Cook one pork roast two ways, then make these amazing leftover pork roast recipes for mouthwatering meals all week long! Stretch your meat to feed your family delicious, real food on a budget.
I don’t know about you, but for me, the less cooking and grocery shopping I have to do for a busy week, the better. But I don’t want to blow my budget on convenience foods!
So, how is it possible to keep your sanity and still serve your family wholesome meals that are made with real food in a real kitchen on a budget?
I have two solutions for you:
- Use the slow cooker.
- Stretch the meat.
From chicken stock to bread to beans, there’s frequently something in my slow cooker, especially something that I can cook once and eat over several meals.
And stretching the meat is where these leftover pork roast recipes really shine.
STRETCHING ONE PORK LOIN INTO LEFTOVER PORK RECIPES
Think about the word stretch for a minute. You can stretch your time, stretch your wallet, AND stretch your energy, all by stretching your meat!
Here’s my simple trick:
- Whatever meat happens to be on sale or calling my name from my freezer, I feature in as many recipes and in as many ways as I can throughout the week.
- In this post, I’m featuring the pork loin, which happens to go on a great sale at my local stores. Pork shoulder works here, too! (You don’t eat pork? All of these leftover pork recipes I am sharing with you can be substituted with boneless, skinless chicken.)
- I start with a pork roast that is about 5 ½ pounds (this does not have to be exact!).
- I take the huge piece of meat over to the meat counter and very sweetly ask my butcher to cut the pork in half for me. (Yes, they will do this for you, no charge!)
- Then I finish my run to the grocery store, feeling satisfied that my dinners for the week are as easy as throwing a few things into the crock-pot – and with a few extra dollars left in my wallet!
So, back to the meat and the meal planning. I do not plan on feeding my family the same simple pork roast every night. NO WAY! Not in my house!
My children may not complain about eating the same food every day (as long as it’s something they love), but sometimes I like a little variety.
7 LEFTOVER PORK ROAST RECIPES
We are going to turn that large, halved pork roast into two mouthwatering creations that are incredibly delicious and can be transformed into so many leftover pork roast recipes throughout the week.
*These portions are based on 4 generous servings per meal.
DINNER #1: BBQ PULLED PORK WITH CREAMY COLESLAW (INSTANT POT MEAL)
Oh, how I love a good barbecue sandwich. But let me tell you, it is truly taken to the next level by throwing some slaw on that sandwich. You may use up a few extra napkins with this meal, but it is well worth it!
Cook one half of your pork roast into BBQ pulled pork. Before allowing your whole family to inhale the entire batch of BBQ, pack away at least half of the cooked meat (⅔ would be better). We’re going to make some leftover pulled pork recipes later this week. (I love these glass storage containers for leftovers!)
You can also make BBQ pulled pork in the slow cooker. Load all of the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low.
Money Saving Tip: Buy one large head of cabbage to shred yourself. Use half the cabbage for the coleslaw and save the other half for the Mexican slaw with carnitas.
DINNER #2: MEXICAN CARNITAS WITH CILANTRO LIME SLAW (SLOW COOKER)
Tonight, we’re cooking the second half of the pork roast into some amazing carnitas. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this pork recipe…carnitas… or tacos… whatever you call them!! The meat is so juicy and so flavorful and perfectly seasoned.
Topped with crunchy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw, these pork carnitas become an eruption of flavor and texture in every bite. Again, be sure to set aside about half of this meat mixture for later in the week.
Note: If you’re following along, you’ll notice that you’ve used your crock pot to cook each half of the pork loin for two separate meals. From here on out, you’re using leftover pork loin to cover the remaining five meals.
DINNER #3: BBQ PORK PIZZA
You are now about to embark on a mission of morphing. By morphing, I mean you are going to take your leftover shredded pork recipes and transform them into something new and amazing!
This Pizza Dough Recipe is our FAVORITE! Instead of regular pizza sauce, slather the dough with BBQ Sauce, top with leftover BBQ pork from meal #1, sliced red onions, and lots of cheese! You can even add some sliced pickles if you’re a pickle fan.
DINNER #4: MEXICAN SHREDDED PORK BOWL
- The Mexican Carnitas you had in meal #2 will now become the base for this amazing Mexican pulled pork stew.
- You can also throw everything in your trusty slow cooker if you don’t want to simmer it on the stove.
- I love to serve it over white rice as a “Mexican Shredded Pork Bowl.”
- However, if a rice bowl is not your thing, add black beans and a few cups of chicken stock to the recipe, and you have a hearty soup that you can top with shredded cheese, a squeeze of lime, and a few Homemade Tortilla Chips.
Either way, you will have a completely new and satisfying meal! And this new creation makes such a large dish that it will be enough for your family to have two dinners from it!
Be sure to save half of it for meal #6!
