According to the World Food Programme, around a third of the world's food is wasted every year, with much of it ending up in landfill and causing damaging greenhouse gases. With the cost of food increasing, and the ever-present threat of global warming, we can all contribute in reducing how much food we waste in in our homes. Read on for tips and recipe ideas to inspire you do your bit to waste less food, save money and help the planet.
Your refrigerator should be at 3-5°C (37-40°F) to function correctly – any warmer and the produce may deteriorate. Use what chefs call the "first in, first out" system, where produce to be used first is kept at the front of the fridge. You should store meat covered on plates on the bottom shelf to avoid any cross-contamination, while vegetables and salad should be kept in the lower drawers. Make an effort to keep your fridge clean and organised so that it's easy to see everything in there.
Freeze leftover meals or blanch vegetables (scalding them in boiling water or steam for a short time) to freeze for another day. Bought bags of frozen vegetables and fruits are just as nutritious as fresh, so they are worth always having to hand. Think of your freezer as an extension to the store cupboard, and make an extra effort to label everything and know what's in there for meal planning.
It may sound a little tedious, but it's worth taking 30 minutes to plan out the week's meals. You'll know exactly what you're shopping for and, if you make a list, you'll be less tempted to add random items to your basket and then wonder what you're going to do with them.
Need inspiration? Check out our midweek meals that can be made in under 60 minutes
We've all done it – thrown a few handfuls of pasta or rice into a pan without weighing it out first and then ended up with enough for six people when there's only two to feed. Always check the pack instructions to see how much you should cook rather than ending up with leftovers.
A well-organised store cupboard means you'll know exactly what's in there and avoid doubling up on ingredients you already have. Decant dry goods into labelled clear containers for ease, and try to arrange the cupboard so you can see everything, with nothing lurking at the back in a dark corner.
Buying loose, as opposed to pre-packed produce, means you're buying just what you need. It's so easy to fall for the family packs of spinach when you're only feeding two people. By doing this you'll also reduce the amount of plastic and packaging at home, much of which can't be recycled.
Times are changing, but in the past the need for perfect produce meant than tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables which were deemed "ugly", or "wonky", went to waste. Today, most major retailers sell these so-called "ugly" fruit and vegetables, which taste the same as the pretty ones and invariably cost less. Search them out in your local stores.
Certain fruit and vegetables, such as bananas, avocados, tomatoes, peaches and pears, give off a gas called ethylene, which promotes ripening and can cause spoilage. If you store them with ethylene-sensitive foods like potatoes, apples, berries and peppers, the ethylene will ripen them, so be aware when you're organising and storing food. Potatoes, garlic, onions and bananas should never be stored in the fridge.
Whether the label says "use by", "sell by" or "best before", use common sense and your sense of sight and smell to see if a product is past its best. Cheese is often fine after its best before date, but when buying milk, yoghurt or cream, retailers will often put the carton with the shortest shelf life at the front, so look towards the back and you'll find one with much longer life in it.
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Make batch-cooking a weekend project, with meals ready for the fridge and freezer. It saves time, reduces waste and helps with energy bills too. Whether it's a tasty pasta sauce, warming pie, quiche for a lunchbox or a divine dessert, there are so many dishes to choose from.
Food preservation techniques have been around for thousands of years to preserve the harvest and provide food in the winter. It's also an easy and fun way to prevent waste. Make fruit jams, spicy chutneys or check out our guide on how to ferment vegetables. It's very on-trend and good for your gut health.
Don't discard the vegetable tops when cooking. Carrot leaves can be added to vegetable stock or, better still, whizzed up with olive oil, garlic and nuts to make a pesto-style sauce. Beetroot leaves can be wilted down as a side dish, while parsnip and celery leaves can be tossed in olive oil and sea salt and then roasted, making a great snack.
As long as they are washed well or wiped thoroughly with a damp cloth, then the peel on vegetables can be left on. This even includes celeriac, parsnips and squash. If you do need to peel potatoes for mash, keep the peelings and toss them in oil and sea salt, and then roast them in a hot oven until browned and crispy for homemade crisps.
We invariably end up with scraps of spoiled food or trimmings in the kitchen, but better they end up in compost rather than in the bin. Many areas have communal food bins which are collected for compost, even if you don't have any outdoor space for a composter yourself. Buy a countertop compost bin which has a firm lid, to prevent odours and flies, and then pile your waste in – even egg shells. Then transfer outdoors or take it to your compost bank.
Having a good selection of canned food in the larder ensures you can rustle up so many great dishes, avoiding a last-minute dash to the shops. Canned fish, beans, pulses, vegetables and fruit will also avoid waste and save money and time, without compromising on taste. Many are just as nutritious as fresh too.
Many recipes call for a squeeze of lemon or lime, or just the zest of an orange, but none of these fruits need to go to waste. Grate the zest before juicing, pop into ice cube trays, add a squeeze of juice and then freeze. You can freeze citrus juice in the same way too. Slices of fruit can also be layered up between greaseproof paper in a plastic freezer box. Citrus fruits take forever to biodegrade for compost, so freezing ensure there's no waste.
