Australians waste 7.6 million tonnes of food each year – 70% of this is perfectly edible.

Too often, a generous Christmas Day feast means post-celebration food waste as leftovers are left to languish in the fridge. Here are some tasty tips from Oz Harvest to help your Christmas leftovers go further.

Transform into sandwiches or salad

After the excess of Christmas, keep it simple with sandwiches or salads stuffed with leftover roast veggies, ham or turkey. An amazing leftover toastie could be ham or turkey teamed with camembert or any leftover cheese – add some cranberry sauce for festive flavour!

Cook it up (again)

Combine your leftover veggies with ham, eggs, cheese, olive oil and flour to make delicious savoury fritters. Or mix up turkey and roast veggies with your favourite spices to make a great curry.

Plan ahead

Carve all your turkey and ham from the bone to make sure it stays fresh. Slices of ham and turkey can be frozen in a container for up to three months.

Give Christmas pudding a second life

Roll bite-sized pieces of Christmas pudding into balls then roll and dip in melted chocolate and desiccated coconut for delicious sweet treats.

Consider these soup-erb ideas

Soup may not be the first dish to spring to mind on a hot summer’s day, but use the quiet days after Christmas to cook and freeze some batches for the cooler weather. Use the ham bone as the basis for a nutritious pork broth, or the off cuts for a tasty pea and ham soup.

Right-size your desserts

Serve your trifle or Christmas dessert in small glasses or individual jars –they’re easier to store and will last longer than in a big bowl.

Perfect ways with prawns

Does anyone actually have leftover prawns? If you find yourself with surplus seafood, peel your prawns before storing, throw them in a stir fry or rice paper rolls, or freeze for up to three months. You can also prevent a smelly bin, by freezing shells until disposing of them on bin day!

A smooth solution

Pop your leftover fruit salad in the freezer – it’s perfect for adding straight into a breakfast smoothie (always peel bananas before freezing).