Your leftovers don’t have to be a reheated repeat of last night’s dinner. You can take your leftovers in a whole new direction by thinking about them in a whole new way. It’s a challenge to arrange your leftovers into a main course without getting bored, but it can be done. Let’s take a look at how to serve up a follow-up meal with as much excitement as the first time around.

Spicy Moves

Trying to remake your leftovers into a main dish can seem pretty overwhelming at first. But, just like cooking a dish the first time, often the end result depends on the spices and seasonings. Take a look in your spice cabinet and you’ll probably see a dozen or more ways to perk things up again. Open your refrigerator and look at the different mustard, salsas, hot sauces, vinegars, and other ingredients that can add new life to your leftovers.

Leftover green bean casserole can be given a new Asian inspired direction. Heat with teriyaki, soy sauce, and maybe a little sesame oil, toss with bean sprouts and chopped water chestnuts and wrap in wontons or serve over cooked rice. Instead of just using your leftover turkey in another casserole remake classic, marinade cut up chunks Cajun style in a little cumin, cayenne pepper, thyme, hot sauce, smoked paprika and a bit of oil and vinegar and you have a faux-andouille sausage that you can add to gumbo or jambalaya. Think of the seasonings you like in other meals and take your leftovers for a trip to that side of the taste palate.

Put On a Fresh Face

Leftovers are often unappreciated as a replayed main course because the dishes just don’t have the pizazz they did the night before. One of the reasons is that chilled foods can lose their color, aroma, or texture. It is important, if you want to successfully use your leftovers as a main course, to recreate the appeal in new ways.

If mashed potatoes are on the menu two days in a row, using the leftovers the second night takes some planning. The first night you may want to have smashed potatoes instead. Just light smash the potatoes with a hand-held masher with butter, salt and pepper and serve. These rustic potatoes are very appealing the first night, but boring the second. For the repeat, throw the potatoes in a bowl, add room temperature cream cheese, a touch of sour cream, more butter, and even some chopped chives, then whip with an electric mixer until fluffy. Blending in fresh herbs with leftovers that have lost their appeal overnight in the refrigerator is often all it takes to bring back the excitement of your favorite dishes.

Costume Change Time

It is believed that almost 80% of a dish’s enjoyment comes from senses other than taste, like aroma and look. If you take the time to make your dish look appealing and smell divine, it will usually taste better, too. This is especially important for leftovers since you have already experienced the flavors and your palate could get bored if repeated.

When you dish up that leftover piece of turkey, is there a pleasing aroma that makes you anxious to enjoy it? The sage, onion, and garlic from the first night’s dinner has probably faded in the refrigerator. A blend of these seasonings will make the turkey taste better, or try a totally different blend of aromas. Does a slice of turkey laying flat on a plate look tasty? Maybe not. But, that same turkey could look scrumptious in thin strips tossed in a salad with cheese, fruit, nuts, and crunchy greens. The turkey might in fact have the exact same flavor as it did the first time it was served, but the appearance makes it taste better to you. A variety of color, textures, heights, and aromas can, and does, make your leftovers taste better the second time around.

There are lots of ways to turn your leftovers into a great main course the second, third, or even fourth time around. It takes imaginative seasoning, creative construction, an eye for style, and a nose for all the fabulous aromas that cooking has to offer. Does that sound like a tall order? It really isn’t, all it takes is experimenting with what you already know to find the talent waiting in the wings!

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When you are counting on leftovers to make your meals for the next day or two, it is important to actually try to shoot for certain dishes, ingredients, and the amounts you’ll need to produce your meals. Here are some great reminders so you can plan for the leftovers you need for the meals after the feast is over.

Plan to Increase Your Production

You know it is going to happen. Certain leftovers disappear faster than others, some even before they get a chance to cool off in the refrigerator. If you know this is going to happen, because it’s happened year after year, then plan ahead. Assume your family will gobble up what they have in the past, and just make more. That way you can put away enough for your leftover meals and you and your family can help themselves to the rest.

If one of your favorite casseroles is scalloped potatoes and ham casserole, and the ham seems to disappear into sandwiches the day after the feast, then by all means, make a bigger ham, or even two smaller hams. Since you have the oven going anyway, why not cook two; one for your holiday dinner and one for leftovers. That way your family can devour the leftover ham and you’ll have another supply to turn into your casserole.

When the stuffing disappears from the turkey the first night, it can be disappointing the next day when you’re looking to make those wonderful deep fried cheese stuffing sausage balls. So, while you’re working on one batch of stuffing for the bird, make a second batch and put it in a casserole dish. You’ll now have enough stuffing leftover for your treat the next day.

Plan to Have the Right Extras

Along with the amount you need to create meals with your leftovers, comes the actual ingredients you’ll need to put your favorite leftover meals together. Not all flavors work well with others, and not all ingredients compliment certain dishes. If you plan out the meals you want to prepare with your holiday leftovers, you can tweak the dishes themselves so they fit in with your plans.

For instance, if you want to fill the freezer with little stuffed muffin cups, you’ll have to decide what you want to stuff them with. A simple mixture of chopped turkey and stuffing will mean you need leftovers of both. Not only will you want enough turkey and stuffing, but you’ll need to consider the type of stuffing you make for your holiday meal. Will it work in your stuffed muffin cups? If you’re making an apple walnut stuffing, or an oyster stuffing, it may not be the right ingredient for your stuffed muffin cups.

You can see how planning how your dishes will translate into your leftover meals is important. If cranberry citrus glazed pork tenderloin is on the menu the following day, you will want to be sure to have cranberry orange relish on the menu. If you’re choosing between corn or broccoli for your holiday meal, and cheesy broccoli soup is on the menu the next day, then by all means choose the broccoli. Of course, if you plan on making corn chowder, too, then make corn along with the broccoli and you’ll have what you need for your leftover meals.

If you don’t plan your leftover dishes ahead, there is no guarantee that you will actually have any of the leftovers there when you need them for your next dish. Or, you may be looking at your marshmallow, brown sugar, walnut, and maple syrup sweet potato casserole and realize that your plan to make savory sweet potato soup just went out the window. Yes, casting the players for your holiday meal means planning the right amount, and the right type. This will help ensure that the repeat performances are big hits, just like the original!

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