I have seen several articles with recipes on how to cook up a whole chicken and make it stretch into several meals. I decided to write a post on how I stretch a family roast into several meals, without getting bored of the same leftovers. In this economy, it is important to use up everything that you have. Many people waste a lot of food, just throwing it away, as they are tired of eating on it. Sometimes you put it away in the freezer, with good intentions of using it later....but I prefer to use it up right away, if possible. This is an example of what I recently did with a family size roast. We butcher our own beef and I usually get my roasts cut to 2-3 pounds each, so that is the size that I used. It was a nice, meaty roast, not a bone in one.
1st day: Put the roast in the crockpot (frozen) in the AM with plenty of water and seasonings (I use the steak seasoning blend). Cooked it all day and that evening, for our first meal, we had shredded roast on buns and used the broth the roast simmered in for dipping (french dip sandwiches).
2nd day: Again used the crockpot and made a beef/vegetable/noodle soup. I used approximately 1/2 of the beef that was left, one small summer squash (leftover from garden), fresh mushrooms, carrots, leeks, onion, celery and potatoes. You can use any combination of vegetables that you like or have on hand. I added in some beef broth seasoning and water. Let it cook together on low, all day in the crockpot. About an hour before serving it, I added in some small alphabet noodles that I had on hand.
3rd day: Here is a recipe that I got from an old friend and it is a great way to serve up the leftover shredded beef with a Chinese twist.
Mix together is a sauce pan until boiling:
- 2 T. sugar
- 4 T. soy sauce
- 4 tsp. minced green onion
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- dash of pepper
- 2 T. seasame seeds
- 1 T. cooking sherry
- 1 T. sesame oil
(I added in about 1/4 - 1/2 cup beef broth, also, as I had more that 1 lb. of meat)
then add in: 1 lb. of the leftover cooked meat (roast)
Cook until meat is warmed through.
Serve over rice.
After serving these meals for three nights in a row, we still had enough leftover of the soup and meat/rice mix to have lunches for two days.
Hopefully this will help you in stretching a family roast the next time you cook one up!
Until next time, Julie
Linked to the Barn Hop and Homemaking.
Julie is Merissa's mom and she's committed to living a frugal and simple lifestyle. Julie grows her own herbs in her garden and enjoys making things at home. You can now find her home remedies and ideas here at Little House Living.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
This is really great:) I love stretching our meat! It’s such a fun challenge!
This is really great:) I love stretching our meat! It’s such a fun challenge!
You know… I don’t think I’ve ever done that. I’ll usually take the roast out of the water and serve with veggies and if there is any leftovers…we’ll have sandwiches for lunches until it is gone. ..and I’ve always tossed the water. What was I thinking?
If nothing else, I could strain it for beef broth to make a soup stock later, duh!
Thanks for posting this.
Pat
You know… I don’t think I’ve ever done that. I’ll usually take the roast out of the water and serve with veggies and if there is any leftovers…we’ll have sandwiches for lunches until it is gone. ..and I’ve always tossed the water. What was I thinking?
If nothing else, I could strain it for beef broth to make a soup stock later, duh!
Thanks for posting this.
Pat
These are our family’s favorite ways to stretch a roast too!
These are our family’s favorite ways to stretch a roast too!
I like these ideas! We will often stretch ours by throwing in a sandwich night or (in the summer) a steak salad night.
I like these ideas! We will often stretch ours by throwing in a sandwich night or (in the summer) a steak salad night.
We’re having roast tonight for dinner (day 1) and I was going to shred the leftovers for tacos or sandwiches; however, I like your oriental twist and I just recently got my first bottle of fermented soy sauce. It looks like your recipe will be day 2
.
We’re having roast tonight for dinner (day 1) and I was going to shred the leftovers for tacos or sandwiches; however, I like your oriental twist and I just recently got my first bottle of fermented soy sauce. It looks like your recipe will be day 2
.
Your way of stretching a roast is very close to the way I make mine go for 3 or 4 meals. I serve a family of 4. I buy a roast that is as close to 5 pounds as I can get. Almost always it is nearly 6 pounds and bone free. I use a chuck roast for the best flavor and will not pay more than $2.00 a pound. (that is my personal price limit)
I season the roast with a bit of salt and pepper on all sides. Then I take 1 or 2 (depending on size) onions and slice them thin into rings. Lay these onions on the bottom of the crockpot. Then put the seasoned roast on top of this. Now, because my family loves the flavor I add a packet of onion soup mix to a large family size can (or use 2 cans) of cream of mushroom soup. Pour over the top of the roast and cook on high for 6 hours or so. Do not remove the lid.
The first night we have roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and what ever veggie I happen to have. I make my husband a lunch plate of left overs and take the rest of the roast to the fridge.
The first day of left overs is super simple. About 2 cups of the roast cut up into bite size pieces. I make a gravy with beef broth….add the roast beef to the gravy and serve over rice. We call this ‘beef tips’ and rice. My family loves this with salad and rolls.
The next meal I make is soup. My family loves a vegetable beef soup. I use about 2 cups of meat to make my soup with more beef broth, canned tomato juice and frozen veggies. Serve with corn bread this is very filling and flavorful.
All of these other meals will have enough left over for my husband’s lunch the next day.
Usually there is enough for a few sandwiches too. I have been known to make hash from the last bit of roast.
Your way of stretching a roast is very close to the way I make mine go for 3 or 4 meals. I serve a family of 4. I buy a roast that is as close to 5 pounds as I can get. Almost always it is nearly 6 pounds and bone free. I use a chuck roast for the best flavor and will not pay more than $2.00 a pound. (that is my personal price limit)
I season the roast with a bit of salt and pepper on all sides. Then I take 1 or 2 (depending on size) onions and slice them thin into rings. Lay these onions on the bottom of the crockpot. Then put the seasoned roast on top of this. Now, because my family loves the flavor I add a packet of onion soup mix to a large family size can (or use 2 cans) of cream of mushroom soup. Pour over the top of the roast and cook on high for 6 hours or so. Do not remove the lid.
The first night we have roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and what ever veggie I happen to have. I make my husband a lunch plate of left overs and take the rest of the roast to the fridge.
The first day of left overs is super simple. About 2 cups of the roast cut up into bite size pieces. I make a gravy with beef broth….add the roast beef to the gravy and serve over rice. We call this ‘beef tips’ and rice. My family loves this with salad and rolls.
The next meal I make is soup. My family loves a vegetable beef soup. I use about 2 cups of meat to make my soup with more beef broth, canned tomato juice and frozen veggies. Serve with corn bread this is very filling and flavorful.
All of these other meals will have enough left over for my husband’s lunch the next day.
Usually there is enough for a few sandwiches too. I have been known to make hash from the last bit of roast.
I always use my leftover roast to make chili. Shredded roast is way better than ground beef in a nice, hearty chili and if you serve the chili over macaroni noodles one night, hot dogs the next and macaroni noodles again the next, you can get several meals out of one roast.
I put the roast into the crock pot with a packet of onion soup mix and 3 cups water. I cut up 8 potatoes and 8 carrots, as our family likes to have LOTS of veggies, but little meat. The leftover meat along with the broth gets put into the crockpot the next day with a bag of frozen mixed veggies. I then shred the meat, and add flour to make a thick gravy and we have this ‘stew’ served over biscuits. (My frozen mixed veggies are from leftovers. If/when I have leftover veggies from a meal, I spoon the extras in to a pint size freezer bag. When I need frozen mixed veggies, they are available!)