DINNER #5: BAKED POTATO BAR
One of my family’s favorite BBQ restaurants features a loaded baked potato piled high with any pulled meat of your choice, butter, cheese, scallions, sour cream, bacon, and, of course, barbecue sauce. I adore this restaurant creation.
The best part about it – it is SO EASY to create at home.
- In the morning, I scrub either sweet potatoes or russet potatoes (or a combination of the two) and wrap them in foil. I place them back in my good old slow cooker and set them on low.
- In eight hours, you will have the most tender potatoes! When they’re cool enough to handle, pull them out of the slow cooker and load them up! I prefer to use leftover pork on top of a sweet potato, topped with some sharp cheddar cheese, with a salad on the side.
That is simple perfection in my opinion. My hubby, however, prefers butter, bacon, and chopped onions along with his meat and cheese. Guess what? The options are endless, and the choice is yours.
The potatoes are ready, and the meat is sitting in the fridge. Just use whatever else you have in your kitchen!
Note: If you forget to get your potatoes in the slow cooker in the morning, try one of these quick and easy ways to bake potatoes!
DINNER #6: EASY PORK NACHOS
Remember that Mexican Pork Bowl you made for meal #4? The one where you set half of it aside?
- Pull out the leftovers and heat up that Mexican stew. Drain any extra liquid if necessary.
- Pour it generously onto tortilla chips and throw some additional cheese on top.
- Melt the cheese under the broiler or in the microwave, and then top it with your favorite taco toppings like lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and diced onions. Now you have delicious pork nachos!
DINNER #7: CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE!
You did it – you have created 6 delicious meals to feed your family! And it was pretty easy, wasn’t it?
So for the final night of the week, take a look at your fridge. My advice is to set out all the leftovers and let your family go to town.
If you are pretty cleaned out, what about cooking a box of pasta and tossing it with some butter and garlic, and any leftover pork? Super easy, and probably something you have in your pantry.
If you need more ideas for roasted pork leftover recipes, or if one of the leftover pork roast recipes that I chose doesn’t quite work for you, keep reading!
PORK FOR ROASTED PORK LEFTOVER RECIPES
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SUBSTITUTING LEFTOVER SHREDDED PORK RECIPES
These dishes can be adjusted – simply substitute leftover pork for whatever meat the recipe calls for.
- Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas
- Chicken Caesar Wraps
- Stuffed Peppers
- Tortilla Soup
- Pork Stroganoff
- 15 Minute Kung Pao Chicken with Vegetables (stir in cooked pork at the end)
- Egg Roll in a Bowl (this recipe calls for ground pork, so instead, just add cooked leftover pork loin at the end to heat through)
ADDING LEFTOVER PULLED PORK RECIPES
Leftover pork roast recipes can also be added to any of these yummy meals for another easy meal.
- Creamy Mushroom Pasta
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
- Shredded Pork Greek Pitas
- Pulled Pork Sliders on Fluffy Dinner Rolls
- Kale Salad
- Homemade Hot Pockets
- French Bread Pizza
- Breakfast Casserole
- Stovetop Mac and Cheese
- Quesadillas with Fajita Veggies
- Vegetable Fried Rice
- Scrambled Eggs or Migas
- Grilled Cheese or Cuban Sandwich
- Leftover Pork and Potato Soup
- Black Bean and Corn Salsa Tacos
- Potato Skins
- Easy Pizza Bagels
- Veggie Stir Fry
LEFTOVER PORK ROAST RECIPES FAQS
What to do with a leftover dry pork roast?
If you end up with leftover dry pork roast, dump your meat in the food processor. Add a bit of olive oil and then puree it. This can be used in burritos, quesadillas, or Homemade Hot Pockets!
Can you turn leftover roast pork into pulled pork?
Absolutely! Add BBQ sauce for a delicious BBQ pork recipe.
How long is leftover pork roast good for?
The guideline is to store your leftover pork roast in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. However, I’ve never had any issues making recipes with roast pork leftovers for a whole week. You can always portion out the meat for each meal and freeze it, thawing it before using.
MORE WAYS TO SAVE ON MEAT
- How to Stretch Ground Beef
- One Week Ground Beef Meal Plan
- How To Stretch Chicken into Multiple Meals
- 10 Tips for Stretching Meat at Home
I LOVE making a HUGE pot of chili. If my family doesn’t devour it… I freeze 1/2 for a later meal. Then make chili cheese dogs (not real foodie, but real cheap – and kind of a comfort food from my childhood especially with root beer floats!) and then chili cheese burritos (tortilla, cheese & sour cream maybe fresh onion) and if you have leftovers from all that.. chili cheese nachos for movie night! I also love chicken – I’ll usually get a 10# leg quarter bag for $5.90 (0.59/lb) and make chicken fajitas, chicken stir fry, chicken & noodles w/mashed potatoes, and chicken quesadillas, southwest chicken skillet etc. and I freeze the bones if I’m not making stock right away, and any stock that was from cooking I freeze in mason jars.
