3 Recipes That Will Turn Leftovers into Hot and Fresh Meals

Author Notes

The point of ordering takeout is to have delicious food delivered to your home or workplace, hot, fresh, and fast. Sometimes people don’t have time to prepare a meal from scratch, and other times they just don’t feel like cooking. If your takeout portions are generous, you’ll be left with leftovers that you might not know what to do with. Leftover pizza can get chewy by the next day if you don’t take extreme care heating it up. When you order a Chinese food delivery order, you might have a bunch of small portions of leftovers that aren’t substantial enough to make a full meal. Hoagies and sub sandwiches are also best when eaten fresh. While you might need to be creative, you can turn takeover leftovers into delicious meals that bear little resemblance to the original foods you ate. Here are three recipes you can use to turn boring takeover leftovers into exciting and new meals.

Pizza Roll Appetizer

Take a few leftover slices of pizza and slice them into strips, running lengthwise. Drizzle a small amount of virgin olive oil on each pizza strip, sprinkle with fresh chopped tomatoes and then put a few pieces of fresh basil on top. Starting with the crust, carefully roll each pizza strip until it looked like a spiral. Secure with a wooden toothpick and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake pizza strips at 375 degrees for approximately 8 minutes.

The Deconstructed Hoagie Chef Salad

After a day in the refrigerator, hoagies get a bit soggy on the inside and extra dry on the outside. To make a deconstructed chef salad with your leftover fast food, you need to start by discarding the bread. Separate the lunch meat and cheese from the onions, pickles, peppers, or any ingredients you have included on your sandwich. Chop a wedge out of a head of romaine lettuce, wash and drain. Place all of the hoagie toppings around the lettuce and pour a small amount of dressing into a small ramekin.

Chinese Takeout Casserole

Choose either noodles or rice as the base for your casserole. If necessary, prepare more rice or noodles if there isn’t enough leftover in your takeout. Combine the main components of your leftover Chinese food, including appetizers and main dishes. Season according to the desired flavor profile. Use cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes if you are going for something with a spicy edge. Molasses and soy sauce work better for sweeter dishes. First layer noodles or ride in a casserole dish. Next, mix up leftovers, season and pour over rice or noodles. Cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

Don’t assume that you need to throw out leftover takeout if you haven’t first thought of a way to repurpose it. Do prepare these creative leftover recipes within a day or two as you can’t keep pre-prepared foods in the refrigerator safely for very long. Lastly, put a personal spin on things and get creative so that you get the full value of your takeout food delivery purchase.
—Veselina Dzhingarova