‘Tis the season of gift-giving, happiness, and of course, getting one’s stomach filled with hearty meals. Have you fueled up your fridge for the holidays yet? While the holidays are just around the corner, it’s said that many are getting ready for holiday cooking and compiling their lists consisting of holiday dishes they’re looking forward to preparing and sharing with their families.
As people enjoy their feast during the merry times, they seem to forget the most common headache after any grand feast: the horror of holiday leftovers. The joyful holiday cheers seem to be replaced by Halloween annually when there are tons of leftovers to take care of before they turn bad. So, what should you do with all your leftovers?
As a rule of thumb, you should never try to dispose of your leftovers as much as possible. There are many ways you can transform them into something new and festive. For example, you may use the leftover bones of your roast chicken to create a flavorful stock. Further, you can check some leftover meatloaf recipes to take care of the remaining chunks of meat after a holiday family gathering.
It’s time to get super creative with your holiday leftovers using these simple tricks:
1. Transform Them Into Festive Breakfasts
After a sumptuous feast of good food, you need to think about what to do with your leftovers the following day. So, gather up some leftovers and transform them into a flavorful breakfast to start your and your loved ones’ day right succeeding a fun event the day prior. Here are some ideas you may use:
- Transform your usual egg meals: You can use those leftover roast chicken, turkey, or vegetables and enhance your scrambled egg by making omelets, frittatas, or quiches. Now that’s a great way to transform a simple egg dish into something absolutely flavorful.
- Spice up your breakfast hash: You may create a scrumptious hash using leftover sweet potatoes, autumnal and winter spices, and eggs. Now, you have a fantastic way to use up your sweet potatoes and turn these into something hearty.
- Roll up some meals: Replace sausages with leftover roast turkey or other roasts and roll them up like a burrito. Now, burritos have never been this light and hearty. Isn’t it great that you can create your favorite burrito with leftover roasts?
- Heat up your gravy: Gravy is one of the most versatile holiday condiments. You may reheat your leftover gravy and spoon it over any dish you want. You may serve it on top of your eggs, hash browns, and more.
2. Have Your Deli Sandwich On-Hand
Why line up in deli shops if you can produce your deli-style sandwiches at home with your leftovers? Here are some great sandwich ideas for bread lovers using leftovers:
- Be classic and flavorful: If you have some good white bread, you may pile up some leftover roast meats, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce in between. You can never go wrong with this classic sandwich combination.
- Borrow an idea from your favorite place: Grab some whole wheat or grainy bread and stuff it with roasted turkey, brie cheese, and cranberry sauce. After that, grill the sandwich over a panini press or a hot griddle. Now, you have a bistro-style sandwich.
- Enter the club: Start creating a leveled-up club sandwich by layering your leftover roasts, bacon, avocados, greens, tomatoes, and cheese. After that, toast the stack on a hot grill or toaster to melt the cheese and brown the crust of the sandwich. Voila! Now you can enjoy a club sandwich from your favorite place.
- Rethink your sandwiches: Instead of using the conventional loaf bread, you may bake and reheat some of your leftover biscuits and use them as a base of your sandwich. Additionally, you may pile up some roasts to turn them into roast biscuits.
3. Transform Your Casseroles And Pastas
Casseroles and pasta have long reigned as one of the best comfort dishes during Holidays because they’re hearty, simple, and easy to recreate. Check out the following meal tips you can follow:
- Cook up some hearty dishes: You may transform your leftover vegetables, pasta, and roasts, such as turkey, into comfort meals like turkey tetrazzini, pasta bake, or cheesy pasta.
- Grab better toppings: Instead of using the usual breadcrumbs for toppings, why not try using leftover stuffing for casseroles? This way, you’re able to level up the flavor of the dish.
- Rise up risotto: You may transform your usual risotto by adding mashed root veggies like sweet potatoes and pumpkin to add an interesting touch of taste to it.
- Transform your noodle dish: You may elevate your pasta and noodles by using cooked pumpkins, butternut squash, or potatoes. Also, you may add some cheese and create a perfect pasta, and include it with your repertoire of other autumnal and winter dishes.
4. Cook Up Some Soups
The following dishes will warm up your and your household’s cold winter nights and transform your leftovers into something comforting, hearty, and flavorful soups.
- Release the turkey: Turkey is one of the great ingredients to improve your usual winter soups. So, get that turkey out and cook up some turkey and kale soup, Mexican noodle soup, and turkey and wild rice noodle soup.
- Thicken it up smoothly: Instead of using the usual stock thickener and slurry, you may use your leftover gravy to thicken up your soup recipes. This way, you’ll be able to enhance the flavor of your meals with the help of the gravy’s rich and meaty taste.
- Rethink vegetarian meals: Instead of using new vegetables, you may use your leftover cauliflower and make a cauliflower-leek soup. If you’re not into vegetarian meals, you may add some turkey meat to it for added extra flavor.
5. Level-Up Your Snacks And Appetizers
Meals wouldn’t be good without delicious snacks and appetizers. So, start your meals better with these tricks and transform your leftovers into snacks that are perfect for weekend family bonding and intimate gatherings with friends.
- Pizza party: Transform your usual leftovers and make a great pizza out of it. You may use your roasts and vegetables to create a season holiday pizza, perfect for after-holiday parties.
- Prepare for family game day: Get those stacked-up turkey leftovers in the fridge and transform them into turkey quesadillas, buffalo turkey cups, or turkey tortilla bites. This way, you’ll clear those turkey meats in no time while having fun during a fun-filled game night with loved ones.
- Level-up your potatoes: Why stick with the usual mashed potatoes when you can make something more scrumptious by improving it? You may add some great flavors to your usual mashed potatoes using leftover roasts, vegetables, ham, and salad dressings.
Final Words
The holidays are full of cheer, excitement, gifts, and, most importantly, good food. Yet many are left to deal with leftovers as soon as the festivities are over. But don’t worry. This article got you covered. You may use some ideas presented above that’d transform your simple turkey roasts into something more flavorful and heartier and many more.
So, don’t fear your leftovers this coming holiday season and gather your strength by preparing comfort meals from your leftovers your family and friends will surely enjoy. Just don’t forget to be creative. Happy cooking and have a great holiday season!
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