Ricki, you’re making me hungry over here!! Love all that American comfort food!
In our rural community, all the various chapels and churches have a combined youth group for the teenagers in the area. Since the kids head straight to the sponsoring church after school and stay until 7:30, they need to eat dinner, sot the various parents take turns providing supper–for about 40 kids and volunteers. I found some good-sized pork shoulders (12-ish pounds each) for about 69 cents/pound. So I’ve cooked and shredded the meat from 2 of them and we’re doing BBQ pork sandwiches, cole slaw, and brownies. We’re feeding kids right after sports practice, and there’s a number of teen boys in the mix, so I hope I have enough–lol.
I love your blog and website, I am wondering how you stretch a roast of beef and if others have ideas. My roasts for eithe r ever or pork are large for my current family dynamic and I try hard to reduce food waste. Really looking for some beef ideas
I’ve got a beef roast plan in the works Jenn – stay tuned!
So glad you found this helpful Kelli!
Do you have any other posts like this? I have been following this one for three weeks now using chicken and pork I had in my freezer….I am absolutely loving them but I’m sure my family would like me to change it up a little. Thank you so much for this!
We did a chicken one not too long ago Jori – here’s the link!
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2015/07/stretch-one-chicken-31-meals-1/
Enjoy!
I am so thankful to have stumbled upon this post! I’ve never done anything like this before so I am crossing my fingers it goes smoothly for me too 🙂 I am so excited to have found a way to save some money at the store and I already have 4.88 lbs of pork loin in my freezer!! Yay 🙂
My husband recently graduated and we’re definitely struggling to find ways to feed our family. I didn’t even realize you could stretch one thing of meat like this. So thank you!
I was wondering which leftover meat you use for the bbq pizza? I’m assuming it would be the leftover from meal 1 since you use leftover meat from meal 2 in meal 4. Is that right?
That’s JARRED green salsa. Auto correct made it “barren” green salsa!
My previous comment didn’t post. Trying again.
Two of my favorite ways to,use leftover pork is in enchiladas and a cassoulet-like casserole. Both dishes include beans so they can turn that little end piece into a main dish.
Add the pork to beans flavored with onions, garlic and whatever seasonings you like. To make it quick I use a barren green salsa for the sauce and I stack the tortillas with filling and cheese between. A stack of five works for me. Top with sauce and cheese and bake.
Add chopped or sliced pork to a cooked mixed veg mixture–onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, sweet peppers, mushrooms, fennel, basically whatever you can find lurking in the crisper–and a can or two of white beans (cannellni, navy, great northern). Put in a shallow baking dish or casserole and add enough broth to just come to the top of the veg mix. Top with a mix of bread crumbs, Parm cheese, parsley (if you have it), and a little olive oil. Bake until bubbly and golden brown on top. Serve with crusty bread.
Yum – thank you for sharing these recipes!!
I forgot to mention that I love the baked potato bar. We used to do it all the time when our boys were at home. I would make groupings of toppings and everyone could choose as long as there was at least one from each group. My kids, at least, were much happier about eating a green veg, for example, if they could choose the one they liked.
Excited to find this! I have a huge pork tenderloin in my freezer and I love cooking once and having it stretch over a few meals. Will definitely be giving it a try! Thanks! 🙂
You just earned a new subscriber! As a brand new SAHM my husband and I have to start cutting corners to stretch his paycheck. So far I’ve only found recipes that I’m not interested in or meal plans that call for a ton of ingredients. This post is exactly what I was looking for. I can’t wait to try these. Thank you SO MUCH!
You’re most welcome Kari – welcome to Crumbs!!
I dont see it 🙁 can you send me the recipe for the pork. Thanks !
Here you go Barbara:
http://amindfullmom.com/pulled-pork-and-homemade-coleslaw/
http://amindfullmom.com/pork-carnitas-for-the-crock-pot-with-mexican-slaw/
where is the recipe listed for the pork? I just dont see it on this page. I just see the ideas for the week.
it is the first picture on this page with the comments 😉
The picture looks really yummy! However, I wouldn’t buy pork meat at all. One reason for this in my case is that my husband is Muslim and doesn’t eat it and the other reason is that I get information about how animals are kept by an animal rights association. I live in Austria / Europe. Actually all is very natural here and many people care about the environment and organic food and still… Seeing the pictures and hearing about all the lies and most of all seeing the low prices for meat: how much food will an animal need to grow (also grains)! It is not so cheap! And then all the costs for killing it, cutting it, transporting it, the share of the supermarkets… Something is wrong… This association reported that pork meat can be so cheap because the animals are kept very badly and grown in super quick conditions. Being an Italian, I was used to eating salami and prosciutto and it was a shock for me to hear and see these bad things and stop eating them. Sometimes when I really miss that ham taste, I do buy an organic one.
