5 Strategies to Use Up Leftovers So They're Not Boring (2024)

FAQs

5 Strategies to Use Up Leftovers So They're Not Boring? ›

Using leftovers is a great way to minimize food waste and save time. They can be a great snack, next day lunch, or even be used to make a quick meal. Larger meals can be prepared earlier in the week and leftovers can also be used later in the week or put in the freezer.

Using leftovers is a great way to minimize food waste and save time. They can be a great snack, next day lunch, or even be used to make a quick meal. Larger meals can be prepared earlier in the week and leftovers can also be used later in the week or put in the freezer.

Turn extra pasta or cooked vegetables into a frittata. Blend cooked vegetables with a can of whole tomatoes and create a veggie-packed sauce for pasta. Create burritos with leftover cooked rice, meat and vegetables, and top them with sour cream and salsa.

If you bought too much fruit, use the leftovers to make compote, chutney or fruit sauces (like apple sauce). Cook extra vegetables and puree what you don't eat with broth or milk for a quick soup. Add any combination of cooked vegetables into a pasta dish, gratin, salad, lasagna or quiche.

Non-profit organisation Love Food, Hate Waste recommends the 2:2:2 rule. Two hours to get them in the fridge. Two days to eat them once they're in there. Or freeze them for up to two months.

Repurposing leftovers into new meals can make them a little more exciting. Depending on the seasoning of the original meal, you can add leftover meat, vegetables or seafood to fajitas, fried rice, pasta sauce, soup or a casserole. Look for ways to make it different from the original.

What is the top 5 leftovers? ›

By reimagining leftovers into new meals, you can make them a little more exciting and even have some fun in the process. Depending on the original taste and seasoning of your leftover meal, you can add leftover meat, vegetables, or seafood to a new creation such as fried rice, pasta, casseroles, tacos, or soup.

Storing leftovers

Always use a clean container to hold the leftovers, or wrap the leftovers in leak-proof plastic bags to prevent cross-contamination. Keep different types of leftovers separate. Eat refrigerated leftovers within 2 to 3 days, or freeze them for later use.

For example, leftovers from a roast dinner can be turned into a tasty pie – mix any meat, veg and gravy in an oven dish and top with pastry before baking. Got leftover pasta? Stir in spring onions, tomato, tuna, cucumber and dressing, pop in the fridge and you have a healthy pasta salad for lunch the next day!

When it comes to Thanksgiving leftovers, you only need to remember is 2-2-4: 2 means do not leave food out in room temperature for longer than 2 hours. After 2 hours the leftovers need to be refrigerated or frozen.

Reinvent them. Get creative in the kitchen. Leftover vegetables are easily combined or baked into new dishes. Reinvent grains and meats into fried rice, hash, scrambles, and soups.

Reimagine Leftovers

Shred leftover meat and turn it into a pasta sauce, combine leftover vegetables into a frittata or make a stir-fry or fried rice using yesterday's rice. You can also pickle them, turn them into a casserole or blitz them into a quick dip or soup to save time.