This story first appeared on Food52, an online community that provides you with everything you need to make your kitchen and family happier-it means tested recipes, a store full of beautiful products, a cooking hotline, And everything in between!

As a single person who likes to cook, there are many weeks I eat the same dishes over and over again (over and over again). But even though I like leftovers (especially leftover potatoes), I also like diversity. In order to balance affordability and flavour fatigue, I turned to dishes that can be transformed into brand new meals with the addition of a few additional ingredients.

I hardly need to tell you, but the hearty, humble potato is the remaining superstar. From mashing to baking, from roasting to boiling, potatoes transform into a solid foundation for salads, soups, patties and casseroles. With a little planning, potatoes can keep you full for the whole week. Here are some of my favorite ways to reuse potatoes.

How to deal with leftover mashed potatoes

Soft, fluffy mashed potatoes taste great with patties or chicken cutlets, but once you finish the main course, there always seems to be an extra flavor. If there is leftover butter and buttery potatoes on the grilled chicken or ribs on Sunday, you can reheat it in a pan and eat it hot with a large spoon. Good, but not exciting. Or, you can turn them into some brand new dishes (including an extra surprise).

Broccoli Cheese Mashed Potato Cake

Turning mashed potatoes from cream to crispy makes leftovers feel refreshed and is a great way to breathe new life into leftovers. These cakes from Merrill Stubbs are stuffed with garlic broccoli and sharp cheddar cheese, and then coated with a crunchy panko crust.

For mashed potatoes that are not too fluffy, consider stuffing the remaining mashed potatoes into flaky grilled samosa. To make the filling, cook some carrots and mix with cooked onions, peas, coriander, mint, garam masala, serrano and salt. Put a spoonful of mashed potatoes into the square pastry, fold, curl and bake.

Ganache Chocolate Mashed Potato Cake

Before you click to leave, please listen to us. We know this sounds strange. But in this fudge chocolate cake, the remaining mashed potatoes are added to the batter along with the usual suspects (sugar, cake mix, butter, and melted chocolate). Potatoes make every piece of cake extra fluffy, just like we like.

What to do with the leftover baked potatoes

The perfect baked potatoes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Of course, you can pop one in the microwave and call it dinner, but the best baking comes from the oven (this is the definition of labor-saving and high return). Bake a batch and top with sour cream, bacon, and/or butter. If you have leftover baked potatoes (these homemade celery salted baked potatoes are some of our favorites), turn them into extra cream, extra cheese for second baked potatoes, or serve with a rich gravy. Top with kale or cream chive pesto sauce. The world is your oyster. . Uh, Tate.

Baked Potatoes with White Pepper Milk Sauce

To adjust your stock of baked potatoes, make a milk gravy (also known as white sauce) flavored with white pepper, which imparts an earthy flavor and does not discolor your sauce.

No one says you have to bake twice at the same time. If you are looking for another way to recycle baked potatoes, dig out the center, mix and mash with sour cream, cheese, sautéed cabbage, salt and pepper. Put the delicious creamy mixture back in those skins and bake at 350° F for 25 minutes.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Buttered Chives

If you have a fully roasted potato, scoop out the meat and mix the potato entrails with garlic, arugula, green onions, chives, and olive oil. Fill the potato skins with green mashed potatoes and bake for another 20 minutes until the filling turns brown on top. Going further, garnish the potatoes with herb pesto.

What to do with the leftover boiled potatoes

Basic boiled potatoes are an important basis for making light meal salads (or mashed potatoes, if you want a triple transformation). But it is easy to turn starch into other foods.

With the remaining boiled potatoes, you have prepared a third of the Posie Harwood soup. For the classic Vichysuva sauce, first soften the leeks in a Dutch oven, then add the cooked potatoes and water. Puree (or immerse) in a blender and voila! Dinner is ready.

This spicy vegetarian flavor on club sandwiches includes thinly sliced ​​boiled potatoes. Chutney, potatoes, cucumbers, beets and cheese are sandwiched between two slices of buttered bread to make a golden roast.

The magic whip, hot sauce, sweets and hard-boiled eggs add a southern flavor to this picnic side dish. The recipe calls for diced russet potatoes, but if you already have some cooked mashed potatoes left over from last night's dinner (even if they are small sweet potatoes or fingerling potatoes), please use them here!

Copyright © 2021 Salon.com, LLC. It is strictly forbidden to copy materials from any salon page without written permission. SALON ® is registered as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Associated Press Article: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.