15 thrifty ways to use your leftovers (2024)

Let leftovers be a thing of the past, and save money at the same time, with our suggestions for all kinds of ways to use up leftover food.

Leftover bread, potatoes, pasta or rice

1. Use up leftover cooked pasta in this tuna and cherry tomato pasta salad (pictured). You could also add any leftover cooked vegetables such as peas, sweetcorn or broad beans.

2. Stale bread will also work well in this spiced apple bread and butter pudding.

3. Leftover boiled potatoes can be used to make a potato curry.

4. …or a potato raitha, a cooling accompaniment to spicy food.

5. Leftover cooked brown rice can be used for our chicken and rice salad – which will also use leftover chicken. Add leftover cooked vegetables such as sweetcorn or green vegetables if you have them, too. (Make sure you cool the rice quickly after it’s been cooked, store it in the fridge and eat it the next day, to reduce the risk of food poisoning).

6. Got some stale bread? Use it up in our traditional Tuscan soup which is hearty enough to be a meal in itself. Any leftover ribollita will be even more delicious the next day.

Fruit and vegetable leftovers

7.Over-ripe bananas will work even better than perfect fruit in ourlow-fat banana bread(pictured).

8. Put leftover green veg such as broccoli and peas, as well as any leftover new potatoes, into an easy frittata. What’s more, the frittata will be just as good the next day, either hot or cold – perfect for packed lunches with some lettuce, cucumber and tomato on the side.

Fish leftovers

9. Leftover poached salmon makes a great packed lunch with our lemony salmon pitta pockets (pictured).

10.Almost any cooked fish will work in this easy fish and couscous salad. Even better, you can use up leftover cooked green vegetables (such as courgettes, broccoli, peas, asparagus or leeks) at the same time.

11. Use leftover cooked salmon to make baked potato skins with salmon and soft cheese (you can use leftover baked potatoes, if you have them, too).

Meat leftovers

12. Put leftover cooked turkey (or chicken) in our turkey, leek and bean bake (pictured) – and if you have leftover mashed potato, you can use it up in the same dish.

13. Using leftover cooked chicken breast means you can get this substantial version of macaroni cheese on the table in under an hour.

14. If it’s a packed lunch you’re looking for, leftover chicken or turkey will be delicious in these Thai sweet chilli wraps.

15. Our chicken and avocado salad will work just as well with leftover turkey or poached salmon. You can also add leftover cooked green beans or broad beans.

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