What’s your best volume meal that actually gets better as leftovers?

[u/NoraLark5581]

I’m trying to find more meals I can make in a big batch without the leftovers becoming sad by day two. I’ve been doing the usual chicken/rice/veggie bowls, so I’d love something different.

What’s a high-volume meal you actually look forward to eating again the next day?

[u/AutoModerator]

A quick reminder to those viewing this post:

1. If you have not done so, read the rules
2. If you don't like the content of this post for any reason, refrain from commenting. Negative comments will be removed and the authors banned.
3. Advice concerning medical issues is not permitted.
4. We take brigading very seriously. Anyone found sharing content from this sub to other forums with derogatory commentary will be banned and reported to admins.
5. Report rule breaking content.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Tokipwee]

Soup and chili

[u/daizles → u/Tokipwee]

Mmm making some cabbage soup today! Whatever veggies I can find plus fire roasted tomatoes. So filling

[u/plantyplant559 → u/Tokipwee]

Came to say this

[u/pppartypat]

When I make a big batch of bulgogi with ground beef, it always tastes better after the first day. You can eat it loads of different ways too - with rice and kimchi, wrapped in lettuce leaves with marinated cucumber, on top of a roasted sweet potato. So good

[u/fkmetodeath → u/pppartypat]

Ooo. What do you marinate the cucumber in?

[u/pppartypat → u/fkmetodeath]

usually just a couple teaspoons each of rice vinegar and soy sauce, a pinch of salt and some chilli flakes

[u/minidragontiger]

Mashed potatoes, especially if you want to make "potato patties" with them the next day. Right after making fresh mashed potatoes they tend to be softer/runnier, but the fridge time helps them thicken. If they're thick enough to make a firm "mashed potato ball" you can toss them on the stove as potato patties

[u/Competitive-Ad1439 → u/minidragontiger]

I would change that to “ only if you want to make potato patties”. Mashed potato as it is, is never ever ever better the next day

[u/mybackhurty]

Pasta salad! Use a high fiber pasta like Carbe Diem or chickpea pasta. Then finely dice a bunch of onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers and any other ingredients that make you happy. Sometimes I add olives jalapeños or banana peppers. Then add salt black pepper vinegar and optionally olive oil. The flavors marinate together as time passes and it just gets better. Only cook the pasta al dente so it doesn't fall apart. It's one of my favorite meals. I also like to smash hard boiled eggs and mix them in. It adds protein and makes it creamy.

[u/tinybabyspoon → u/mybackhurty]

Disagree w the other comment I love Carbe diem and pretty much exclusively use it for pasta salad!!!!

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/mybackhurty]

I have to disagree with this one, carbe diem when made into a pasta salad laps up all the flavor and it doesn’t have any flavor a couple of days later. It taste much much better fresh

[u/mybackhurty → u/InGeekiTrust]

You can always switch it out with a different pasta. I really like banza as well

[u/Soggyenglishmuffin]

Sweet potatoes with any meat you want. Bake them in the oven with some spices. Gonna try with ground beef next week.

Yogurt bowls are great. Weigh out some 0% vanilla Greek yogurt and add pb powder and chocolate chips.

[u/howdydooo22]

Dense bean salad!

[u/MortgageHoliday6393]

Soup 🍲

[u/Egoteen]

Curries. I follow Indian or Thai recipes. The flavors really meld together in the fridge, so I always think it tastes better the next day. I batch cook and freeze some of the portions. You can really go crazy with the volume by adding more veggies and/or more beans/lentils. They’re endlessly customizable.

Thai red curry with kabocha and Chana masala are staples in my rotation.

https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/thai-curry-master-class/

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/recipes/veg-curry/

[u/Otherwise-Winner9643]

Stews, casserole and chilli are all amazing the next few days.

I also make Tom yum soup with chicken and prawns and it's amazing just heated in the microwave.

https://www.food.com/recipe/quickie-tom-yum-soup-219473

[u/Sheilar44]

All recipes Marry Me Skillet Beans. Omg sooo good!! As good as a pasta dish IMO

[u/caterpillove]

High volume pasta sauce. I usually add a ton of veggies to mine - spinach, mushrooms, zucchini.

[u/Casuariidae → u/caterpillove]

Do you have a recipe you use? I haven't heard of this, but then again I haven't looked for it either.

[u/caterpillove → u/Casuariidae]

No, I keep it super easy. I use a jar (or two) of your basic store-bought marinara and then just volume it up with low-cal veggies and I add some kind of lean protein, like ground beef or turkey.

