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We’ve all been there. You make a big batch of rice for a meal only to have loads of leftover rice, but none of the protein and veggies you cooked to go with it. It’s not a problem. There are a number of recipes that work best with day-old rice.

Leftover Rice With Honey For Breakfast
We talked about this delicious treat in a previous blog post. All you have to do is take a scoop of your leftover rice and add coconut milk (or any kind of milk) and a dollop of honey. Heat it up slightly for a sweet morning meal.

Fried Rice Is The Tried And True Usage For Leftover Rice
Read any fried rice recipe and it’ll tell you to use day-old or even two- or three-day-old rice. After being in the refrigerator for awhile, a lot of the water has evapaorated from the grains making it easier to fry up with an egg, veggies, and chicken or tofu.

Tip: We often make fried rice when we have an assortment of leftovers in the fridge. Many will tell you you need soy sauce, chicken, and peas/carrots for the main ingredients, but we add any variety of veggies and use fish sauce, too.

Thai Peanut Crunchy (Leftover) Rice Salad
This is an excellent salad recipe published in the New Orleans Advocate. While it doesn’t call for cold leftover rice, we think doing so adds a nice crunch.

Leftover Rice Cutlets
A quick Google search will reveal several good recipes for leftover rice cutlets, which are similar to sabudana wada in Indian cuisine. Rice cutlets are essentially small patties of rice, mashed potatoes, spices, and veggies that are then deep fried and dipped in chutney. By the way, many Indian recipes are perfect for leftover rice, including this homemade dosa recipe from Hebbars Kitchen and this leftover rice pakora recipe from Kannamma Cooks. 

Other Leftover Rice Ideas
- Rice pudding
- Risotto or pilaf
- Stuffed bell peppers
- Inside burritos
- Under lentils or North American chili

Tell us how you enjoy your leftover rice on this Facebook post (link). And don’t forget, Four Elephants is Amazon’s Choice for Jasmine Rice.