What to do with Leftover Party Food

Ideas about how to use them.
Over the years we've thrown many parties with as few as 15 guests to as many as 100 guests. I definitely don't recommend the 100 guest version and we only did that once. As you do these things, you start to get a feel for what types of food are most suitable to the always unknown of 'how much will they eat?'. I always have a couple of 'whip it up fast' ingredients on hand just in case, but tend to have more than is needed. The bigger problem is finding enjoyable ways to use up the leftovers.

For these parties, I've worked my way through all the complex dishes, whether they be appetizers, hors d'oeuvres or fancier main course items. We've also tried the occasional prepared snack food, but find that to be undesirable. Too many preservatives, too much sugar and salt causing people that mild malaise that makes the time less enjoyable.

We have some basic concepts that we pretty much always follow. The first most important is to only prepare things with ingredients we will normally eat ourselves. That way the leftovers are never wasted. Also include things that can be popped into the freezer if not used.

On Vegetables
We often have hummus with fresh vegetables and some pita bread. We have salads and vegetables every day for dinner so we always manage to use up any leftover veg quite easily.

What types of foods make good ingredients?
Choose menu items that include the basic ingredients you would normally purchase for your everyday menus. If you eat lots of fresh vegetables, definitely find creative ways to feature them in your party food. Also, pantry items make nice additions to any party menu; olives, sun-dried tomatoes or garbanzo beans.

How to plan ahead for extra food
When you decide on your party recipes, try to do the prep work in advance such as cleaning and chopping, but leave the assembly for the party. This will allow relatively quick assembly as needed for your party and will allow you to use the basic ingredients in other dishes later in the week.

In the cases where you are making an assembled main dish, consider whether leftovers can be frozen for use at a later date. Cheeses, bread, meats, casserole dishes, etc. can usually be frozen if done the following day.

Some Recipes Using Leftovers
For a recent party, I prepared bacon wrapped chicken bites seasoned with my special dry rub mix. Rather than prepare them all in advance I wanted to put them out warm when people would be ready to eat them. I had the prep work on cutting up the chicken breast and bacon pieces done ahead and stored it in the refrigerator. I had the dry rub mixed and available for me to use as needed. I had also used broccoli florets on my hummus platter and I'd made up a recipe of alfredo sauce in case we needed some pasta or such prepared late. Since we still had chicken breast pieces left after the party, for dinner next day we had Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo using various components of the party food. Yummy! And all I had to do was assemble and bake.

Use either raw or cooked poultry and broccoli florets for Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo.

Bruschetta is a great make-to-order appetizer recipe. Have all the components prepared ahead and you can assemble the bruschetta as needed. For the occasions when you have some left, here is a great recipe for Bruschetta Soup based on leftover components for bruschetta appetizers.

Any vegetables leftover from a party whether cooked or raw will make a beautiful frittata. If your vegetables are raw, sauté or steam them lightly and allow them to cool before adding them to the eggs. Although the recipe title is Breakfast Frittata, we often have this for dinner without the ham using whatever leftover vegetables we have around.

I often do smoked chicken for dinner parties - it's one of my favorite smoke cooked foods and it's an easy crowd pleaser. When the party is over, there are wonderful smoked chicken carcasses that remain. I break them up and simmer them in a small amount of water along with any pan juices I have left. They make a great pasta sauce in Spaghetti with Smoked Chicken Sauce or a wonderful soup base for Smoked Chicken Soup.

One of my recent discoveries is a Chocolate Espresso Cookie. The recipe is very simple and it's a decadent dessert for parties. When I had some leftover after our last party, I decided to put a few of them to very good use. I had ripe bananas and some of these cookies. I created a Bananas Foster Trifle using the cookie in place of cake.

Cold cuts are not a food I usually serve at a party, but on occasion I will pick up some sliced salami or prosciutto to put on an anti-pasta tray. If you have cold cuts and cheese leftover, why not use them for Muffaleta Sandwich.

So with a little thought given in advance to the types of ingredients you would be likely to use afterward, your party food leftovers can become a normal part of your everyday menus.

Check out the other recipes using leftovers (below) and send us any of your discoveries.

Party Food and Leftovers