Recipes to save your most wasted foods from the bin!
Some of the most commonly wasted foods in UK homes are:
- Potatoes – 5.8 million whole potatoes daily!
- Bread – 24 million slices daily!
- Milk – 5.8 million glasses of mil daily!
- Bananas – 1.4 million edible bananas daily
- Salad – 178 million bags of salad every year!
Rather than chuck them here’s some recipe inspiration for how to be creative and get the most out of these staple food items!
Potatoes
- A Spanish dish with a UK twist - Patatas Bravas with caramelised onion chutney! Or try making the traditional version!
- Hearty Potato Stew - perfect for the winter months and packed full of flavour and goodness.
- A fun-looking side dish which is super tasty - Hasselback Potato Bake!
- A Simple Spanish Omelette - other leftover veg like peppers and tomatoes could also be thrown into this dish.
- Like a giant hashbrown, try this recipe for Potato Babka!
- Leftover spuds from last night’s meal? Transform them into these tasty hash patties along with any other veg you have hiding in your fridge.
- Unsure what to do with leftover potato peel? Try making potato peeling crisps or even potato peel soup.
- If you love pizza this simple and tasty leftover leak and potato pizza recipe will be right up your street!
- Here’s some more handy tips on how to make the most of your potatoes!
Bread
- If your leftover bread is a little bit past its best or has been frozen… make toast! It doesn’t have to be boring - lots of tasty, convenient toast toppings ideas can be found here.
- Bread-end-crusts make the perfect base for a mini pizza. Pitta breads can be used in the same way to make pizza pittas!
- Masala Spiced French Toast - a twist on the traditional sweet recipe.
- The perfect side for your Sunday Roast - Bread Sauce.
- Try toasting your leftover crusts to make a perfect ingredient to have on hand in the kitchen.
- Classic bread and butter pudding or why not try a banana or chocolate version for a change?
Milk
Milk isn’t just for cups of tea, coffee and pouring over your cereal! Here are some recipes to try using leftover milk:
- Whisk up a white sauce - perfect for a lasagne, macaroni or cauliflower cheese dish!
- Homemade custard or use custard powder
- Milk and Honey Panna Cotta - this recipe is served with poached apricots but whatever fruit you have going off can be used!
- Homemade rice pudding - simple but super tasty!
If your milk goes sour, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it. Sour milk can be used to make pancakes or scones.
Banana
- Mix up your basic banana bread with some peanut butter for this PB Banana Loaf!
- Frozen banana and chocolate ice lollies - perfect for the summer months or just when you fancy it! Leftover banana can also be used to make a healthier ice cream alternative.
- Something different to start your day and super easy to make - Breakfast Banana Bars!
- Banana Chutney - sounds strange but give it a chance…
- Use them up in your weekend brunch with these banana pancakes!
Salad
Ready made bags of salad are really convenient but so easy to forget about at the back of the fridge… here’s what you can do with leftover leaves:
- Whizz up older leaves with some parmesan, a handful of nuts and lots of olive oil to make pesto or try this parmesan free recipe that costs only 13p per a person to make!
- Make a warming soup instead of letting your lettuce go o waste - a good recipe to use up leftover potatoes as well.
- Add wilting leaves to a smoothie for a green boost!
- Stir leftover leaves into pasta dishes until they wilt - you won’t be able to tell if they’re a little past their best!
- Grilled lettuce wedges - a tasty side with some dressing.
If these dont take your fancy, try this hand tool to find a leftover food recipe and reduce food waste!
Cambridge Sustainable Food
Who we are: Cambridge Sustainable Food is an innovative and growing partnership of public, private and community organisations in Cambridge and the surrounding villages. We work with each other to promote a vibrant local food system all along the supply chain and in our community.
What we do: Cambridge Sustainable Food campaigns to achieve healthy and sustainable food for everyone. We help to drive change to create a thriving food culture that is focused on everybody’s wellbeing, supports farmers’ livelihoods and builds a strong food economy. Our Food for our Future campaign is funded by South Cambridgeshire District Council through a Zero Carbon Communities grant.
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