Waste Not, Want Not - What To Do With Old Rice
Rice is a cheap and versatile staple, featuring in many pantries (and rightly so). It doesn't need to be prepared in advance since you can usually make your dishes while the rice is cooking, but…it feels nice to be able to skip a step sometimes, doesn’t it? Sometimes you find yourself with leftover rice too. What can you do with the rice? Luckily, quite a few recipes feature leftover rice, and are arguably even better with old rice. PLUS they mostly keep well, so they can even make it to the day after next if needed! Leftover-ception at its finest.
Fried rice
Fried rice can be a quick and simple one-pot meal on its own or eaten with side dishes. It’s also perfect for all the bits and bobs of vegetables and meat that you might find yourself with.
- Fast-fix fried rice
- Easy fried rice
- Perfect egg fried rice
- Nasi Goreng A spicier version! Don’t let the longer list of ingredients intimidate you. (Spices are actually an affordable way of adding variety to food, so it might be worth stocking up!)
Stuffing for peppers
Again, you mix up the rice with small bits of other ingredients and cook it again, but this time with a Mediterranean twist.
- Roasted red peppers stuffed with kale & rice Check out the comments to see how others adapted this!
- Stuffed peppers with meat
- Corny bean bell pepper boats
Rice pancake
On the unconventional track, but making good use of leftovers is often about thinking out of the box. A quick and filling breakfast or snack, it can be eaten sweet or savoury depending on how you make it.
As a crust
This is another unexpected use for rice, but makes quiches and pies (which you can fill with other leftovers!) that keep well and are great for bringing to school.
Why not read our article on upcycled meals or how to reduce food waste.
Thanks to our volunteer Jodi Chang for this article