Have leftover spaghetti? You don’t have to throw it away; there are several delicious ways to use leftover spaghetti. These ideas range from an Italian pasta frittata to Southwestern taco spaghetti casserole, Thai pork noodle casserole, etc. Here are 12 delicious ways to use leftover spaghetti. Save some for the next time you have some on hand. And don’t forget to pin these ideas for future reference.
What to do with Leftover Spaghetti?
1. Spaghetti Bake with Leftovers
Even while spaghetti is delicious, freezing it overnight takes its toll.
Refrigerated spaghetti is frequently too dry and dried.
Could you put it in the oven for a quick fix?
One of the simplest dishes I’ve come across is leftover spaghetti bake, and it’s simple, quick, and wonderful.
Eggs, butter, a few herbs and seasonings, and the pièce de résistance: cheese are all you’ll need. Dinner is made when the crust is golden brown.
2. Spaghetti Pie Made Simple
Baking leftover spaghetti into a pie is another foolproof method of serving it. You read that correctly: spaghetti pie.
The more leftover ingredients you have, the better. Do you have any ham or bacon on hand?
Toss it in for some extra texture. For an earthy flavour, you can also add mushrooms.
Serve in equal slices with parmesan cheese on top. Alternatively, you can enlarge yours.
3. Frittata with Leftover Pasta
Want to sneak vegetables into your children’s meals? Make a frittata for them!
The surface of this dish is crispy, while the centre is soft and chewy. Spinach, potatoes, and even cherry tomatoes can be added.
Put everything in an iron skillet, add the egg and cheese, and you’ve got yourself a substantial breakfast!
What if the kids want to know what’s in it? Tell them it’s a trade secret.
4. Cakes are made using leftover pasta.
Everything tastes better when it’s fried. I’m confident that everyone agrees.
This recipe is for you if you’re not a fan of piling more ingredients on leftover spaghetti. It’s a simple, fool-proof recipe that produces delectable results.
All you’ll need is a frying pan and some oil! Spaghetti cakes are made by dropping pasta shapes into a pan.
You’ll want to snack on this morning, noon, and night since they’re crisp, delicate, and tasty.
5. Pizza with Spaghetti
After last night’s spaghetti dinner, how about another Italian meal? Make a pizza out of your noodles!
Traditionalists in Italy may object, but who cares? It’s great.
It’s a brilliant idea to use leftover spaghetti to make a crispy noodle crust.
You’ll have a guaranteed hit if you top the crust with your favourite pizza toppings like mushrooms, pepperoni, pizza sauce, and mozzarella cheese.
Who says pizza and pasta have to be mutually exclusive? This dish combines the two into one glorious mash-up.
6. Lo Mein Spaghetti
Who’d have guessed that an Italian ingredient could be transformed into a Chinese dish?
Soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic powder, and ginger powder are required ingredients.
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl to make a typical lo mein sauce.
Toss in some vegetables for extra crunch, then toss in your leftover spaghetti, and voila! It’s the birth of a magical dish.
7. Spaghetti in a Muffin Tin
Do you know what impostor desserts are? Here’s another way to get your kids to eat vegetables without realizing it!
Place leftover spaghetti in muffin pans with grated carrots, chopped spinach, or peas. The oven is in charge of the rest.
You may even enlist the help of the children for a fun activity! This will pique their interest in the meal, and they’ll almost certainly beg for seconds.
8. Sandwich of Spaghetti
This next dish is a one-of-a-kind sandwich that serves as a complete dinner. It’s a delicious combo made of garlic bread, meat sauce, pasta, and cheese.
You can’t ask for much more. You, on the other hand, will beg for seconds!
This is a personal favourite of mine because I adore anything with cheese.
The sauce and cheese drip from the toast when you bite into the sandwich. Sure, it’s a mess, but licking it off your fingers is a lot of fun!
9. Spaghetti Boats with Leftovers
This is another sandwich recipe, except you use hollowed-out French bread instead of garlic toast this time.
It’ll undoubtedly become a family favourite.
This is not only delicious but also a lot of fun to prepare!
Scooping out French bread and stuffing it with spaghetti and cheese is a delightful experience.
Even more entertaining is watching the cheese melt in the oven.
Serve it for movie night the next day, and no one will miss the popcorn.
10. Balls of Spaghetti
There are many creative ways to repurpose leftover spaghetti, but I’ll bet you’ve never considered forming them into balls.
Why not create spaghetti balls instead of meatballs?
If you want to reimagine last night’s dinner, this humorous and backward approach to spaghetti and meatballs is just what you need.
Consider it a cuisine from the Upside Down if you’re a fan of Stranger Things. It’s terrifying, to be sure, but it’s also terrifyingly delicious.
11. Panini with leftover spaghetti and meatballs
This is the ideal accompaniment to last night’s pasta and meatballs.
It’s similar to a spaghetti sandwich, but you’ll use a panini press instead of a fork.
You can experiment with different types of cheese. Choose from Gruyere, cheddar, or mozzarella. You can even mix and combine to your heart’s content.
Serve it as a snack or pack it as a lunch for your kids. They’ll come home with big smiles on their faces, I promise.
12. Frittata Carbonara
What if the white sauce on your leftover pasta isn’t the typical red? It’s no problem!
Do you recall the spaghetti frittata we discussed earlier? Instead of frying it in a skillet, bake it in the oven this time.
Bacon is commonly served with white sauce spaghetti. So add a little (or a lot) of smoked bacon to the mix!
A creamy baked frittata can be made with roasted potatoes and cream.
