Turn Leftover Soups and Stews Into Casseroles – Frugal Tip

I love making hardy soups and stews throughout the winter. It usually turns out to be more than we can eat in one meal. Sometimes it’s just enough leftover for me for lunch the next day, but other times it’s a little more than that … but not quite enough for dinner for the whole family.

Since I don’t like to see things to go to waste and love getting more than one meal out of cooking, I started getting a little creative. It didn’t take me long to figure out that those small portions of beef and vegetable soup, bean soup or stew were the perfect starting point for a casserole. Here’s what I do.

Grease a casserole dish. Take a look at your soup or stew. If it’s already pretty thick, pour it into the casserole dish. If it’s pretty soupy, either pour out some of the liquid, thicken it with some flour, or add some dry rice to your casserole mix. The rice will absorb the liquid at a 1-1 ratio while it cooks.

Once your starting base is in the baking dish, decide if you need to add something to make it enough food for the whole family. I often grab a can of corn, green beans or some kidney beans to add to the pot. Just rain them well before adding.

Next it’s time to pick a topping. If it’s a pretty filling meal already with lots of potatoes or rice on it, I top the casserole with a sprinkle of dry bread crumbs and bake until heated through.

If it still looks  a little skimpy, I make some biscuit dough and drop it on top by the spoon full.

Bake the casserole at 425 until your topping is done and everything is warmed through and dinner is ready.