How to makeover your leftovers
We’ll admit it, sometimes we are really unexcited by leftovers. The thought of eating the same meal that we ate yesterday isn’t always appealing.
In fact, 49% of Kiwis are guilty of throwing away their leftover food because they don’t feel like eating the same thing twice.
But when it comes to your leftovers, you don’t have to eat the same meal as you did yesterday. Think of them as the starting point for a whole new meal, with the bonus that a lot of the preparation has already been done.
With a couple of extra ingredients you can makeover yesterday’s dinner into today’s feast – and your kids will be none the wiser!
Rather than pushing those leftovers to the back of the fridge and forgetting about them, make it your mission to transform your leftovers into something new.
Here are the recipes:
Don’t want to cook? You just need to assemble these rice paper rolls.
No time to cook? Switch on your sandwich press and enjoy these quesadillas in a couple of minutes.
Want to bulk it up? These omelette wraps will add some protein to your leftovers.
Other ways you can repackage your leftovers:
- Lettuce wraps. Peel off the outer leaves of an iceberg or cos lettuce and fill them with your leftovers. Add a dash of your favourite sauce, fold them up and enjoy!
- Pies. No matter how little you have left, you always have enough for a pie! Check out our pie guide here to learn how to turn leftovers into pies.
- Tortillas. Having a stash of tortillas or wraps in your pantry or freezer means you can make a whole host of Mexican-inspired meals. Just add sour cream, avocado and sweet chilli sauce to give it that Mexican spin. Think burritos, enchiladas or quesadillas.
- Crepes or pancakes. Crepes can transform leftovers from boring to classy. Either include them as they are if they are saucy (stew, curry etc) or make a quick cheese sauce to mix through your leftover food. Make a stash of crepes in one go (or buy premade ones) and freeze them until you need them.
- Pizzas. Small amounts of leftovers can go a long way on a pizza. For something different, stuff your leftovers into the pizza dough to make a calzone.
