This Christmas lunch is the heart of the Australian holiday season – a spectacular spread of ham, prawns, roast veg and desserts. but often, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, leading to a massive problem: Christmas food waste.
While we’ve worked on tackling decorations and wrapping, did you know that households in Australia are responsible for up to 30% of the country’s total food waste? and this number surges over the holidays.
It’s time to become Leftover Champions! Here are the best ways to plan, store and creatively use every last crumb of your festive feast.
The Pre-Feast Plan: Buy Only What You Need
The single most effective way to reduce food waste is to avoid over buying in the first place. a little planning goes a long way!
- The Headcount: Lock in your final guest count before hitting the shops. Don’t forget to account for the dishes guests might be bringing.
- Use a Portion Calculator: Don’t guess the size of your ham or the number of potatoes. Use a simple online calculator (or a rule of thumb) to determine meat weights and vegetable quantities per person.
- Be Specific with Guests: If you ask a guest to “bring a salad” you might end up with three Ceaser salads. Ask them to bring a specific dish, or better yet, a specific ingredient (e.g., “Could you bring the Aussie cheese platter?”.
- Shop Loose: Choose loose fruit and vegetables (like potatoes and carrots) over pre-packaged bags so you only buy the exact quantity you require.
Post- Feast Action: Storage and Salvage
Once the main event is over, the clock is ticking. Proper, immediate storage is the secret weapon against food spoilage.
Cool Down and Store Immediately
- 2-Hour Rule: Perishable items, especially cooked meats like turkey or ham, should not be left out for more than two hours in the heat. Break them down and get them into the fridge or freezer quickly.
- Free Up Space: Declutter your freezer before Christmas Day. Cooked ham, leftover roast veg and even gravy freeze beautifully in airtight containers.
- The Ham Bone: Don’t throw the carcass away! Simmer the leftover ham bone in a pot of water with some vegetables (like carrots and celery) to make a rich, flavourful stock for soups and risottos later.
The Compost Corner
Even with the best intentions, some scraps are inevitable (peelings, bones, plate-scraps).
Food Scrap Bins: Use your council-provided FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics) bin for food scraps, bones and oil-soaked napkins. The waste gets commercially composted, not set to landfill where it creates harmful methane gas.
ShareWaste: If your council doesn’t offer a service, check out apps like ShareWaste to find a neighbour who has a compost bin or worm farm that can take your scraps.
Leftover Champions: Creative Recipe Ideas
| The Leftover | The Transformation |
| Ham | Ham and cheese toasties/Jaffles: The classic! Or try Ham and Pineapple Pizza using pre-made bases. |
| Roast Turkey/Chicken | Curry or Nasi Goreng: Shred the meat and toss it into an Asian-Inspired rice or noodle dish for a light, flavourful post-Christmas meal. |
| Roast Vegetables | Frittata or Soup: Blend roasted pumpkin or carrots into a creamy soup, or chop and mix all the leftover veg with eggs and cheese for a fantastic lunchtime frittata. |
| Pudding/Cake | Trifle Base or Bliss Balls: Crumble the cake/pudding and layer it with custard and cream for a quick trifle, or mix it with some cream cheese for simple holiday bliss balls. |
This Christmas, Let’s make a commitment to honouring the resources that went into our feast. Planning ahead and becoming a Leftover Champion is the perfect way to cap off a truly sustainable aussie holiday.