Kristen Cook
What to do with the cooked rice from the day before? Not in the trash! Because with these tips and recipes for using leftover rice, leftover rice can also be turned into a delicious meal.
When it comes to rice, it’s sometimes not that easy to estimate the right amount – especially when you’re hungry when you’re cooking. So it often happens that there is a lot of rice left over after eating. Which recipes are best for using up leftover rice?
Leftovers with rice: The 3 best recipes
Whether cold or warm, sweet or hearty: There is a delicious recipe for using up leftovers with rice for every taste.
1. Use rice as a rice salad
This rice salad is perfect to take away – and can then be enjoyed in the office or the park.
You need:
- Leftover cooked rice (reheat beforehand to be sure)
- ½ red pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 spring onion
- 30 g peas (canned)
- 50 ml vegetable broth
- 90 g natural yogurt
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp vinegar
- salt, pepper, chili
How it works:
- Dice the peppers and carrots, and cut the spring onions into rings
- Heat oil, vinegar, and vegetable broth
- Mix in the rice, chopped vegetables, and peas
- Season the yogurt with salt, pepper, and chili if you like
- Mix the rice and vegetables with the dressing
- Serve with: Chicken fillet (120 g), salted and peppered, skewered, and fried in oil.
2. Fried rice to use up leftovers
With this quick recipe, not only is the rice cooked the day before used, but also leftover vegetables that are still in the fridge. Peas, carrots, and spring onions go particularly well.
You need:
- Leftover cooked rice
- vegetables to taste
- 1 clove of garlic
- soy sauce (and mirin to taste)
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt pepper
How it works:
- Finely chop the garlic and dice the vegetables
- Heat the oil and fry the rice in it for about five minutes
- Add the garlic and chopped vegetables and sauté for another 3 minutes
- Season the fried rice and vegetables with salt, pepper, soy sauce, and mirin to taste
3. Rice leftovers: recipe for rice pudding
This sweet use of leftovers doesn’t taste as creamy as “real” rice pudding, but its consistency is a bit firmer. Nonetheless, it’s delicious!
You need:
- Leftover cooked rice
- milk
- sugar (to taste)
How it works:
- Cook the rice again in the milk and sweeten it with sugar to taste. Enjoy with fruit or dried fruit.
I have leftover rice: how should I store it?
Cooked rice should be eaten as quickly as possible – it will keep in the fridge for a day or two. For this purpose, it should be stored in an airtight container.
You can also freeze the leftover rice – it should be packed in an airtight container. Add some butter when defrosting; so it doesn’t get too dry.
Warm up leftover rice: this is how it works
If you want to heat leftover rice, I should make sure that it is really hot after heating, i.e. steam it – this ensures that pathogenic germs have been killed.
- In the microwave: Place the rice in a microwave-safe container with a lid and heat on a medium-high for a few minutes. To avoid drying the rice in the microwave, add some butter, oil, or just an ice cube.
- In the saucepan: Place the rice in a saucepan with a little butter or water and heat on a medium-high for a few minutes.
- In the oven: Place the rice in a greased casserole dish and let it heat up in the oven at around 150 degrees.
If you like, you can experiment with using leftover rice and vary the suggested recipes as you wish – the only important thing is that the rice is used up after a few days and that it is thoroughly heated when it is recycled.
