Leftover Christmas crumble
Before I say too much about this leftover Christmas crumble, I want to remind you that sometimes the ugliest foods are the most tasty. Stews, casseroles, nut roasts… all hideous, but all absolutely delicious.
Nobody likes to be judged on their appearance, and that also extends to food. Okay, this leftover Christmas casserole may not be much of a looker. But instead, judge it on the way it tastes, which will immediately make you feel festive even though there’s still over a week to go until the big day. Judge it on the fact that’s it’s super easy to make – if you use leftovers for the filling, it takes just minutes to mix up the crumble topping and sprinkle it over. And, most importantly, judge it on the fact that it will help you reduce food waste this Christmas!
At this time of year there’s always sooo much food around – huge tubs of chocolates, fruit bowls piled high, nuts, crisps, sweets… and that’s before you’ve even got to the dozen roast dinners. I’m sure we’re all guilty of scraping some of our leftovers into the bin, which can add up to an awful lot of food waste. Love Food Hate Waste is a charity campaign that aims to encourage people to love and enjoy their food, but also to try to waste less of it.
This could mean freezing your leftovers to use up at a later date (there are some great tips here!), using store cupboard ingredients with long sell-by dates, only cooking as much as you will actually eat, or reimagining leftovers into something new to keep them interesting.
Hence: leftover Christmas crumble!
My Christmas crumble contains leftover veggies (sprouts, parsnips, carrots – all the usual suspects), and some crumbled nut roast. But of course, the idea here is to use up whatever leftovers you have in the fridge, so feel free to throw in whatever you fancy! I then made a quick sauce out of gravy, cranberry sauce and a dash of double cream (which I admit sounds a bit weird, but tastes amazing, and super Christmassy), and a cheesy savoury crumble topping.
Do you have any top tips for reducing food waste at this time of year? Are you best friends with your freezer, or do you just try not to go overboard on the amount you cook? Let me know your top tips in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the Love Food Hate Waste website for more tips about freezing food, and how to save money and reduce food waste.
Leftover Christmas crumble
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 450 g crumbled leftover nut roast (~ 2 cups)
- Various leftover cooked vegetables – I used roasted parsnips, carrots and Brussels sprouts
- 3 tbsp vegetarian gravy
- 1 tbsp cream
- 1 tbsp cranberry sauce
- 30 g butter, softened (~ 2 tbsp)
- 50 g plain flour (~ 1/4 cup)
- 35 g rolled oats (~ 1/4 cup)
- 60 g grated cheddar cheese (~ 3/4 cup)
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
- Add the crumbled nut roast and leftover cooked vegetables to a baking dish.
- In a small bowl, combine the vegetarian gravy, cream and cranberry sauce, and mix well. Pour over the vegetables, and mix to combine.
- In a mixing bowl, rub together the butter and flour to give a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add the oats and grated cheese, and mix to combine. Season well, and sprinkle the mixture over the vegetables.
- Bake for around 30 minutes, or until the crumble topping is crispy and golden brown, and the filling is piping hot.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose.
This is so versatile and delicious, for the third year in a row this is boxing day lunch. This year I am using breadcrumbs rather than oats and it’s still delicious!
Thanks Claire, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Thanks for sharing such lovely content i will try it tonight :)
I am an avid fan of food. I always love to try new thing. I have cooked this leftover Christmas crumble this evening with the help of my husband. The outcome was quite amazing!
Great ideal! So we can reduce the waste food of christmas. Thanks for sharing this useful tip
This is so wonderful! I always teach my kids not to waste foods and your campaign is just what people need to be aware of at the moment? Not to mention the foods look delicious! Hope the campaign will get more recognition!
Thanks Mary! We’ve definitely been doing our best to use up all our leftovers this Christmas – and the rest of the year :)
I haven’t even eaten my Christmas lunch yet and I’m loving this already!
We should not waste food. Think of those people who are hungry all over the world. This is a great help for us to minimize food waste. Thanks for sharing
This looks delicious, I will definitely consider this for boxing day!
Sounds delicious – I must make sure that we do too many veg on Christmas Day just so that we have plenty of leftovers ready for this! :)