8 Creative Ways To Turn Leftovers Into Delicious New Dishes (With Videos!)
Don't throw away leftovers! Stretch your dollar by whipping up these fast meals with ingredients that are already in your pantry
By Elizabeth Liew -
Having a fully-stocked fridge or pantry is great, but what do you do when you end up with lots of leftover food or groceries approaching their expiry date? Instead of wasting them by throwing away, you can still salvage them by repurposing them in fresh and inventive ways. There are even health benefits associated with eating certain types of leftover foods.
From using up those last few slices of bread to finishing all that minced meat, here are eight simple recipes you can whip up - and nobody will suspect a thing!
For slices of bread reaching expiry soon, don't let it go mouldy. Instead, with just a few simple ingredients, you can turn it into delicious and savoury French toast that the whole family can enjoy. All you need are tthe bread (of course), eggs, milk, cinnamon powder, vanilla extract and olive oil, as well as garnishing like maple syrup and cut fruits. Perfect if you're tired of having the same old bread-and-butter routine for brekkie, too!
If you have a sandwich press, you can craft a delicious toasted or grilled sandwich like this one, with strips of leftover roast beef combined with caramelised onions, cheese and a bit of olive oil. While it works best with panini or ciabatta bread, you can use other breads of your choice.
There are many ways to enjoy ground or minced meat, but you can't go wrong with meatballs, especially if you're cooking for the kids. Junior can even help with rolling the meat into balls!
For a finishing touch, drizzle a homemade cream sauce that you can whip up with some basic ingredients like butter, flour, pepper, milk and chicken broth.
Minestrone soup is one of the easiest and most versatile soups to make, and is a great way to use up all those leftover veggies in an appetising way. Just toss whatever's in your vegetable drawer - celery, carrots, onions - into a pot, add tomatoes (this recipe uses both diced and crushed canned tomatoes) and whatever else you like for a filling one-pot meal (which also mean less washing up to do!).
Got some roast chicken left from last night's dinner? Combine it with macaroni, vegetables and egg for a comforting bowl of soup. Suitable for the whole family and takes doesn't require much effort to prepare.
If you have some leftover raw vegetables or produce like celery, carrots, broccoli, pumpkin and potatoes, simply throw them into vegetable stock and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes under tender. You can enjoy it chunky, although we much prefer the option of blending it until it's smooth. You can even make a big batch and freeze for up to one month!
If not stored properly, fruits can go bad quickly in our hot and humid weather. It's not wise to waste these nutrient-packed morsels so why not throw together this simple yet tasty salad that beautifully balances sweet, savoury and tangy flavours? Add a handful of healthy nuts to the mix, and you can also use leftover chicken for this recipe!
Made a bit too much potato curry? With some pastry dough (or popiah skin), cooking oil, flour and water, you can transform the leftovers into delicious samosas for a delectable tea-time snack.