Printed August 31, 2026
Pot Roast Mantı with Gravy Butter
Sunday's pot roast becomes the filling for tiny Turkish dumplings, served with brown gravy butter sauce and crispy fried onions. It's the most labor-intensive leftover transformation, and absolutely worth every fold.
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely chopped leftover pot roast
- 1/2 cup minced leftover roasted vegetables
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup leftover gravy
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- Crispy fried onions for topping
Preparation
Mantı—Turkish dumplings—are tiny, labor-intensive packages of spiced meat served with yogurt and butter sauce. Making them from scratch takes hours. Making them from leftover pot roast? Still takes time, but you're already ahead because the filling is done, and something magical happens when Sunday dinner becomes Monday's handmade pasta.
Preparation
- Make the dough: combine flour, egg, water, and salt. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth, then rest for 30 minutes.
- Mix the pot roast with minced vegetables and season with salt and pepper.
- Roll the dough as thin as possible and cut into 1-inch squares.
- Place a small amount of filling in each square, then fold into tiny triangular packages, sealing edges with water.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the mantı in batches for 8-10 minutes until they float.
- While mantı cook, heat the gravy until warm and whisk in butter until glossy.
- Mix yogurt with minced garlic.
- To serve: drain mantı and place in bowls. Top with yogurt, then drizzle with gravy butter.
- Heat paprika and dried mint in a small pan with a tablespoon of butter until fragrant, then drizzle over top.
- Finish with crispy fried onions.
The meditation: Yes, folding tiny dumplings takes time. But there's something therapeutic about transforming Sunday's roast into dozens of little packages. The gravy butter sauce is rich and savory, the yogurt adds cooling tang, and the crispy onions provide textural contrast. This is leftover alchemy at its finest—taking something humble and making it special again through care and technique.
