5 delicious recipes to make with your Christmas leftovers

It’s a bit of a running joke every year that your Christmas turkey is the gift that keeps on giving for days afterwards – turkey curry, turkey stir-fry, turkey sandwiches… but with the price of food rising higher and higher, it’s more important than ever to get the most out of everything we buy, and that includes our food. So before you even think about throwing anything away, use your imagination and make something equally delicious with your leftovers – and yes, that does include the Brussels sprouts – they’re great in a Thai-style stir-fry or curry.

We all tend to buy more of everything than we need at Christmas so when you’re writing your festive shopping list, it’s worth thinking ahead about what you might make from the potential leftovers and putting together a menu for the festive season and beyond.

Storing your leftovers

To keep your leftovers fresh until you’re ready to use them again, make sure you wrap them up well and store them in your fridge – if you’re going to reuse them in the next couple of days – or in your freezer if you’re keeping them for longer. We’ve got lots of storage ideas on our website. And if you’re looking for more hints, tips and ideas to look after your food, take a look at our blog on how to keep your food fresh for longer.

Now, let’s get down to business. We’ve gathered together five of our favourite Christmas lunch leftovers recipes for you to have a go at. Enjoy.

Bubble & Squeak Turkey and Ham Pie

Bubble and squeak is a classic and everyone’s go-to leftover dish. To change things up a bit this year, give this delicious pie a try. It’s a brilliant way to use up lots of leftovers from your Christmas dinner – and in such a tasty way. If you want to keep it veggie, you can always leave out the meat and just add more vegetables. We made our pie in our Traditional 26cm Enamel Pie Dish.

Roastie Gratin

Now we don’t think you can ever have too many roasties, but if by some miracle there are a few left over, try this comforting bake for breakfast or brunch – it’s a quick, clever way to use them up with any surplus pigs-in-blankets or chipolatas. Lovely. Our tip is to make more spuds than you know you can eat just so you can make this gorgeous gratin. Make it veggie by leaving out the pigs-in-blankets and chipolatas. We made our gratin in an 18cm Cake Tin.

Panettone Christmas Bread and Butter Pudding

If for any reason you haven’t quite finished off the panettone or devoured all the Christmas cake – it happens – you can easily transform them into this posh, indulgent take on bread and butter pudding. And why wouldn’t you? Serve it up with a lovely cup of coffee and a sense of I-made-that satisfaction. If you like the sound of this but don’t have any panettone, you can make it with white bread instead – sprinkle a little nutmeg over it before baking.

Ooni’s Roast Turkey, Camembert & Cranberry Pizza

Pizza outside at Christmas is definitely an idea we can get on board with. This circle of delicious delight combines all the hallmark flavours of the holidays to guarantee that warm, fuzzy, festive feeling – all in one slice. So wrap up warm and fire up your Ooni. Don’t have an Ooni? Treat yourself here. Of course, you can make this in your indoor oven too and then eat it indoors or out. We won’t judge.

Gammon with Chorizo, Tomatoes & Beans

You can’t beat a traditional Boxing Day ham, and if you have some left over, try this tasty recipe instead of making yet another ham sandwich. It combines leftover gammon with spicy chorizo, pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onions and cannellini beans, with lots of chopped fresh coriander or parsley for freshness and flavour. Delicious.

We hope that’s give you some Christmas leftover food for thought, but remember, leftovers aren’t just for Christmas. You can find lots more recipe ideas and ways to minimise food waste on our blog.