Americans are turning leftovers into meals to tackle the impact of rising grocery prices
Thousands cannot afford to pay so much for groceries and are being creative with what they have.
Dec. 10 2025, Published 9:06 a.m. ET
Rising grocery prices are making life difficult for Americans, as many are now living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to afford basics like healthcare and heating in winter. As a result, shoppers have been wary of how they spend their money, even when it comes to basic necessities. Food inflation might have cooled off, but the prices of several staples, including beef, chocolate, and coffee, remain high. To cope with the strain on household bills, getting creative with leftovers has become a new hack.
A report in FOX News states that cooks who are budget-minded are letting their creative juices flow and are making use of leftover food to cook some hearty meals. Chef and influencer Amanda Frederickson, based in Nashville, turned something called “fridge foraging” into a social media trend, in which she turns scraps into some pretty creative and tasty meals.
"We're all trying to figure out what to make for dinner, and we're all trying to save money on groceries," she said. "If you throw away food, you're literally throwing away your money." That statement is a lot more real than some may believe it to be. The average American family loses $1,500 each year by throwing away food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.
So, making use of scraps from the fringes of your fridge, pairing them up with leftover food, can not only be cost-effective, but you also get the excitement of creating a completely new dish that might taste fantastic. Several people across the country are already doing this. Minnesota-based development coordinator Sarah Duggal said that she crisps up pizza leftovers in a pan the next morning and scrambles them with eggs, making for a unique breakfast.
She also said that she repurposes leftover sides of rice for fried rice dinners. Chicago-based architect Kelly Blair said that she saves vegetable scraps and leftover meat bones inside plastic bags in her freezer to turn them into a delicious broth in the future. Turns out that her husband and kids also help her out in doing so and are quite adept at it as well. "Everyone is really well-trained,” she said.
Social media has also been rife with such money-saving food hacks, with conversations about the matter unfolding on Reddit. A couple of months ago, one user asked on r/food about how to not waste food while cooking for two. The replies were as innovative as they get and could be followed by any home cook.
“If you're cooking every night and hate leftovers, you want to plan your ingredients around being able to use the ingredients in multiple things,” one user commented. “Make 4 servings. Dinners for the two of you and lunch for the next day. It's changed our lives, really,” added another.
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