Did you know that the average household of four are wasting £84 of food a month?
That’s money (and tasty meals) straight in the bin! But don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Our mighty dishes will show you how to transform simple dishes using ingredients that are often left behind. They’re flexible, nutritious and quick to make, perfect for busy days.
And don’t forget to recycle the bits you can’t eat - like eggshells, bones and storks – to help Wales become the world’s top recycler. We’re currently 2nd – so close!
One-pot pasta
Take your standard pasta up a notch by using what’s left in the fridge. Cut waste and get more taste!
Try half a carrot grated, sliced leek tops or onions, a few mushrooms, or any other ingredients that need using up including cooked meat. Fry in a tablespoon of oil until soft.
Add your favourite pasta sauce. Pesto? Tomato? Your choice!
Stir through cooked pasta and cook until piping hot - delicious and quick!
Remember to recycle root end of leek, carrot tops, inedible vegetable stalks, meat bones.
Curry 'half-and-half'
Add veg or leftover meat to your favourite curry base and serve with homemade chips and rice - the classic Welsh ‘half and half’ combo!
Choose your favourite curry paste or sauce (shop-bought is fine!) and free style with the filling based on what you have to use up.
Go green with broccoli, spinach and cauliflower; go hearty with pumpkin, carrots and sweet potato; keep it simple with boiled eggs; use leftover Sunday dinner meat cuts.
We guarantee there’s a potato in your fridge to use up, serve ‘half and half’ with roasted skin-on chips and rice.
Remember to recycle veg tops, meat bones and eggshells.
Jazzed-up pan omelette
Upgrade your omelette with potatoes, veggies, and leftover meat for an effortless gourmet twist!
Take a non-stick frying pan and start by cooking off any vegetables, until soft.
A bit of grated onion, pepper and courgette make a delicious and colourful combo, a few boiled, skin-on potatoes for extra substance - but anything goes. Cooked meats are great too!
Add your whisked egg to the pan and cook on a low heat until mostly set. Sprinkle with cheese and grill for a few minutes until golden. Yum!
Remember to recycle eggshells, onion skin, pepper core and vegetable stalks.
Epic cheese on toast
Level up your toastie with your leftovers! A perfect snack on its own or serve it up with a side for an effortless, zero-waste feast.
Mix it up, by using any bread that you have lying around- a pitta, a wrap or a roll. A slice of cooked meat, half a leek, the last tomato… even a spoon of last night’s leftover curry or chilli added to your favourite cheese filling is epic!
Toast your filling between buttered bread, in a warm pan or in the air fryer.
Dish up with a side of salady bits from your fridge.
Remember to recycle tomato stalks, root end of the leek, and other inedible vegetable stalks.
Yoghurt sundae
Here's a MIGHTY sweet treat that only takes a few minutes to whip up and is a ridiculously easy (and tasty) way to get your 5-a-day!
Get creative with the last pieces of fruit - sliced banana, apple (no need to peel!) and a few berries. Add chunks of cake or crushed up biscuits, if they need using up.
Layer up in a dish with plain or fruit yoghurt.
Add a dollop of jam or a drizzle of honey if you want extra sweetness - the combinations are limitless.
Remember to recycle the banana skin, apple cores, inedible fruit peel.
Perfect pancakes for flexible fillings
Team sweet or savoury? Add your last berries for a fruity twist or go savoury with cheese and other bits and bobs from your fridge.
Perfect pancakes couldn’t be easier. Simply take a small cup and measure an equal cup-full each of eggs, milk and flour. Whisk together to a smooth batter.
This is an easy base for using up spreads, sweet or savoury ingredients- soft cheese, green leaves and a slice of ham, or thin slices of any fruit layered with chocolate spread or yoghurt.
Fry a ladle of pancake batter in a pan, flip, fill and enjoy!
Remember to recycle the banana skin, apple cores, inedible fruit peel.
If you can't eat it, recycle it to help create renewable energy
Whether it’s teabags, bones or out of date food – no matter how yucky – all food waste should go in the caddy to create renewable energy. Check out Matt Pritchard's video to see this amazing process in action!
Inspiration to get more from the food you buy
Wales is 2nd in the world at recycling
Rescuing your food from the rubbish is the top action you can take to help boost Wales to No.1 - by using up all the food you buy and recycling what you can't eat.
How does food waste create energy?
Recycling your food waste is better for the environment, no matter how little you might have to go in your caddy. If you don’t recycle your food waste, its potential is lost forever.