After the indulgence of Christmas Day, use up your leftovers and reboot beleaguered taste buds, with these delicious and healthy recipes.
Here is a selection of easy and healthy recipes to use up your leftovers on Boxing Day – and avoid food waste.
What is traditionally eaten on Boxing Day?
In the UK, Boxing Day is traditionally a day where leftovers from the Christmas Day meal are eaten cold in sandwiches or salads or cooked into curries, stews or bakes.
Satsuma, pomegranate and walnut salad
Blood oranges are gorgeous in this salad, but if you have a mountain of festive satsumas, tangerines or oranges, use these instead. Equally, pecans, almonds or hazelnuts will be just as good here.
This bright and juicy salad pairs beautifully with any leftover roast meat or blue cheese.
Quick, crisp pickled vegetables
Serve these pickled vegetables as antipasti or as part of buffet lunch. To serve, remove the pickled veg from the liquor and serve in a shallow dish with toothpicks to skewer.
Rustic leek and potato soup recipe
This rustic soup recipe is quick and easy to make, and the perfect antidote to a cold winter day.
Leek and goat’s cheese tarts
Join Kathy Bishop and Tom Crowford with these tasty mid winter tarts from their West Country smallholding.
Beetroot leaf and potato gratin
Make pink-stemmed beetroot leaves the star of your autumn dinner with this comforting gratin.
Boxing Day picnic recipes
An invigorating hike is a wonderful way to refresh yourself after the festive celebrations. Why not pack a delicious feast for your walk, using the best Christmas Day leftovers with these easy recipes by Genevieve Taylor?
Christmas food is at its very best on Boxing Day. The pressure of the perfect ‘big day’ has subsided and you are left with a kitchen full of delicious leftovers and a whole day where, with any luck, you can escape to the hills for some much-needed fresh air.
The trick to a good Boxing Day packed lunch is to think easy and act flexible. None of these recipes are rigid; take them as mere suggestions and run loose and fast with whatever you have in your fridge and cupboards.
Ciabatta roll with brie, cranberry sauce and walnut gremolata
Use up your Christmas Day leftovers with this easy ciabatta roll with brie, cranberry sauce and parsley, spring onion and walnut gremolata.
Wild rice salad with turkey, roast squash, pomegranate and pistachios
This super easy rice salad uses leftover turkey and roast squash, but you could very easily switch it up to suit whatever leftovers you happen to have. Sub out the squash for roast peppers or onions.
Turkey, curried mayo and watercress pitta
Use up your Christmas Day leftovers with this easy turkey, curried mayo and watercress pitta.
Cream of roast vegetable soup
This soup is a breeze to create and makes the most of any vegetables you may have leftover from Christmas lunch. Pretty much anything goes – roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, squash, celeriac, plus a few cooked greens, such as sprouts, kale or chard – just adapt to what you have. A generous splash of cream really ups the comfort factor.
Best Boxing Day walks in the UK
After enjoying a day of Christmas indulgence, nothing beats heading outdoors for an invigorating winter walk. From the wilds of Scotland to a gentle canal stroll in Southern England, here is our pick of the best Boxing Day walks across the British countryside.
Looking to create a festive table? Check out our guide to the best Christmas tablecloths.
