How to Avoid Leftovers & Save Money

While some people love reheating leftovers the next day, some people don’t.

If you or your family don’t like leftovers, then you’re leaving money on the table. Seriously.

Leftovers that go to waste are a waste of money, not to mention the time and effort that went into prepping the meal.

While there are plenty of things to do with leftovers, it’s important to avoid having them in the first place if you really don’t love them.

Here are four easy strategies to help you avoid leftovers and save money.

Ask the eaters.

While I don’t think you should be a short order cook for every meal of every day, I do think it’s a good idea to periodically revisit everyone’s likes and dislikes so you know you’re making things they want to eat.

When you make food you love, you’ll save money because you won’t be tempted to get take-out or dine out. The converse is also true.

If all you’ve got at home is sad leftovers no one wants to eat, you may spend money buying more food to satisfy the craving.

Host a family meeting and ask some of these questions:

• what meals do you really love?
• what meals do you really dislike?
• what’s a dinner that we haven’t had in a long time?
• what’s a meal you wish we could have more often.

When you know your eating habits, you’ll be able to plan meals that suit everyone’s preferences, even the picky eaters, and avoid leftovers no one wants to eat.

Get specific.

Once you know what everyone likes to eat, it will be easy, right? Well, not necessarily.

It may be that there are still too many leftovers. Get specific to find out what kinds of things are leftover?

Start tracking your food waste. After a few weeks, observe what patterns emerge. When you know what is going to waste, you can meal plan better going forward.

If it’s casseroles, dial those down or make them smaller in size? If your family enjoys Mexican food, but they’re just not jazzed about turkey taco meat, take note.

If it’s some other kind of leftover to avoid, ask yourself why it’s not getting eaten in the first place.

Make less.

It’s possible that you’re making all the right things, but you can avoid leftovers by not making too much.

Take note of how much is leftover on a regular basis. Is a half batch a better idea? Remember most casseroles, like lasagna or enchiladas, can be scaled for smaller portions.

Many meals can be prepped for the freezer so that you’re avoiding leftovers, but also saving time and money with bulk cooking. Look at your regular recipes, can you freeze half or a third for another time?

Check out these easy freezer meal prep ideas so that you can plan meals you love and avoid leftovers.

Make meal components.

Another way to avoid leftovers to prep foods that you can mix and match into a number of different meals.

Casseroles, stir-fries, and one-dish dinners are easy to prep, but they are “one and done”. You have little choice but to eat them again as leftovers.

What about prepping meal components, like proteins, starches, and veg? These can be used in different ways without feeling like leftovers if you make more than a meal’s worth.

Bonus: when you prep meal components and combine them into bowl meals, you maximize your time in the kitchen.

Remember that when you’re trying to buy healthy food on a budget, avoiding food waste is key.