Bread is high up on the list of the most wasted foods but there's absolutely no need to throw it out. Sliced bread can be kept in the fridge to extend its life and it's fine for toast, or it can be left in the freezer and used a slice at a time. Small pieces of leftover bread can be whizzed up for breadcrumbs and frozen, or you can make croutons which will keep for three days in a lidded box. Try recipes with stale bread, such as French toast and bread and butter pudding, or adding it to salads once toasted.
Bananas freeze perfectly, even if they're very ripe. You can freeze them in their skins, or slice bananas and put them onto trays to open freeze before bagging. Perfect for banana bread, muffins and smoothies, frozen bananas also make a great instant ice cream, where they are paired with peanut butter. Banana skins also biodegrade quickly and add important nutrients to compost.
There are several reasons why buying a whole chicken makes sense: it represents much better value for money than buying pieces, you'll have lovely leftovers to use, and you have a carcass to make stock with. It's better to freeze the carcass and wait until you have two or three, which will give a more flavoursome broth. Plus, you can add any odd bits of vegetables from the fridge.
Because of their high oil content, raw nuts (apart from chestnuts) will go rancid relatively quickly if not stored correctly. They should be stored in the fridge or, even better, bagged up and kept in the freezer. Nuts absorb other odours easily, so remember to keep them away from strong-smelling foods such as onions and garlic.
Salad is high on the list of food waste culprits. If you buy bagged salad leaves, go to the back of the shelf to find a bag with the longest shelf life, remove from the bag and store it in a lidded box between sheets of kitchen paper. Delicate leaves bruise and deteriorate easily, so buy sturdier options rather than watercress and baby spinach. Best of all, buy a whole lettuce on the root, which will keep longer. Just cut off the leaves as you need them.
Cheese needn't be thrown away if stored correctly. Once unwrapped and cut, wrap tightly in clingfilm and store in the fridge. With soft cheeses, such as Brie or Camembert, also cover the cut sides with clingfilm to prevent air getting in and making it tough. Parmesan rind can be used to add flavour to soups and pasta sauces. Hard cheeses will also freeze well for future use in cooking, either whole or grated.
How often are you tempted to throw out that half-used bag of herbs? Well, there's no need. Soft herbs, such as basil, chives and parsley, can be whizzed up with a little oil and frozen in ice cube trays. Tougher herbs, such as rosemary, bay and thyme, can be dried. If you have a small space to grow your own then that's even better. Basil pesto freezes well too.
Discover how herbs can transform your dishes from good to great
Roasting a larger joint of meat gives more midweek meal options, saving time and energy. Pulled pork is one of our favourites, using good-value pork shoulder, with leftovers for sandwiches, stir-fries, noodle bowls and tacos. Our recipe needs to be started the day before, giving the spice rub time to permeate the meat. It's cooked long and slow, but there's very little preparation time, resulting in soft, succulent meat.
Reduce your carbon footprint by shopping for produce in season. It costs less and you won't be using all those food miles used to fly or ship in foreign produce. If you can, shop locally to support small businesses and just buy what you need. A big food shop tends to lead to more waste, so planning is important.
There are so many uses for ripe tomatoes, but we love this Sicilian version of Genovese pesto. It consists of tomatoes blended with toasted almonds, garlic, olive oil and basil, and makes a highly scented, rich sauce to serve with pasta. It will keep in the fridge for up to three days and it freezes well too.
All Mediterranean countries have recipes to use up stale bread, but panzanella (a type of salad) just tastes of summer. Chunks of bread are tossed in olive oil and garlic, then baked for croutons. The salad needs to stand before serving, as the bread absorbs the dressing. You can vary the ingredients, but tomatoes, basil, onions and olives are essential.
Any firm lettuce, such as baby gem or cos, will work perfectly in this salad. Podded broad beans, mint and lemon are combined with shallots and shredded lettuce which have been sautéed in butter. So, if your lettuce is about to wilt, nobody will notice. It makes a great side for a summer barbecue too.
Carrot and potatoes are teamed up with paprika, basil and Parmesan to make a hearty soup. The carrots need to be grated, so use the food processor to save time. The soup is enriched with butter and lemon juice, and will keep for up to three days in the fridge. It freezes well too.
A pasta bake is always an easy way to use up leftover pasta and any odd bits of cheese from the fridge. Our recipe combines it with mushrooms, frozen peas and crispy bacon, all coated in a creamy cheese sauce. Dinner will be on the table in under 30 minutes.
Stir-fries make the most of leftover cooked rice, and here's a tempting Indian dish packed with spices, herbs, chickpeas and paneer (a mild Indian cheese which doesn't melt), making it a perfect ingredient for a stir-fry. It's given extra crunch with fried peanuts. Serve with thick yoghurt and your favourite chutney.
This quick pasta salad, which is perfect for a lunchbox, keeps in the fridge for up to three days and is ready in 15 minutes. The orzo pasta (or you can use macaroni) is mixed with wilted cabbage, lemon zest and juice, garlic and olive oil, then finished with toasted pine nuts. It's fresh and tangy, and although the recipe uses Savoy cabbage, any green cabbage will work.
Get the recipe for orzo with crispy cabbage, lemon and pine nuts here
21 ways to turn your Sunday leftovers into great midweek meals