No responsible earthling should ever waste a good plate of leftovers. But all leftovers are not created equal. To this end, the website Post Grad Problems went ahead and ranked seven of them, from first to worst:
  1. Thanksgiving leftovers. Like Hank Hill being the Mack Daddy of Heimlich County, Thanksgiving foods are undeniably the Mack Daddy of Leftover Food County.
  2. Pizza. Pizza is really the only food that can challenge for #1. Pizza is great cold.
  3. Cold steak or fried chicken. Similar to fries, you can throw the chicken in the oven and it’s great, but unlike fries, it’s actually delicious cold. With cold steak, you can throw it in eggs, make tacos or what I do 95% of the time: eat it with my bare hands.
  4. Mac & Cheese. Mac and cheese leftovers are awesome. Similar to pasta, mac and cheese can be eaten cold and be great. However, where mac and cheese makes its money is the fact you can throw it in whatever container you have, microwave it and it will be excellent. It’s versatile, it’s delicious and it’s great both reheated and cold.
  5. Pasta. Preferably with meatballs, sausage or both, pasta isn’t terrible reheated, but you have to put in a bit of effort to reheat. That being said, reheated pasta is filling and delicious. It’s what Chinese food wishes it could be. Bonus points for leftover garlic bread to sop up the tomato sauce and hangover.
  6. Fries. Have you ever eaten a cold fry? While not necessarily terrible, leftover fries leave a soggy, sad, limp feeling in my stomach. Sure, I’ve taken the sandwich and fries I didn’t finish because I ate too much appetizer home and, sure, it is passable to eat and not be sad after being reheated in the oven. That being said, microwaved fries are the same as cold fries, except they are warm, soggy, sad, and limp. Fries can jump up in the rankings if accompanied by something good that heats well, so heating up the oven for a handful of fries doesn’t end up being a total waste.
  7. Chinese food. I know many of you may become upset over this, but Chinese food fresh and warm isn’t really that good. It’s mostly bastardized Americanized Chinese food anyway. What could make it worse? Having it be old and in the fridge. Note: Thai food makes for excellent leftovers and in no way follows the same problems Chinese food does.
Filed under: food, kissmornings, leftovers