Top 5 Christmas leftovers recipes (2024)

FAQs

What foods make great leftovers? ›

– After the holidays, you may have more leftovers than you know what to do with. Looking at all the leftovers, you may be considering two options: keep or toss. Food experts said that leftovers should only last three to four days, but when in doubt, you should throw them out.

Make A Salad

Build a bed of greens (lettuce, kale, baby spinach, or arugula) or grains (wheatberries, lentils, quinoa, or farro). Top with any leftover meats, cheeses, cooked vegetables, or eggs. Top with a homemade vinaigrette or store-bought dressing, toss everything together, and you're good to go!

The NHS advises that leftover food put in the fridge should be used within a 48-hour period. This means you should ideally finish that leftover turkey within two days following Christmas Day.

So, next time you're watching one of Gordon Ramsay's cooking competitions, you can rest assured knowing that the leftover food is put to good use. Whether it's shared among the crew or donated to those in need, every effort is made to ensure that as little food as possible goes to waste.

Your guide to post-holiday food safety. Health officials recommend eating or freezing turkey and other leftovers within three to four days.

However, it sadly results in 270,000 tons of Christmas food waste being disposed of despite being edible – that's around seven million bins full of waste food. And it's not the only shocking Christmas food waste statistic.

Leftovers are rarely satisfying

No dish is really as good the third or fourth time it's eaten. The textures, smells, colors, and flavors have been dulled beyond recognition at that point. You're stuck eating the same boring dish because it would go to waste otherwise.

How do you jazz up leftovers? ›

46% of people say they love leftovers because it's easier than cooking. Another 32% eat leftovers because it's affordable and they don't have to buy more food. As for what makes a good leftover: Over half say it depends on how recently the food was made.

If your turkey has been properly handled, you can refrigerate and eat it for up to four days. If you are planning to freeze it, it's best to freeze it within one day of cooking for optimal texture and taste. However, leftover turkey can be frozen after three days and it will be fine.

They arrive with us when they are just a few days old and will be reared for a minimum of 20 weeks to reach full maturity naturally. A supermarket turkey is different in that they are grown over 12 weeks, which is a short time and means the turkey is unlikely to be plump, therefore there is less meat on the breast.

How Long Does Ham Keep In The Fridge? If you have a whole ham, it can last in the fridge for up to seventy-five days. If you have a half ham, it will last for about sixty days. Ham that has been precooked or spiral cut will last for about one week.

Soups and stewed/braised dishes are easy to reheat with little loss of quality; many fried dishes are not because you'll never get the coating to be as crisp as it originally was, unless you re-fry it. At Chinese restaurants, stir-fries reheat better than the more delicate steamed dishes.

Everyone loves comfort food like homemade meatballs, lasagna and saucy enchiladas — and all of those dinners reheat well, meaning they're 100% meal-prep friendly.