Using Leftover Pan Drippings to Jazz Up Your Cooking

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In my last post I explained how to prepare and store the leftover drippings or sauce from your meat recipes. Now that you have it, what can you do with it?

Use as base for soup. You can use them in any recipe calling for chicken stock or broth, or make your own by sautéing onions, then adding the drippings and whatever vegetables you have on hand.
Dilute and use instead of water for cooking rice or other grains.
Add to mashed potatoes.
Add to spaghetti sauce.
Add to restore flavor to recipes calling for cooked chicken breasts, like chicken salad. Drippings spoil quickly so be careful when adding to a cold recipe.
Add to stew. I used the leftover gravy from my bar mitzvah cholent (Sabbath stew) in last week’s cholent. It already had barley, onions and beans so I added potatoes and chicken and turned on the crockpot. It came out great.
Add to chilis, vegetable casseroles, quiches, or patties.

Leftover drippings add flavor to anything that needs it and where flavors won’t clash.

Please leave more ideas in the comments.

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