Instead of resigning yourself to eating the same leftovers for the rest of the week, check out these 10 tips to use up your leftovers in other ways you may not have considered.
1. Christmas dinner sandwich
This is a classic solution to using up your Christmas dinner leftovers - channel your inner Monica and Ross Gellar from Friends and put together the ultimate Boxing Day lunch. Stack up leftover meat, veggies, cranberry sauce, and don’t forget the moist-maker - the layer of gravy soaked bread tactfully situated in the middle of the sandwich. Photo: Shutterstock
2. Freeze as much as you can
You might be surprised by how many of your Christmas dinner leftovers are suitable for freezing. Things like ham, turkey and other cooked meats are all suitable for freezing, as well as cooked vegetables, although keep in mind freezing them can change their texture once they’re thawed. After dinner treats like biscuits, Christmas cake and even hard cheese can also be frozen too. Photo: Shutterstock
3. Ultimate mac and cheese
If you weren’t able to finish off your Christmas day cheese board, then the best way to use up those leftovers is to incorporate them into the best ever mac and cheese you’ve ever had. Make your mac and cheese as usual and melt your choice of cheeses to make an amazing cheese sauce. You can also add any leftover meat or veggies you like as well - what doesn’t taste good when covered in melted cheese? Photo: Shutterstock
4. Leftover soup
Soup is a game changing recipe for when you’ve got ingredients to use up, such as leftovers. No matter what meat or veggies you have lying around after Christmas, you’ll be able to whip up an amazing soup. Photo: Shutterstock
5. Christmas pudding cake pops
For many of us, Christmas isn’t complete without Christmas pudding. If you weren’t able to get through all of the Christmas pudding this year, you can repurpose those leftovers into a brand new dessert - cake pops. Just crumble up your pudding, combine with frosting, roll into balls and decorate with whatever you please, like melted chocolate. You can also do this same recipe with any other cakes you have leftover, like Christmas cake. Photo: Shutterstock
6. Turn mashed potatoes into gnocchi
If you’ve got some leftover mashed potatoes that you don’t know what to do with, the good news is that you’re already halfway to making your own gnocchi at home. Gnocchi is a type of Italian dumpling made from potato, and it's delicious. To make it, all you’ll need is your mashed potatoes, eggs, flour and salt. Once you’ve got a dough, cut into shapes and boil until they float. From there, top with whatever sauce you like and dinner is done. Photo: Shutterstock