Clear your fridge! 21 tasty ways to use up leftovers

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At the end of every week, is your fridge full of uneaten rice, pasta or potatoes that usually find their way to the bin? Turn Friday night into leftover night instead, by jazzing up the remnants of the week’s dinners.

We’ve got 21 ways to turn the most common leftovers into delicious dinners that stand on their own.

1. Sausages with braised chickpeas – As the weather starts to cool, it’s natural to crave heartier meals. This quick braise of chickpeas, silverbeet and capsicum is a delicious accompaniment to grilled sausages.

2. Sausage salad – This has leftovers written all over it! But a very tasty serve of leftovers it is. Cook up your favourite sausages and combine it with your leftover roast veggies and you have a very yummy warm salad for dinner.

3. Leftover sausage bake – This tasty casserole is such a great recipe for using up leftover sausages when you’ve over catered at a barbecue. A perfect oven bake that combines snags with pasta and tomatoes to make an easy, nutritious family meal.

4. Rice pudding – There’s something very comforting about this classic nursery food recipe – the creamy softness of the rice, the sweet warmth of the vanilla and sugar and the unexpected raisins.

5. Chorizo fried rice – Chorizo fried rice is my easy go-to recipe when I have leftover rice in the fridge. Spiced up with chorizo sausages, it’s packed with flavour.

6. Savoury baked rice – This is the perfect dish created from leftovers for a Sunday night easy meal. Grab some cooked rice and eggs, add some tinned tomatoes and off you go!

7. Leftover day rice salad – This salad is perfect for when you have leftover boiled rice from the day before. Pop in any other leftovers you have in the fridge and you have a budget-friendly dinner ready to go.

8. Easy chicken & baked potato casserole – This easy chicken and baked potato casserole is loaded with crumbly bacon and naughty cream. It’s deliciously decadent and perfect comfort food.

9. Frozen mashed potato balls – If you want mashed potato ready to go then this recipe is for you. You can freeze up leftover mashed potato or make up a batch to have on hand.

10. Potato, bacon & egg pies – Whenever I make these potato, bacon and egg pies, everyone – absolutely everyone – seems to love them. The flavours are familiar, with just the right amount of cream and egg with crumbly pastry.

11. Spicy pumpkin hummus with pita bread – A delicious twist on regular hummus, this spicy pumpkin version goes well with warm pita bread wedges as an appetiser.

12. Pumpkin muffin – These pumpkin muffins are great for lunchboxes or an after-school snack. The kids won’t even notice that these savoury muffins are packed full of delicious pumpkin!

13. Chicken & pumpkin risotto – Risotto is a tasty rice dinner option that adults and small children both love. This risotto recipe is a great way to use up any leftover roast chicken or bought barbecued chicken.

14. Leftover roast lamb flatbreads – Turn last night’s lamb roast into tomorrow’s lunch with these delicious filled flatbreads. They’re finished off with a refreshing yoghurt dressing for a tasty twist on an old favourite.

15. Chicken & cheese pasta bake – Pasta bakes are always a big favourite with busy families. This pasta bake is fast to make because it uses a BBQ chicken and combines it with a delicious cheesy sauce that is dreamy to eat. Make plenty because you’ll be asked for second helpings!

16. Rice paper rolls – These rice paper rolls are packed with crisp veggies and shredded chicken making them a healthy snack for kids. Biting into mint and coriander leaves gives a burst of fresh flavour every time!

17. Leftover soup – This is a great quick soup recipe for when you have left over vegetables from a roast or the nights dinner before serve it with crusty bread, delicious

18. Roast vegetable pizzas – These are the easiest pizzas you can make – using Lebanese bread for the base, you can make the vegetable toppings be the star.

19. Easy pasta bolognaise pies – Here’s a great way to use up leftover bolognese without having to resort to spaghetti for a second night. Kids will love them and they won’t even notice if you stir some extra grated vegetables or frozen peas into the meat mix.

20. Leftover spaghetti pizza – Got some leftover spaghetti? Then try this easy leftover spaghetti pizza recipe! This simple and tasty recipe is made with pantry ingredients so it’s cheap, cheerful and a surefire budget kid dinner winner!

21. Three cheese pasta – This simple three cheese pasta is a tasty dish if your family love macaroni cheese but you require something with a bigger flavour. You can use your favourite pasta.

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