A baked chicken leg in a container over here, some cut-up peppers in a ziplock over there—it’s funny how fast leftovers can accumulate in the fridge. In order not to waste anything, consider cooking with these bits and pieces. Like magic, they’ll help you put together meals that are ready in a flash. Here are a few suggestions for inspiration.

Soup

Often the first idea that comes to mind when you need to use up leftovers is soup. It’s an option where it’s hard to go wrong, since practically any combination of scraps will work. For example, a panoply of vegetables will work in this lentil soup. Other than the usual carrots, celery, cauliflower, and diced tomatoes, you can add root vegetables such as parsnip, rutabaga, or potato. Have any leftover rice? It’s great for soaking up the flavours of spices and stock!

For a more substantial soup as a meal, try this minestrone, to which you can add your leftover turkey or chicken.

Do you save your leftovers and vegetable trimmings in the freezer? If you’ve accumulated enough, it might be time to make a delicious chowder! And if you want to take the eco-friendly aspect even further, you can start saving your inedible veg trimmings such as tomato stems, green onion roots, eggplant stems, and the piths of peppers in order to make a homemade stock. Let everything simmer for one or two hours in a few cups of water, add salt and pepper and any other herbs or spices desired. Strain and use it as a base for the vegetable chowder!

Omelette, frittata, or quiche

If you have a few eggs on hand and some vegetables, you’re well on your way to preparing a super-fast dinner! The only other things you’ll need for a delicious omelette is any of the following: chicken, turkey, ham (a classic!), smoked meat, salmon (fresh or smoked), peppers, tomato, asparagus, onion, shallot, garlic, fresh herbs, cheese . . . get some inspiration from this recipe for a hearty dinner omelette, but simply switch out the ingredients with what you have on hand in your fridge!

You can apply the same principle to this frittata recipe originally made with Swiss chard—kale or green cabbage would also work really well. If you’re more a fan of quiche and its irresistible crust (consider picking up a Compliments pie shell, made with simple ingredients and reasonably priced), you’re ready to try this ham and broccoli quiche recipe. Why not try a chicken-asparagus combination, or how about a Mexican version with tomato, pepper, onion, garlic, corn, black beans, and ground beef? The latter would be perfect for using up leftovers after taco night.

Pasta, fried rice, or a sauté

Pasta dishes are also great for clearing out the fridge, allowing you to give a second life to all your meats and tofu, as well as a wide variety of vegetables. While mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and black olives are great in this Mediterranean pasta, you can also replace the green zucchini with yellow zucchini or even leave out one or two of the vegetables—it will still taste great. Sautés also give you a lot of room for improvisation, as do fried rice dishes like this one, with broccoli and sliced Asian-style beef, though chicken, pork ,or shrimp would also be just as good.

Pizza or grilled cheese

Pretty much anything baked with cheese on it will elicit rave reviews from the family! That’s why pizza is always so popular. Whether you make it with your own pizza dough or use a piece of naan, a baguette, a hamburger bun, pita, or tortilla, your pizza will attract compliments with its improvised toppings, such as Alfredo sauce, chicken or turkey, and red onion (see the recipe here) or even barbecue sauce, black beans, and sliced jalapeno (or even marinated jalapeno that’s been dried first) in this Tex-Mex version. Have leftover butter chicken? Then you can put together this Indian pizza in the blink of an eye!

Grilled cheese gets taken up a notch when you add different meats, cheeses, vegetables, or fruit to the mix. In this recipe, tomato, mango, and avocado salsa lends a fresh note to shredded leftover chicken and Oka cheese. A homemade or store-bought pesto and a few cherry tomatoes would also be delicious substitutions for the salsa.

Fruit salad and smoothies

Any fresh fruit works well in a fruit salad, which is a great accompaniment for yogurt, crêpes, waffles, and other sides. In this recipe, cut up large fruits into cubes, add small whole berries, and pour over a mixture of lime juice and a tablespoon of honey, which you can heat up in the microwave on high for about 20 seconds to make the honey more liquid.

As far as smoothies go, they’re perfect for using up all your frozen fruit. Add your choice of fruit juice and a banana or yogurt (for a creamier texture) and you’re done!