets.
  
• Add the sliced sprouts, torn roast meat and small dollops of bread sauce if using.
  
• Top with the remaining mozzarella and buttered sage leaves.
  
• Bake for around 10 to 15 minutes depending on how crispy you like your pizza. (I like everything a little underdone!)
  
• Garnish with the cranberry sauce, slice and serve!
  

Nutrition (Approx)

Serving: 1pizza | Calories: 1220kcal | Carbohydrates: 106g | Protein: 53g | Fat: 62g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 151mg | Sodium: 5044mg | Potassium: 766mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 1198IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 421mg | Iron: 3mg

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