For an amazing dinner, serve with fresh orange juice or a hot cup of coffee.
What is the Best Way to Reheat Frozen Spaghetti?
To reheat frozen spaghetti, defrost it overnight in the refrigerator, then add two teaspoons of water per cup of spaghetti and place the noodles on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high for 30-45 seconds, then remove, mix, and return to microwave at 30-second intervals, as needed, until thoroughly heated.
Alternatively, once your noodles have been defrosted, please place them in a colander/strainer and immerse them in boiling water for 30 seconds or until warm.
What are the Recipes for Saucy Leftover Pasta?
Sometimes you make too much pasta with sauce and end up with leftovers, which is fine! To avoid wasting food, you don’t have to reheat them. Here are a few of our favourite saucy leftover pasta recipes that you should try:
Lasagna Soup – Cut up your lasagna (standard or roll-ups) and stretch it into a fresh and tasty supper! Add enough broth, tomato sauce, and seasonings to make it to your preference. Don’t be scared to add pre-cooked ground beef and sautéed onions!
Make Italian Skilletini by combining leftover pasta and sauce in a pan. Add cooked Italian sausage, garlic, and any chopped vegetables you need to use (grape tomatoes, squash, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, eggplant, etc.). It’s impossible to go wrong with this dish; it’s delicious!
Creamy Alfredo Soup – Isn’t it just asking to be turned into the soup when you have leftover Alfredo pasta? In a big pot, melt two tablespoons of butter, add some garlic, and mix in 14 cups of flour for a few minutes. Allow up to 4 cups chicken stock and 1 cup milk or half-and-half to simmer for 15 minutes, or until thickened, depending on how many leftovers you have. Stir in the remaining spaghetti and cooked meat (shredded chicken, sausage, and shrimp are all delicious!) until everything is hot and bubbly. Also, don’t skimp on the parmesan cheese!
Cajun Alfredo – Make a new supper out of your leftovers! Preheat your leftover in a skillet, Alfredo, add some sausage, cajun spice, possibly a little extra parmesan or milk/heavy cream, and voilà! A fresh dish with a wonderful kick to it.
What are the Four Recipes for Reheating Leftover Spaghetti That is Sure to Please?
Bring it to a Boil
If you keep your pasta and sauce separate, this will work. When you initially cook pasta, portion out what you’ll eat for that dinner, then rinse the un-sauced pasta under cold water to halt the cooking and keep it from becoming mushy.
When you’re ready to reheat your pasta, boil a pot of water, submerge the noodles for 30-60 seconds, drain, and return the pasta and cold sauce to the boiling pot to combine and heat the sauce.
If you’re taking your pasta and sauce to work, boil some water in a kettle or microwave, then pour it over your pasta in a container or large dish (carefully). Drain after 30-60 seconds of waiting. In this instance, zap your sauce for another 30-60 seconds in the microwave to warm it up before topping your pasta.
Soup it up
Because baked cheese is so delicious in a soup, this is a genuinely unusual and hearty way to use leftover baked pasta like lasagna or cannelloni. Make bite-sized pieces of your cold lasagna (or other baked pasta). Bring chicken or vegetable broth to low heat in a saucepan. Add your pasta, mix well, and continue to cook for another minute or two to ensure that it is thoroughly warm. The cheesy chunks and silky pasta bits are the best comfort food for a cold winter day!
Bring your pasta already cut into chunks and your soup stock in a separate microwave-safe container if you’re doing this at work. Zap the pasta chunks for 30-60 seconds, toss, and then zap for 30-60 seconds more. Then, bring the broth to a near-simmering temperature. Combine the pasta and broth in a mixing basin or container and toss thoroughly. If you microwave the pasta and it doesn’t heat through, the hot broth will help reheat it.
It’s Steamed
Please bring a few tablespoons of water to a simmer in a low frying pan with a tight-fitting lid for pasta that already has sauce. Place the cover on the pot and add the pasta. Please wait 30 seconds, remove the cover, mix it, and replace it for another 30 seconds. Carry on in this manner until the food is well heated.
Continuous stirring ensures that it is uniformly heated and that no mushy, overdone parts form. The vapour from the small amount of water will help rehydrate the sauce and noodles, preventing them from drying.
This procedure can be used in an office microwave if you’re careful. Fill a microwave-safe container or bowl halfway with water and your leftover spaghetti. Remove after 30-60 seconds, stir well, zap again, and repeat until thoroughly hot. The steam from the water will revitalize your pasta and ensure that it is heated evenly, and it will not become a sticky mess if you stir it frequently.
It Should be Baked
This approach is for you if you like your pasta to have a little crunch. Spread the leftovers equally on a baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees, rotating halfway through. This will ensure that the pasta is evenly heated, and you get some great crispy pieces of toasted delight. Add a little cheese on top to kick it up a notch. Yum!
Because this method of reheating pasta causes it to adhere to the tray, line it with parchment paper or a reusable silicone liner, or lightly oil a non-stick baking sheet before adding spaghetti.
Conclusion
This option won’t work in your office microwave, but you can do it in tiny amounts on the toaster oven tray if you have a toaster oven. Carry a piece of foil to cover the tray so you don’t leave stuck-on pasta parts forever, out of consideration for your coworkers.
Leftovers are one of the most regularly thrown away foods in the home. And with household food waste accounting for over 40% of total food waste, this is a significant issue. Part of the issue with leftovers is that they don’t always taste as nice when reheated… unless we prepare them correctly! We not only receive a tasty supper, but we also save money, time, food, and the environment. What’s not to appreciate about leftovers when you think about it like that?
