Leftover Pot Roast Chili: Delicious and Budget Friendly
I usually serve the biggest and best meal on Sunday. Sunday dinner after all is a tradition and makes the day special for company. So what do we do than for the rest of the week? Good meal planning is essential for a healthy budget and to prevent the afternoon panic that comes from having no idea what to make for supper. I really would not want to come home from work with no idea of what I was going to eat. I already know how that would turn out. Leftover pot roast chili is delicious and budget friendly. Oh, and it can be made in a crockpot and simmer all day while you do something else.
Who doesn’t love chili?
Chili can be served in a variety of ways: Plain in a bowl, with tortillas to scoop up the last goodness in the bowl, over cornbread or with chips. You name it.
Leftover pot roast chili is delicious and budget friendly. I like chili made with ground beef, but I like it even more with the rich flavor of leftover roast or steak.
Delicious and budget friendly
Meal Planning is essential. It doesn’t have to take hours of your time either. It doesn’t mean turning your kitchen into a five star restaurant with a new cuisine every night. Meal planning should make your life easier. It should also help save money for other things you want to do. While we would all love to win an all expense paid trip to a grocery store, winning one for a week at your favorite vacation spot or winning a new car would be even better. That’s what frugal living is about. It’s not about doing without and being sad. It’s about making good choices that increase your freedom.
TAKE BACK YOUR VITALITY!
Learn more about the health benefits of gardening and get some good tips and instruction too.
Leftover Pot Roast Chili
So you had a delicious pot roast for Sunday Dinner. Maybe you had company. There is some meat left but not enough to feed your family for days. Here is one idea: Make chili. The recipe is below. If you can add plenty of beans (I do), you can really stretch this out. My understanding of chili is a bean dish with meat. If your understanding is a meat dish with beans, the chili will be good but it won’t go as far and will cost more per serving. It’s just simple math.
Cooking the beans
Plain, dry beans in bags or in bulk from a food co-op are the least expensive. They need to be rinsed clean and soaked over night, then cooked. This requires thinking ahead. Mark it on your calendar or in your planner. There are fast-start ways to cook them, but the consistency will be a little off. Instructions for cooking particular types of beans are usually on the bag
Another option is an Instant Pot pressure cooker. I have an 8 quart Instant Pot and I LOVE it. The beans cook in under an hour. No worries and perfect consistency. Even beans that have been on the back of the pantry shelf for a long time come out nice and soft. If you have an Instant Pot I recommend making a big batch of beans and storing some in the fridge or freezer for other meals.
The last option is to keep cans of beans in the pantry. You will save effort but pay in money you could use for something more fun.
What comes after leftover pot roast chili?
What would my week look like?
Sunday: Roast with vegetables (usually potatoes, carrots, onions ), another vegetable like string beans or a salad. And don’t forget dessert.
Monday: Delicious and budget friendly leftover pot roast chili served with homemade cornbread and toppings. I would also likely still save out some meat for soup later or to mix with mayonnaise for sandwiches or beef and gravy on noodles.
Tuesday: Lentil soup with carrots and celery served on rice, macaroni, or cornbread. Your choice. Fruit for dessert. I use chicken broth for stock.
Wednesday: If there is enough meat left for beef and gravy on noodles with 2 sides of vegetables I would serve that. If there is not much meat but still the drippings from the pot roast, then I would make beef and barley soup with tomato, carrots and cabbage or whatever other vegetables I had to use.
Thursday: Check the Fridge. Are you overwhelmed with leftovers? Then use them up but save some chili for nachos. If not then egg bake with eggs, vegetables and potato crust. I would probably make something like this recipe but would grate my own potatoes and would use, at most, half the cheese. Adding the cheese last at the time of serving gives more cheese flavor for less cheese cost. As far as any meat, I probably would use some bacon because It’s usually on hand. Basically I would add what I had or was on sale when I did the shopping.
Friday: Cheesy Chips and Chili AKA Nachos: spread corn tortilla chips in a 9X13 baking pan. Top with leftover chili and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Add cheese and return to oven to melt. Serve with toppings and salad or raw vegetable sticks.
Saturday: Clean up leftovers. Clean the fridge and prepare for next week.
What do you think?
Here is the recipe for leftover pot roast chili. Enjoy!
Beefy Chili with Left Over Pot Roast
Ingredients
- 2 TBS Oil for frying onions I use olive oil
- 1 Large Onion chopped
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic chopped or minced
- 4 1/2 Cups cooked beans Kidney, black and pinto beans all work well. This is about 3 cans of beans.
- 1 Cup Beef May increase or decrease based on taste and what you have
- 1 Quart Tomato Juice May use a can of tomato puree
- 1 Quart Whole or diced tomatoes A couple cans of diced.
- 3-4 TBS Chili Powder
- 1-2 tsp cumin optional
- 1 tsp salt to taste
- ceyanne Pepper to taste
- Liquid Smoke optional to taste.
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat
- Add onions and cook until tender
- Add garlic and cook a few seconds until fragrant
- Add all other ingredients and reduce heat to simmer
- Cook for an hour or more until flavors are well blended.
- Serve with your favorite toppings, chips or cornbread
