Savvy Dinner Plan: Hacks for turning unwanted food into dinner

Think twice before pouring your tuna oil down the sink. Here’s how to turn it - and other leftovers - into awesome dinners.

Stephanie Hua

3 min read

February 23, 2024 - 12:00PM

In 2024, the taste team is getting savvy about saving.

From ordering less takeout to really stepping up our meal-planning efforts, we’re on a mission to reduce the cost of cooking the dishes we love.

One of the best ways to make the weekly grocery shop go the distance is by stretching ingredients across multiple meals and using up all of what you buy. And, as it turns out, you can make a lot more from those scraps destined for the bin than you think.

Here are our favourite ways to turn commonly tossed out ingredients and leftovers into deliciously clever new weeknight dinners, while minimising your food waste at the same time. Win win!

Leftover cheese pie.

1. Cheese ends

Pull out that odd end of cheddar cheese, the half-eaten wheel of brie and turn them into this easy Cheese filo pie. Not a cheddar person? The beauty of this pie means you can use up whatever type of cheeses you have laying around, making it the ultimate throw-together dinner.

Use your tuna oil to make easy tuna and brown rice patties.

2. Tuna oil

Have you been pouring your tuna oil down the sink all these years? Not so fast! You’re actually draining away a precious flavour booster that can be used in so many different dishes, like these easy tuna and brown rice patties. Simply fry the onion in the tuna oil to inject some extra oomph (and save yourself on oil, too).

Treat carrot tops like basil leaves and turn them into a punchy pesto.

3. Carrot tops

Leafy carrot tops are often the first thing tossed into the compost bin, but did you know they’re completely edible? Treat the tops just like you would basil leaves and turn them into a punchy pesto. Serve it as a dip, drizzled over roast carrots, or – our favourite – tossed through pasta.

4. Leftover sausages

Got leftover cooked sausages from yesterday’s BBQ? You *could* just eat them with a slice of white bread, but we reckon this easy sausage stir-fry – developed as part of our taste + Coles Savvy Dinner Plan – will go down a treat with the family.

Turn leftover peels in a vegetable peel and feta loaf.

5. Vegetable peels

Instead of chucking out carrot, potato and sweet potato peels, turn these often overlooked scraps into your next favourite dinner or lunch with this Vegetable peel and feta loaf. It’s a great way of sneaking in extra veg into your diet with minimal effort!

6. Mashed potatoes

Mash from last night’s roast dinner is the perfect key ingredient for tonight’s Cheese, potato and herb parcels. Combined with a few staple ingredients like a can of salmon, breadcrumbs and an egg, it transforms what could have ended up lurking at the back of the fridge, only to be thrown out, into a quick and fuss-free dinner.

This chicken pizza uses up cooked chicken breast.

7. Rotisserie BBQ chicken

Ready-cooked BBQ chicken is a great versatile ingredient that can easily be repurposed into a delicious dinner for the week ahead. This homemade chicken pizza uses up cooked chicken breast, plus other veggies you may have laying around like mushrooms, capsicum and red onion.

8. Fresh herbs

Wilting fresh herbs left to die in your fridge? Yep, we’ve been there too. Instead of letting them turn to mush, use up parsley, coriander, mint or even basil in these easy falafel fritters. Serve them in wraps or with a side salad for a complete meal.

Leftover rice needs to be used quickly so we recommend making this the next day.

9. Leftover rice

Using day-old cooked rice is actually preferred in most (if not all) fried rice recipes, and this easy, flavourful Thai pineapple fried rice is no different. Leftover rice needs to be used quickly so we recommend making this the next day.

Want to cook smarter and save on our most searched-for family dinner recipes? Check out the taste + Coles Savvy Dinner Plan for 28 days of redesigned recipes to help make your budget stretch further.