My husband says that according to the Quran, pork meat can transmit many diseases to us and contains a lot of uric acid. What about chicken then? Well… It would be an alternative but it is also mostly incredibly cheap and instead of growing slowly with good food over some months, a chicken is forced to grow very rapidly within 4 weeks. Another couple of things changed my mind: my daughter has become a vegetarian and in addition of this some people I know have arthrosis and I have just read that this disease is caused by a high consumption of animal proteins. Because of this I am trying to avoid dairy produce, meat etc. and I was really happy to find your recipes about nut milk! My husband usually makes a milkshake as a kind of ‘lunch’ for work but I want to try your milk recipes for us. 😉 Thank you!
Hi Sabrina,
Tiffany has many vegetarian meals in her plan/on her site too that I’m sure you and your husband would LOVE. (you would just have to substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock) I understand your ethics for the no animal products and respect that. I wish you much luck in your journey. 🙂 She (Tiffany) also has many high protein smoothie recipes too that you could use for your husbands lunch and her ebook High Protien No Powder is definitely worth the $10-12 that it cost, it has lots of fruits and nuts etc.
I love the slow cooker/crock pot! And I’m all about the crock pot pulled pork. We make it with an Asian flare, and then turn it into a Pho of sorts with Miracle Noodles and lots of veggies. After that, it becomes part of an Asian inspired salad! Our other favorite is a rotisserie style crock pot chicken, that the next night becomes a big batch of white bean chicken chili (leftovers are frozen for quick go-to meals!).
7 meals from one piece of meat is pretty impressive, Kristen – I’m pinning your carnitas recipe now. I often do pulled pork in the crock pot, but use a butt roast. I love that we can eat it twice and still have extra leftover for lunch sandwiches, or set aside some to share with others!
My favorite frugal/ week long meal is a whole chicken. My husband and I eat organic so that is the cheapest per pound that we can find. If I can find them under 1.49/lb I will literally buy every single one. I actually found a whole organic chicken for 1.19/lb a few weeks ago because it was close to the expiration, and this is what I did with it. Keep in mind this is only for two people and we are big eaters.
Meal One (2 Servings) – Baked Chicken (Bake the whole thing at 425 with lots of fresh herbs and garlic. We normally finish off one breast and a leg like this)
Meal Two (normally 4 servings)- Chicken Soup (The next day I put the whole carcass with veggie scraps from my freezer in the crock pot to make stock, then I strain and remove all bits of chicken I can find, I make soup with whatever veggies are in the house, about 2/3 cup chicken, and the broth)
Meal Three (normally 4-6 Servings)- Chicken Pot Pie (Whatever is left of the soup I add to the leftover chicken. I then make a light roux to thicken the mixture and add a little cream and extra veggies to plump it up. I add this to a pie shell)
I can get six full meals, for two, out of one Whole chicken. Literally winner winner chicken dinner 🙂 If I really wanted to make it stretch instead of having a night of JUST chicken meat and a veg I would turn the breast and leg into fajita fillings to add 4-6 more servings (2-3 more meals)
Chicken is the most affordable cut of meat we can find too, which is why it’s on our menu so often! I like your idea of adding the roasted carcass – with the meat intake (minus the other breast and leg, I assume?) so that the chicken falls off directly into the soup. And then using leftover soup for pot pie? Genius! Thanks so much for sharing CeCee!! (And don’t be surprised to see a variation of this combo in a future meal plan. 😉 ).
I also like to do pork like this. Though I would use a cheaper shoulder or butt roast rather than a tenderloin for this. I love the Mexican and barbecue iterations (we do this with a vinegary Eastern NC style sauce). Additionally, we do the pork slow cooked with hoisin and served with some Asian inspired cabbage slaw. I love posts about morphing leftovers! I am always looking for new ideas.
I’m not very familiar with the cuts of pork, so I appreciate the options Tarynkay. Your Asian variation sounds good! Wrapped in buttercup lettuce leaves? YUM!
Leftover. I started to make just enough for supper with no leftover. I took a roast and made three different meals. This week the store had ground turkey on sale for less then 2.40 a pound vs. 3,99 to 4.99 lb for hamburger. We be eating chicken and turkey this week.
Great job improvising with what’s on sale Ms. P 🙂
Thanks for letting me share my frugal food advice Tiffany! I hope you enjoy your celebrating your sweet Grandma and the sunshine!
You’re most welcome Kristen! Thanks so much for allowing me to relax for a few days!!
Others for leftover pork:
Pork fried rice
Tacos al pastor
Cuban sandwich
Monte Cristo sandwich
Great ideas!!