Leftovers? Here’s how to save money and reduce food waste this New Year

With supermarkets selling off surplus produce for cheap, extra food hanging around in the fridge, and with many of us needing to cut household costs, it’s an ideal time for everyone to make the most of their left overs this New Year’s.

Fresh produce

• Freeze: If you have fresh produce such as herbs you can always make these into ice cubes. Chop the herbs, sprinkle into ice cube trays, and cover with water or oil before freezing.
• Soup, chilli and passata bases: Make a range of different bases using leftover herbs and vegetables that haven’t been cooked. These can then be stored in the freezer.

Leftovers

It’s a popular season for roast dinners with meat, Yorkshire puddings, and all the trimmings. What to do with the leftovers?

Readers recommended everything from Christmas Pie to Bubble and Squeak, stir fry, and casseroles.

Bubble and Squeak is a traditional British leftovers dish made with mashed potatoes, cabbage, and any remaining trimmings from a roast dinner. It’s simply mashed and fried in a pan and served with a fried or poached egg on top.

Christmas pie can be similar to a casserole using leftover meat, vegetables, and gravy with puff pastry on top, or for extra indulgence, use a shortcrust base and the puff pastry on top.

Brussels sprouts make for a nice stir fry, or use leftover vegetables and potatoes in a frittata, which is similar to a crustless quiche.

Additionally, depending on the spices and seasonings you have in your cupboard, you can also transform leftover roast dinners into taco fillings or a curry.

Leftover bread can be used to make bread and butter pudding, and soft bananas are perfect for banana bread.

Food sharing apps

There’s also a range of apps where you can share food for free, such as OLIO and NextDoor.

Food Next Door connects neighbours via an app to share food and prevent food waste.

You can also buy surplus food off businesses such as restaurants, shops and cafes called the Too Good to Go app.