This evening, I shared my recipe for Eggplant Pizza Bites at $5 Dinners. When I make any type of pizza, I often substitute leftover spaghetti sauce for the pizza sauce. I thought I would share a few other ways that I repurpose leftover spaghetti sauce.
~ I mix together all the leftover tomato based products in my refrigerator when making Miracle Leftover Chili. Each version tastes slightly different, but all have an interesting, complex flavor!
~ When I am short on tomatoes, I add a 1/4 – 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce to Minestrone Soup to thicken the broth and add flavor.
~ Use up to 1 cup of leftover spaghetti sauce to replace the tomato paste in Swiss Steak.
~ Spaghetti sauce makes a flavorful replacement for catsup when served over scrambled eggs.
~ My oldest son makes his own simplified version of Chicken Parmesan. He takes a leftover chicken breast, pours spaghetti sauce over it, sprinkles cheese on top, then microwaves it on high for 1 minute or until it is heated all the way through.
When I was a kid, my mom often made Pizza Toast for breakfast. You can use any type of bread product (bagel*, English muffin, leftover French bread, or sandwich bread). First, toast the bread. Top the toasted bread with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5 –7 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Why can I not figure out how to make enough noodles to perfectly match the spaghetti sauce? I always seem to have one or the other leftover! How do you use up leftover spaghetti sauce?
This post has been linked to Works For Me Wednesday and Frugal Friday.
*If you have a gluten intolerance, you can make your own gluten-free bagels with this recipe.
Laura says
I will use it to make lasagna. You can also use it for stuffed peppers (just mix the pasta sauce with rice or quinoa). I usually add a little extra spicy kick for stuffed peppers. You can also make a snack or party appetizer by layering ricotta, leftover spaghetti sauce, top with cheese and bake until warm and crispy on top. Then serve that with crostinis. You can also add red pepper flakes and cream/sour cream/cream cheese and toss it with premade gnocchi. My spaghetti sauce is always chunky and full of sausage, onions, peppers, garlic, and mushrooms, and I make a lot So it’s very important to find new ways to repurpose it we don’t get bored with leftovers.
Alea Milham says
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing them with us.
Roxanne says
i just googled 'what to do with leftover spaghetti sauce' and your post came up.
My step dad used to make 'breakfast'. There was no special name, but he would cut up potatoes, start cooking them in a skillet then go through the fridge and pull out most everything and throw it in the skillet too. Spaghetti sauce usually ended up in it, bc he was itailian and we ate a lot of tomato sauces!
Anyways, serve that and scrambled eggs, it ALWAYS managed out good! I still make it sometimes around my house. 🙂
terryaretta says
I use my leftovers for hot dog sauce, YUM.
Sheila says
I can't seem to match the noodles to the sauce either. I usually put any leftover sauce in the freezer with all the other leftover vegetables and such. It all goes into soup at some point. I like the thought of pizza toast.
Melissa says
I use it for pizza, as you do. But usually I freeze it until I need it for pizza. Then the only trick is remembering to defrost it for pizza day!
Laura says
I don't have an original idea to add to your list (we do all the same things with our leftover sauce), but I do like the idea of making the pizza toasts for breakfast. I am always looking for something new to change things up for breakfast as our kids do not like "traditional" breakfast stuff (i.e. cereal, although they will eat eggs occasionally). They would LOVE pizza toast!
Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect says
Great ideas! I use spaghetti sauce on pizza but never thought about pizza toasts like you described. Yum!
Pam says
Those pizza toasts would be great for breakfast! Very original! Your blog title is awesome!
Annie Jones says
I do a lot of the same things you just mentioned, but usually I just put it in a small container in the freezer and use it next time I make "Clean out the fridge/freezer soup". 🙂
mub says
I never match the noodles with the sauce either!
Thanks for the eggplant pizza recipe, this could come in handy!