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Holiday meal leftovers

2023, That’s a Wrap – on Leftovers!

Growing up, January 1 New Year’s Day, was my favourite time of the holiday season. My family held a big, potluck get-together and all the leftovers from our Christmas dinners were transformed into once-a-year special casseroles, soups, and other traditional dishes. The aunts and uncles and cousins all arrived with their own special potluck offerings – also made from Christmas leftovers – and we’d all eat, drink and be merry.

While these New Year’s Day potlucks are a thing of the past, we’re all still careful about storing and enjoying our holiday meal leftovers.

Here are some suggestions to keep you and your loved ones noshing on holiday leftovers for months to come.

Top tips

Do

  • Label everything you store with the date and what is inside the container.
  • Store away leftover food as soon as possible to prevent it from drying out or going bad.
  • Store leftover foods in the fridge for a maximum of 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
  • Use airtight containers or freezer bags.

Don't

  • Don’t let hot foods reach temperatures between 4-40C, which is the danger zone for bacterial growth.

The turkey, ham or roast

Even after it’s fully cooked, you want to take care of how you handle and store the turkey, ham, or roast. These points also apply to any plant-based entrees.

Do

  • Cut the turkey, ham or roast into smaller portions even. Doing this makes it easier for the meat to cool down and more manageable to store. Use some gloves.
  • Break down the turkey completely, removing any bones.
  • Consider making turkey stock from the bones. It’s as simple as placing the turkey bones in a pot, covering them with water and bringing the whole pot to a boil and then reducing to a simmer for 3 hours. You can store the stock in either the freezer or the fridge.

Don't

  • Don’t store the whole, cooked bird or piece of meat in your fridge. It takes up so much fridge space when it’s stored whole. If the meat is still warm, it could raise the temperature of your fridge, potentially jeopardizing the safety of all the foods in your fridge.

Vegetables

Do

  • Store cooked potatoes in the fridge or freezer. You can use these potatoes for thickening soups or sauces or reheat them and have them as mashed potatoes.
  • Separate your different vegetables for storage. Some green vegetables will leach colour onto carrots and carrots in turn will leach colour onto turnips. If the colour of the veggies isn’t an issue, you can store them all together. These leftovers are perfect for soups, stews, casseroles, added to a tomato sauce, or in a shepherd’s pie.
  • Turn raw vegetables from a vegetable platter into a quick salsa or use them for a stir fry.

Don't

  • Dress your entire fresh salad unless it will be completely consumed. Instead add salad dressing to individual portions, if possible. Once it’s dressed, lettuce will go limp within hours.
  • Store raw peeled potatoes in the fridge or freezer. Potatoes will turn brown.  Peel potatoes when ready to cook them

Dips and cheeses

Do

  • Freeze your hard cheeses for longer storage.
  • Keep unopened, store-bought dips in the fridge until they’ve reached the expiration date on the label.
  • Freeze leftover dips in ice cube trays for easy single-portion servings. Freezing can change some dips’ texture but they are still great for adding as a dressing for pasta or as a flavouring in sauces.

Don't

  • Store unused, homemade dips for more than 5 days in the fridge.
  • Store homemade or store-bought dips that have been dipped into for more than 3 days in the fridge.
  • Store soft cheeses in the freezer. Freezing alters their texture.

Breads and baked desserts

Do

  • Freeze your desserts in individual portions.
  • Store any desserts made with cream in the fridge.
  • Store baked goods in the freezer.

Don't

  • Put baked goods in the fridge. When baked goods are stored at refrigerator temperatures, the flour components contract and force moisture out of the food, making it stale.
Chef Wizard Colleen with tongs
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© 2022 Chef Colleen Hiscock