Leftovers are good – and free – food, as long as you remember to use them.
Share Leftovers
- Share leftovers with guests in re-usable containers. Ask guests to bring containers, or have an ample supply on hand, so that everyone can leave with a bit of the feast for the next day.
- If you are a guest, don’t refuse the leftovers. You might be doing your host a favour by taking some of that extra food off their hands.
Freeze Leftovers
- Freeze individual sized portions that you can re-heat for a quick meal.
- If you really can’t face another bite of turkey, freeze it for a couple of months and defrost for Christmas dinner #2 in February!
- Give leftover cookies a new life in the New Year. Most types freeze well for a couple of months.
Recipe Ideas for Leftovers
Instead of treating leftovers as a dreary meal to be endured, why not re-invent them in new and delicious ways? Find some yummy recipes to use up your holiday leftovers below.
- Cook creatively. There are plenty of recipes online to use up turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes and more. Search for recipes based on what you have on hand and get inspired!
- Leftover cranberry sauce? Use it in baking, to glaze meat, or stir it into yogurt.
- If you have just a small amount of meat or poultry left, add lentils, tofu, or veggies to make it go further. Try it in chili or a rice bowl, or a Fridge Harvest Stew.
- Thin out leftover gravy with stock for a rich, flavourful soup base.
- Give new life to roasted veggies like carrots, turnip, and parsnips. Use them as a base for a savoury frittata, dice them into a hash for brunch, blend them into a dip, or top with soft cheese and toasted nuts in a salad.
- Try vegetables for breakfast! Use up your roasted squash, whether butternut, acorn, or even zucchini, in Tomorrow’s Sweet & Savoury Squash Pancakes.
- Pot pie is the answer to many holiday leftovers. Use up extra meat, gravy, vegetables and mashed potatoes in this comfort food classic. The potatoes work as a topping and mixed into the gravy to tighten up the filling. Try our recipe!
- Use leftover roast beef that would be too tough to eat when reheated in Leftover Beef Hash Browns. If you happen to have pulled pork or braised beef, those work even better.
- Avoid stuffing burnout (as if that’s even a thing). Make stuffing muffins for an on-the-go snack or stuffing-stuffed bell peppers as an appy.
- Extra mashed potatoes are perfect in gnocchi as Shepherd’s pie topping, or – if your mash doesn’t have any savoury flavourings – as a flour substitute in gluten free baking. Check out “Save the Food’s” Scraps Falafel to use up mashed potatoes.
- Try crumbling extra cookies over ice cream, using them in a pie crust or making an icebox cake.
- Are a couple of walls from your once resplendent gingerbread house still standing? Try crushing them and mixing with butter to make a gingerbread pie crust. Then use your crust to make Mini Pantry Pumpkin Pies.
- Leftover seasonal or decorative fruit like dates, cranberries, or pears? Make them into a yummy crumble.