During the holiday season, we prepare and cook a lot of food. While we try to eat most of it, there’s only so much we can consume before feeling too full. According to ReFED, a nonprofit food recycling and waste management organization, it is estimated that 316 million pounds of food will be wasted during Thanksgiving alone this year, and we produce three times as much food waste during the holidays in comparison to the rest of the year.
There’s no reason we should be throwing away so much food, though. I know that it can be easy to get tired of leftovers really quickly, but they can actually be repurposed into delicious, creative meals. Who says you have to eat reheated pot roast for the rest of the week? There are plenty of simple, easy recipes that can help you transform your boring leftovers into a brand new meal that you won’t get sick of eating.
Sandwiches
Everyone has heard of the Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, but the leftover sandwich method can be applied to any holiday this season. There’s basically an unlimited amount of ways that you can design your sandwich, depending on what kinds of leftovers you have.
Christmas Eve dinner is a really big deal in my household. My grandparents will make meatloaf, salad, chicken parmesan, and pasta. Of course, they insist that we take all of the leftovers home. The next day, after all of the Christmas celebrations are over, my dad will use these leftovers to make sandwiches for dinner. He’ll use sauce from the pasta as a spread on toasted white bread, and then add slices of meatloaf or chicken parmesan. He’ll even throw in some of the salad to function as the greens component. Most of the time, these leftover sandwiches taste better than the original dinner.
If your family eats ham during the holidays, you can easily use the leftovers to make delicious ham sandwiches. Just thinly slice the ham, toast up some bread, and add a dressing of your choosing. Personally, I’d go for some kind of balsamic glaze. Add some cheese and greens and you have a gourmet (leftover) ham sandwich. TikToker Chelsea Quiambao puts her leftover ham between two slices of white toast and adds some cheese to make a melty, cheesy ham sandwich.
Salads
If sandwiches aren’t your thing, you can easily make a leftover salad instead. For a Cobb salad, all you need is your leftovers, plus some hard-boiled eggs and blue cheese. Add your leftover meat, whether it’s chicken, beef, or pork, some sweet potatoes, pecans, and cranberries to a salad mix. Hard boil some eggs and toss them in there, along with blue cheese and become if you’d like.
Chicken francese is a staple during the holidays at my house. It’s essentially grilled chicken in a lemon sauce, and in my opinion, it tastes even better the next day. If you have some salad mix, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese, you can whip up a delicious Greek salad.
Desserts
After the holidays, you’ll probably have plenty of dessert leftovers, whether it’s pie, cookies, or pudding. In my family, we’re always left with so much uneaten panettone, an Italian fruit loaf. Panettone isn’t my favorite holiday dessert, but when it’s repurposed, it can take on a whole new flavor.
We usually eat panettone for dessert on Christmas Eve, so on Christmas morning, my parents will sometimes use the leftover loaf to make French toast. It tastes like regular French toast, but has a slight fruity flavor and raisins. My favorite panettone is the one loaded with powdered sugar, and it tastes even better when it’s used in French toast. TikToker Andy Cooks uses his panettone loaf to make French toast as well, and even tops it off with a delicious berry mixture.
If you have leftover pie, you can turn it into a whole new dessert. Blend any flavor of leftover pie (apple, pecan, blueberry, etc.) with some vanilla ice cream to make a deliciously refreshing milkshake. Top it off with some whipped cream and colorful sprinkles for the perfect holiday shake.