How To Reheat Yr Leftovers Without Making Them Taste Like Burnt Ass

Some things taste better on the reheat.

For me, it’s my Mum’s spaghetti.

I don’t know the exact science, but the microwave seems to encourage the onion, garlic and herbs to come out in fuller force. The spaghetti feels richer, denser. Throw some parmesan on top and hoo boy, it’s living. (Studies have also shown that reheated pasta is healthier for you as it can slash the amount of calories in half. Sounds like witchcraft but I’m here for it.)

Other things? They don’t taste so good when reheated. 

Chicken? Rubbery. Asparagus? Soggy. Hot chips? Wholly uninspiring.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Reheating food is an art form many are yet to master. Here are a few cheeky tips to add to your arsenal. 

1. STIR FRIED OR STEAMED FOODS

These foods were cooked through moisture, so you want to reheat them with moisture in mind. Do this by dampening some paper towel and cover your bowl with the paper. This will trap in any vapours, meaning your food will stay as moist as can be. (Please note, the word ‘moist’ will be bandied about more than once in this article – I apologise in advance.)

The oven is the least ideal place to reheat your stir-fried goods. It’s a hot, dry environment that won’t do much for yr food. But if you insist, make sure the dish you’re baking with has a lid on it. Moist.

Throw your grub into a pan on the stove with some oil. Stir thoroughly and often to ensure the food heats through evenly.

Meat is one of those things that can go seriously, seriously wrong on the reheat.

You want to make sure it’s hot enough without it drying out. This is hard with lean chicken especially. But you can do it.

Water is your friend here, because water = moisture.

Pour a small amount of water onto your meat before putting it into the microwave, as this will help the meat retain much-needed moisture. Otherwise, keep the meal covered with a lid. Zap it on the ‘high’ setting for anywhere up to two minutes.

As a rule of thumb, food is best reheated using the method it was originally cooked. So if you baked your chicken, whack it back in the oven. Did you panfry it? You guessed it.

Heat it back up at a lower temperature than what it was cooked at, and add a dash of water or butter, depending on the cuisine.

Ahhhhh, the good stuff. The yummies. The Friday night food.

Roasted, fried or baked goods are usually the best the day you intend on eating them. But if you’ve made a mean batch of five-spice fried chicken and you don’t get around to finishing it, it can make for the perfect Saturday morning hangover cure.

Chucking anything fried in the oven usually results in one thing and one thing only: soggy sadness.

Think about when you throw a piece of last night’s pizza into the microwave. The whole thing becomes a hot, wet, soggy mess. 

If you insist on using the microwave (aka you’re too hungover to use any other appliance) there’s a nifty trick to it. Microwave your food with a glass of water. Seemed counterintuitive, but this actually helps to draw the moisture out of the food, meaning it’ll retain its texture and not be reduced to mush.

Broiling food is the fastest way to reheat food without adding extra oil and fat.

The broil is the section at the top of your oven, and it works a bit like a grill. Place your baked goods on a pan and throw it under the broil for 3 mins each side. Ziiiiing, they’ll get even crisper.

If the broil has got you excited, you can read all about how to cook with it here.

The stove is the place of the refry, and while not optimal, it can be done.

Let’s say you’ve got some crumbed chicken from last night you want to keep crispy. Throw a strip into some oil on the stove and heat it up that way. Don’t overcrowd the pan – this will lead to too much moisture which will make your fillets soggy.

Like chicken and red meat, second-day fish is a gamble, and reheating it to yesterday’s glory isn’t a cake walk.

Fish is one of those delicate foods that can be really easily overcooked. There’s also a difference in how you prepare crumbed fish to unbreaded fish. 

To keep your cooked fish moist while reheating, add a bit of butter over unbreaded fish or a few drops of water to the bottom of the dish used to reheat the fish. 

Wrap the breaded fish loosely in foil to retain the moisture when using the oven. For breaded fish, you can lightly oil the dish holding the fish, but don’t cover it or the breading will turn soggy.

Not sure if your fish has reheated the whole way through? Stick a fork into the middle for 5 seconds, pull it out and put it on your tongue. If it’s cold? Hey presto, that puppy needs some more time in the oven.

Sautéed, grilled and baked fish can steamed on the stove. Just loosely wrap the fish in foil, then place in a steamer or in a rack or basket over water in a covered pot and let the water come to a boil. Remember to be super careful when removing the lid. Open it away from your face to ensure you don’t give yourself a boiling facial.

And finally, the food you’re most likely going to heat up using this guide: the frozen variety. Frozen goods often get a bad wrap for being the least nutritious, but it ain’t all bad. Stock your freezer with those microwavable bags of veggies, heat ’em up with a side of rice and you’ve got yourself a quick, healthy dinner.

If you make a big ol’ batch of something and don’t quite finish it, freezing it into portions to eat later is a great idea. We have a whole guide for that. But when it comes to reheating your meal prep dishes? Do it like this.

Take your meal outta the freezer and let it thaw overnight in the fridge. It takes longer, but thawing in the fridge is far safer than thawing on your kitchen bench. It’ll thaw far more evenly in the fridge. If you’re impatient, you can speed up the process by placing your tupperware in a bowl of hot water.

When you cook it, you wanna make sure it hits 165 degrees – this is the point where any nasty bacteria that’s been calling your grub home will be mercilessly killed.

Bon appetit.