FoodSavvy Recipes
Search using the categories below or try these simple waste-busting recipes first.
Italian Soup with Pearl Barley
Full of pearl barley, this is a truly hearty soup that will keep you feeling full long after lunchtime. Feel free to improvise with this recipe using whatever vegetables or pulses you have to hand.
Egg Fried Rice
Egg fried rice is one of the nation’s favourite takeaway recipes. What’s more, it’s a perfect home for leftover rice, and odds and ends of lacklustre veg. It's an absolute food waste buster, what’s not to like?
Aromatic Tomato Dahl
A delicious dal doesn’t just polish your environmental halo, it’s also full of delicious, feel good ingredients, leaving you fuller for longer. If that’s not enough, it’s cheap as chips to make.
Proper Spicy Beans on Toast
Of course you can open a tin, heat it up and pour it over your toast, but this recipe has ten times the flavour and even better you know exactly what’s in it and you can season and spice it up to just how you like it. This is a great way of using up an old loaf.
Veggie Cottage Pie
This cottage pie is packed with plant-based proteins such as potatoes and lentils. It's the perfect high-protein but meat-free way to do classic British comfort food.
Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry
This curry is the perfect solution to a glut of cauliflowers and any other veg you have in, just cook, portion and freeze, it will keep for up to 3 months. It's also a great way to use the totally edible but often discarded cauliflower leaves.
Ribollita
This hearty ribollita recipe from Tuscany is a triumph of humble Italian cooking. Made of stale bread and a mixture of vegetables, it is a delicious, nourishing soup that is more than the sum of its parts. The dish gets even better with reheating, so ensure you make plenty to enjoy the next day.
Build Your Own Pizza
Get ready to tear and share because tonight is pizza night. We’ve got everything you need to make a pizza base and delicious passata using leftover basil stalks. An amazing way to use herbs from the garden (or window box), and leftover veg to create some killer flavour combos.
Pasta With Homemade Pesto
Pesto pasta is the go-to recipe for a filling meat-free dinner. The pasta and pesto are ready in a flash so if you're short on time just fry up some tomatoes to finish off the dish. If you've got longer, throw whatever vegetables you have to hand into a roasting dish with a bit of oil and a pinch of salt, the perfect way to use up any end of the week veg box leftovers.
Vegetarian Wellington
Vegetarian Wellington with 3 layers: mushroom and sage, roasted squash and garlic greens. This recipe was made at Food Cycle’s Pie in the Sky Community Cafe as a Christmas dinner centrepiece for our bunch of fantastic volunteers to enjoy. Give it a go and let us know your thoughts!
We have made this recipe with both shop bought puff pastry and homemade shortcrust. Both work well – the puff pastry is best if you want to make one large wellington while the shortcrust works well for individual servings.
Glamorgan Sausage Rolls
Do your family and friends a favour and greet them with these hearty vegetarian friendly rolls. Make a ton, freeze and whip then out again and again. This is a great recipe for using up stale bread.
Christmas Pudding Ice Cream
Where would Christmas be without a pudding? Currants and raisins, sugar and spice, orange peel, lemon peel, and everything nice. However if you tire of this precious pud, don’t let it sit neglected, freeze it in time, and transform into a delicious ice-cream in the summer months. Continue the Christmas spirit by daring to dash in a splash o' leftover rum or whiskey. A cheat's version of Rum and Raisin using leftover Christmas Pudding.
Turkey Noodle Soup
Make a delicious turkey noodle soup to enjoy later in the month.
Use the turkey carcass for this soup. If not making straight away, you can freeze your carcass until you are ready. You can also use roasted chicken. This soup freezes perfectly. Make sure to allow the soup to cool completely before freezing in reusable bags or cliplock containers. Thaw bags of frozen soup in the refrigerator overnight when ready to reheat.
Cranberry turkey pasties
Make the most of leftovers from a Christmas meal by combining cooked turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing in these festive pasties. They can also be frozen before cooking so any you don’t need won’t be wasted.
Christmas Stir-Fry
Stir new life in your leftovers! This recipe utilises leftover boiled sprouts, cabbage, carrots and broccoli, which are frequently wasted during the Christmas period.
Vegetable Curry
This delicious vegetable curry is a great way to use up leftover veggies. Throw anything into it, and remember softer veggies require less cooking. It also goes great in samosas or made in to a pie.
Roast Aubergine, Mozzarella, Tomato and Cannellini
In this quick, affordable and delicious tray bake we’ve teamed aubergine up with some other seasonal favourites with tomatoes and basil.
Have a recipe you’d like to share?
Do you have a great recipe for using up leftovers or often wasted food items. We want to hear from you. Fill in our simple recipe form and people across Norfolk and Suffolk could be using your idea to turn potential waste to taste.

