My Austrian Grandma's zero waste recipes

These classic dishes from Austrian cuisine are ideal for using up leftovers. In this article, you will find a collection of traditional Austrian recipe ideas for classic “leftover meals.”

Using leftovers from the previous day in a new dish not only saves money and time, but also encourages creativity and protects the environment. And sometimes you can conjure up an even better dish with leftovers than the original!

Jump to:

• Strudel Recipes to use veggie, meat and potato leftovers
• Recipes for leftover dumplings, pasta and potatoes
• Recipes for leftover meat, sausages, ham & bacon
• Recipes to use up stale bread
• Bread au gratin
• Using up leftover white bread
• Cream of vegetable soups
• Salads

Strudel Recipes to use veggie, meat and potato leftovers

These savoury strudel recipes can also be made using leftover ingredients like roasted cabbage, ground meat, smoked ham and potatoes to make a traditional and delicious zero waste dish! But, to be honest, you can fill your Strudel with almost anything. The filling just shouldn't be too liquid.

You can make your own Strudel dough or buy pre-made phyllo dough or Strudel dough from the store.

Savory Potato, Cabbage + Bacon Strudel by cupofsugarpinchofsalt.com

German Krautstrudel (Cabbage Strudel) by thesimplesprinkle.com

Wild mushroom and potato strudel by sas-does.blogspot.com

Recipes for leftover dumplings, pasta and potatoes

What's even better than fresh bread dumplings? That's right - roasted dumplings with egg! It also works with potato dumplings, by the way. Here's the recipe:

The "Grenadiermarsch" is a very traditional and beloved leftover recipe using bread dumplings, pasta, potatoes and smoked ham or bacon:

You can use leftover pasta and smoked ham to make the famous Austrian Schinkenfleckerl:

Potato dumplings are a delicious way to use leftover potatoes. You'll need starchy potatoes though (the ones you'd use for mashed potatoes).

Recipes for leftover meat, sausages, ham & bacon

Potato goulash is the obligatory leftover meal in our family after large family celebrations, when there are lots of sausages and potatoes left over:

Tyrolean dumplings are a delicious way to use up stale bread and smoked meat, ham or bacon.

Recipes to use up stale bread

This traditional recipe for bread soup is an inexpensive and filling way to use up leftover dry bread. The soup tastes especially delicious with a dash of whipped cream and some roasted bacon on top.

Croutons

I like to make croutons for soup from dry brown or mixed bread. It is easiest to cut the bread when it is not yet completely hard. The bread slices or small cubes can be dried either in the air or, for example, seasoned with a little rosemary and baked in the oven at a low temperature. Please note: if the bread is to be stored for a longer period of time, do not add any fat, as this will become rancid.

If the croutons are to be used immediately, they can also be roasted with garlic and olive oil in the oven or in a pan.

Bread au gratin

Bread au gratin is also a good option if your bread is already a little stale. You can top it with whatever you have in the fridge, but cheese is a must.

First you slice the bread, but attention, when it's very stale, you can easily hurt yourself! If it's very stale, sprinkle it with a few drops of water. Add a layer of cream cheese or sour cream, then add whatever you have in your fridge!

We love this recipe with tomatoes, peppers, sliced mushrooms, salami or ham, sweet corn, cheese and onion rings or chili on top. Bake in the oven at 180°C/360°F for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is brown and crispy.

Using up leftover white bread

The classic way to use up stale rolls or white bread in Austrian cuisine is, of course, breadcrumbs and bread cubes (or bread dumplings).

Bread cubes

Here, the rolls are cut into cubes about 1 cm wide and dried in the air. Linen bags or cardboard boxes are good for storage, but I have also had no problem storing them in glass jars. (However, the cubes must be completely dry for this.) A room with dry air is ideal for drying (i.e., not necessarily the kitchen).

Breadcrumbs

To make breadcrumbs, the dried rolls, cut into coarse pieces, are put through a breadcrumb mill. If you don't have a mill at home, you can also use a blender.

This Kipferlschmarrn is a great recipe for using up stale leftover brioche croissant, sweet yeast dough recipes like Striezel, or even unfilled Buchteln:

French toast is a great recipe for using up stale toast or white bread. The recipe, which is called "Armer Ritter" (Poor Knight) in Austria and Germany, also works wonderfully with leftover Striezel. Once considered a typical “poor man's” food, French toast has become increasingly popular in recent years.

French toast recipe by tastesbetterfromscratch.com

Cream of vegetable soups

The leaves of carrots, kohlrabi, and beets are great for cream soups and salads.

Leftovers from cooked and steamed vegetables, oven-roasted vegetables (e.g., pumpkin), or pan-fried vegetables are also ideal for cream soups. This not only helps you avoid food waste, but also saves you time and money when cooking!

Salads

With some vegetables, such as celery, beetroot, spinach, and mushrooms, you should be careful when reheating them due to the possible formation of nitrite. They should always be refrigerated as soon as possible. Alternatively, the leftovers can be used in salads, which eliminates the problem of reheating (but still refrigerate as soon as possible).

This salad recipe, which is based on Waldorf salad, can be made with both raw celery and leftover roasted celery root. You can also use the same dressing or similar creamy salad dressings to use up other roasted or steamed vegetable leftovers such as beetroot, potatoes, or pumpkin.