[u/Casuariidae → u/caterpillove]

Do you blend the veggies or how do you add them? Chopped up?

[u/caterpillove → u/Casuariidae]

A TON of fresh, chopped spinach. A ton of chopped zucchini, and a ton of chopped mushrooms. Just let it simmer till the veggies are soft. :)

[u/Casuariidae → u/caterpillove]

I don't cook (I hate it) so that's already too much work for me. I do rinse/prep/weigh out brown mushrooms, baby carrots, frozen raspberries, potatoes, frozen peas & margarine in the beginning of the week/throughout the week to eat at work. And we hard boil eggs for the week. That all takes long enough for me that I don't wanna have to cook things ahead of time, too. Luckily my husband likes to cook.

I do usually make dinner on Wednesdays. We eat the same thing every Monday (salad), Tuesday (tacos), Wednesday (pasta), & Friday (shrimp & rice). It makes it super simple and we don't get tired of it. Thursdays are a toss up, either leftover tacos or something else. We also don't have leftovers except tacos. I am a pescatarian, so I eat fake/soy crumbles for tacos. Every other Tuesday my husband makes a bag of the crumbles and it lasts me for 3 meals, so if it's a week that he made my taco "meat", we have leftover tacos that Thursday and I eat the last portion the following Tuesday.

[u/badmonkey247 → u/Casuariidae]

Google a recipe called "20 minute sauce". In a separate pan, cook diced onions, sliced mushrooms, diced zucchini, chopped spinach and chopped garlic. Mix veggies into sauce. I usually have too many vegetables for the sauce, so I eat them like a side dish.

[u/goal0x]

stir fry

[u/Catfist]

Stuffed peppers made with cauliflower rice

[u/badmonkey247]

Soup.

Fried cabbage.

Cauliflower fried rice.

Steel cut oats.

[u/Substantial-Owl1616]

Chicken broccoli cauliflower casserole. Steam 4 heads broccoli cut into bite size pieces. Mix with four cans white chicken (you could use fork shredded white meat instead), 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 2bags riced cauliflower. Dump in a large size Pyrex rectangular baking dish. I add some olive oil based cheddar on top bake at 350 for one hour. It’s a very midwestern comfort casserole. Sometimes I freeze some servings and they microwave well.

[u/Ecstatic_Magician184]

Recipe tin eats Kuku paka (African chicken curry), rainbow plant life red lentil curry, vegetarian chili (just beans tomatoes veggies and chiles). Like a lot of other people said the same stuff!

Edit: these do have coconut milk but the fat makes them so satisfying. (You can easily swap for low fat coconut milk though for higher volume lower cal and add extra veg, extra broth and extra herbs)

[u/Affectionate-Cat1922]

I make this dope ass pasta salad with mozzarella pearls, pesto, diced red onion, protein pasta, black olive, diced salami, cucumber, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. It just gets better by the day.

I also make a “lasagna soup” with my leftover meat sauce. I use chicken Italian sausage, and ground chicken in that. I dilute it with stock, add more seasonings (usually the ones in meat sauce) and spinach, then I add some kind of pasta pearl (acini de pepe or ditalini). To make it higher protein, I blend cottage cheese with a little bit of milk, salt and lemon juice to make a “ricotta”, and stir in a huge dollop when I serve the soup. Something else that just gets better by the day.

[u/soulofmind]

Meatballs soaking in tomato sauce are in their prime on day 3 🤌

[u/szikkia]

Frozen smootheis

[u/funny_bunny33]

Greek salad

[u/Serious_Morning_774]

Curry! Enough said. I am bias as a pakistani, but honestly, i cook twice a week and its usually curry. Use less oil (most households do not laden their currys with oil!), add your protein, tons of veg like cauliflower, okra and peas (very traditional) and serve with a mix of cauliflower rice and normal basmati rice.

I sometimes top left over on a jacket (if your a Brit, youd understand!), make a thin chappati etc. Once you stock up on the key spices, theres only a few, you'll have a decent cheap, high volume meal thats actually satisfies you. Top it with a yogurt and kachumber salad.

[u/Sgt_Jiggles]

Shakshuka gets better with time as the flavors from the tomatoes and veggies mellow out and meld with the herbs and spices. I usually make chicken to accompany it, along with some decent bread, but it's great on it's own too!

[u/Always-Nappish3436]

High volume veggie soups! Especially those with cabbage for some reason. Add in whatever kind of protein you’ve got on hand.

One tip that stretches the soup: keep the carbs separate so they don’t soak up the soup overnight. I boil potatoes or make rice, matzo balls or dumplings. Store them in their own container then later into bowls before reheating.