Spice up my leftover Chilli

Over the last couple of weeks my wife and I have tried to reduce the ammount of food wwe waste. We have to cook a certain ammount because my boys have big appetites, but we often have leftovers too! I hate serving the same meal two days running and usually try to make something different out of the leftovers.

So what can I do with the Chilli from last nights dinner, anybody got ideals for me? I’d like to do something creative if possible, but barring that quick.

Chili (one “L”) freezes extremely well. Just put it in a freezer bag and warm it up on a lazy Saturday afternoon when you don’t feel like cooking.

If it’s thick enough, it can be made into burritos. Just add enough other stuff (cheese, lettuce, sour cream, etc.) to make it different enough. If it’s not thick enough, maybe put in some cooked rice.

Chili is good in omelettes. Again, it would have to be thick.

**Chili Dogs

Chili Burgers

Chili Size

Chili Mac

Chili Over Rice**

etc, etc. :smiley:

This past Sunday we spooned left-over chili on oven toasted tostados, shredded cheese on top and stuck the whole mess in a very hot oven for a few minutes. Before serving, we topped them with fresh, chopped tomatoes and a dallop of sour cream. The boys loved it and it was quick and easy.

My absolute favorite way to have chili is over cornbread. Mmmmm.

This is Podkayne’s Favorite Leftover Tip[sup]TM[/sup]: Leftovers taste 30% less sucktacular when accompanied some nice fresh bread. You’re not making dinner, right? So you have time to hit the store and grab a loaf, or bake some quickbread or muffins. Alternatively, if you are one of those people who can think and be organized before noon, set up the bread machine in the morning before work so it will be ready at dinner time.

Or if you’re less health concious, you could serve Frito Pie.

Get a pizza crust, smear the chili on it, sprinkle shredded cheddar and/or any other kind of cheese you like, heat until hot, then sprinkle shredded lettuce, diced tomato, chopped onions, sour cream or salsa on it.

Bask in the adoration of your family.

Heat up the chili, put some in a tortilla with some chopped onions & cheese, add a few fritos, and you have chili-cheese wrap yummy goodness.

Or make cheese enchiladas. Heat up a little olive oil (or enchilada sauce, if you prefer) in a skillet–briefly warm up a tortilla on both sides in the skillet. Remove, add some shredded cheddar and chopped onions, and roll up. Place in a greased baking dish seam side down. Once you’ve gotten all of the enchiladas made, pour the left-over chili on top and bake for a while. Then, if you like, put some more shredded cheese on top and heat until the cheese is melty.

Yes, chili and cornbread! To be fancy, use individual bowls (oiled and preheated), divide the batter, and put a scoop of preheated chili in the middle of each one. (It will sink in.) Sprinkle with grated cheese, or mix it into the batter. Or, as Podkayne says, fresh bread is good. If you can find something the right size, hollow out individual loaves and fill. Those individual servings are always popular.

We did some low carb style chili dogs, by just cutting up the dogs and dropping them into the chili. Ok, maybe that sounds disgusting, but it did the trick.

Chili pizza is a great idea, along with the chili-sloppy joes and chili omelets.

You guys are great. I’m printing this out since we make chili just often enough for this to come up regularly. I’m going to try **Casey’s ** tonight, and if there’s still some left, I’ll try UrbanChic’s as a snack. For the record, we always eat Chili with cornbread.

It’s always double-L round these parts :stuck_out_tongue:

This works great if you have small over proof bowls.

Put a layer of macaroni, then a layer of chili, then a layer of onions, top it off with some sharp cheddar. Bake at 325 until the cheese starts to brown.

Great chili-based breakfast. Perfect after a night on the town. (Can be made in advance, then popped into the oven the next morning.)

Gently re-heat the chili on the stove, adding jalapenos and a little onion. While that’s going, brown up some chunked, raw, skin-on potatoes with a little olive oil, cayenne, salt and if you’re feeling ambitious, garlic. If you use an oven-safe cast-iron skillet, once you’re done you can go right to the next step. By the way, it’s better to keep the taters fairly firm.

In an oven-safe dish (like a ceramic skillet) carefully flatten the potatoes into one even layer. By now, the chili should be somewhat thick. Ladle it onto the potatoes. As a guide, if I have 2" of potatoes, I top with 1" of chili. Just my personal taste. Top with fresh ground cheese, chives (and olives, thanks!) and pop into the oven.

At this point, cook up your eggs. I prefer them fried, sunny side-up. When I cook this dish, my wife prefers a thin serrano frittata.

Bake at 375 until things start to melt (maybe 5-6 minutes?), then switch to Broil until the cheese is lightly browned.

Spoon onto a plate, top with egg of your choice. Eat with salsa and pico.

(It’s even better if you have a set of individual oven-safe skillets. Just top each with egg and serve.)


Now I know this sounds like cholesterol overkill, but since our chili is made with soy, the egg and cheese provide the perfect amount of “body”. When I ate meat, though, this was still an excellent treat.

Redneck Chilequiles are my recommendation. Yum.

Essentially the union of Podkayne’s and Cheesesteak’s recipes.