Homemade tomato sauce is my favorite for this. I make a big batch (an onion, some garlic, olive oil, salt, few cans of tomatoes and simmer several hours).

We use it for pasta and meatballs, I reduce some a little further and add fresh oregano for pizza sauce, add to a crockpot with fresh ginger, graham masala, other spices, and some whole milk yogurt, chicken breasts for butter chicken… so many things to do with it. Plus it freezes too.

We like eating cold cooked vegetables with a little red wine vinegar so leftover broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower etc always turns into a small cold salad for the next night.

When I make soup I throw in a cup of pearled couscous to give it more heft. Oyster crackers are cheap and fun to eat so those are served with chili and the next day I use the leftover chili plus a pound of pasta to make chili mac.

Sometimes when the meal is skimpy I serve celery with peanut butter before the entree.

To stretch a soup, I will add egg noodles or rice (usually first night I serve with fresh bread);
To stretch pizza or pasta, I might add anchovies, or olives, or hot pepper the second night;
Stir fries might get sliced fried eggs on top or avocados on second night;
Leftover rice will get repurposed in tacos, bowls, or stuffed with cheese and air-fried;
Usually have pickled veggies, smoked fish, capers, on hand to switch up flavor profiles when eating leftovers.

FRITTATAS! You can literally throw any cooked meat/veg/carb in a frittata. I made a frittata with leftover pasta bolognese (I mean, I just threw leftover pasta+sauce in a pan with eggs and cheese) and it was fantastic—it had that baked pasta taste like lasagna.

If I have veg about to go off, I steam it or chop it and throw it in a frittata. You cannot go wrong because the flavors combine beautifully in the oven and having different tastes in every bite is what makes frittatas so enjoyable.

After taco night I will literally throw all the leftovers—crumbled taco shells, meat, cheese, salsa, beans—in a frittata and it’s DELICIOUS. Great cold and heated.

One chicken kebab and a sausage left after a cookout? Chop up and throw in a frittata, perhaps bulked up with by some leftover spinach and chopped pepper and onion. Plus whatever cheese you have on hand.

Ive used leftover rice, mashed potato, baked veggies, even meatloaf. I promise you, all were delicious.

Protein + veg + cheese + eggs = leftovers you’ll happily eat for 2+ days straight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a big leftover family. Kids like them as snacks, DH likes to pack them for lunch, and just with the cost of things lately, I like getting more out of each meal I prepare.

I’ve been doing things like adding Spanish rice and refried beans on Taco Tuesdays, multiple sides when making basic proteins (such as not 1 but 2 veggies plus a salad, rice AND sweet potato, etc.)

What are some ways you PLUS a meal to really make it stretch?

This method involves making extra food, rather than stretching one dish by adding extra ingredients to it.

But OP didn't ask about stretching a dish, she asked about stretching a meal, which is usually done by adding sides.

I often stretch meat by adding a second protein to the meal. So, I'll serve chicken fried rice with eggs in it, or I'll serve tacos or enchiladas that are 1/2 lentils 1/2 meat, or I'll do pasta with red sauce and ricotta as a side, or I'll put peanut butter and bread on the table. I always include a couple vegetables and a carb in some way.

I often add a fruit and yogurt smoothie as the drink to go with dinner if I’m trying to stretch out the food I’ve cooked.

I am challenging myself to lean more heavily on soups lately to reduce food waste and because soups are just delicious.

For example, I opted to boil chicken to shred for enchiladas, and made a very simple soup from the reserved broth and a little of the shredded chicken I reserved (made a roux, added the broth, chicken and a couple tablespoons of orzo, season to taste and served with lime wedges and cilantro I had for the enchiladas.

I also use soups to clear out awkward amounts of produce. Six baby carrots left? A stray potato? Toss in the lentil soup.

Anonymous wrote:We are a big leftover family. Kids like them as snacks, DH likes to pack them for lunch, and just with the cost of things lately, I like getting more out of each meal I prepare.

I’ve been doing things like adding Spanish rice and refried beans on Taco Tuesdays, multiple sides when making basic proteins (such as not 1 but 2 veggies plus a salad, rice AND sweet potato, etc.)

What are some ways you PLUS a meal to really make it stretch?

This method involves making extra food, rather than stretching one dish by adding extra ingredients to it.

I’ve been adding riced cauliflower to dishes with ground meat. It stretches the meat twice as far. Or I’ll mix it with rice to make it a larger batch. Lentils also work well mixed in with ground meat!

I also add lots of diced veggies to pasta sauce and soups.

If I have leftover meat, I'll make it into a hash for leftovers.

Cut a potato into small cubes. Dice an onion and maybe a bell pepper if you have it.

Microwave the potato cubes next to a mug of water for, I don't know, three minutes or so.

In some fat or oil (leftover bacon fat works great -- another trick of mine, run it through a coffee filter into a container, then refrigerate), cook the diced onions, then the peppers, then add the potatoes.

Salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, whatever you like. Add the meat.

You can add eggs at the end, if you like. You can scramble eggs and mix them right into the hash in the pan and let them cook there, or fry them separately and put them over it.

I add a bag of shredded cabbage to wilt down to pretty much anything if I need to bulk it up.

I transform leftovers into a totally different dish.

We make Cantonese fried rice with leftover sausage, ham and eggs and random bits of veggies. I repurpose leftover meat and stews with curry spices or premade curry paste to make curry - that's always popular! I make potato salads with leftover sauerkraut. None of us really like beans, so that's out, apart from lentils, which I can stretch into a soup the next day by adding veggies, maybe tofu.

I add legumes to everything.

I'll add filling things like extra vegetables and beans way beyond what the recipe calls for. More stews and soups than a simple roasted protein but when I do make a protein as the main dish, something like leftover chicken turns into enchilladas with beans and tomatoes, or whatever sounds good that day. I had a ton of leftover roasted squash and sweet potatoes after Christmas and I turned that into a pureed soup. Generally we just don't eat a lot of meat or poultry by itself, if that makes sense.

We are a big leftover family. Kids like them as snacks, DH likes to pack them for lunch, and just with the cost of things lately, I like getting more out of each meal I prepare.

I’ve been doing things like adding Spanish rice and refried beans on Taco Tuesdays, multiple sides when making basic proteins (such as not 1 but 2 veggies plus a salad, rice AND sweet potato, etc.)

What are some ways you PLUS a meal to really make it stretch?