Leftover Roast Beef Recipes for a Budget-Friendly and Tasty Meal

Your leftover roast beef dishes don’t always have to be reheated to be enjoyed the next day. With a little effort and a few extra ingredients, you can turn them into brand-new and budget-friendly dishes that taste just as good as any freshly-made ones.

Beyond the delicious and good-as-new flavors, these dishes will also blow you away with how unexpectedly versatile they are. Discover all the different and magical ways they can be transformed with the leftover roast beef recipes in this list.

Make a Fantastic Dinner With Our Leftover Roast Beef Recipes

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Beef Teriyaki Recipe

The Teriyaki technique is among the most popular ways to prepare an Asian dish. It encapsulates a dark, glossy, and umami sauce with a tinge of sweetness that never fails to entice the taste buds.

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Beef Chow Fun Recipe

This Chow Fun is a rice noodle stir-fry that exudes umami undertones. With tender mushrooms basking in a luscious soy sauce, it’s just what you need for a gratifying feast.

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Mongolian Beef Recipe

If the dark glaze isn’t enough to win you over, the promise of a savory-sweet dynamic surely will. There’s nothing like contrasting tastes to create a meal of potent essence. That’s what you get with this spirited dish.

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Thai Beef Salad Recipe

This amalgam of jalapeños, chili, lime juice, sriracha, and fish sauce is a feisty fusion gentled by fresh vegetables and roasted peanuts. Don’t be surprised if you can’t get enough of it.

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Beef and Mushrooms Recipe

This dish is proof of basic ingredients par excellence. Simply sear mushrooms, onions, and beef in a semi-sweet soy sauce until caramelized, and serve with fluffy white rice. That’s it — no heavy lifting. Except to convince your guests that it really is that simple.

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Beef Shawarma Recipe

The best Middle Eastern dishes will instantly blow your taste buds away. Bear witness to the richness of this cuisine with this fragrant Shawarma made right in 15 minutes.

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Ginger Beef Recipe

We love how the bitterness of ginger in this treat works well with the brown sugar sauce. It creates a playful dynamic of flavors from peppy to sweet and an array of aromas in between.

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Beef Stir-Fry Recipe

This recipe will become a top choice for down days. You need just 25 minutes to turn broccoli, carrots, and snow peas into allies for a quick yet satisfactory meal.

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Beef Chow Mein Recipe

Another egg-noodle dish to fulfill, Chow Mein is easily a favorite for curbing carb cravings. Stir-fry flank steak with voluminous veggies (bok choy, cabbage) and noodles in soy sauce and serve right away.

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Beef Tapa Recipe

This Filipino dish of thinly-sliced steak is what we forage for when we’re famished. It’s tender and marinated meat served with a sunny-side-up egg and fried rice — the epitome of a rewarding meal.

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Even as leftovers, beef is still full of potential for a mouthwatering and wholesome meal. With the meat already cooked and well-marinated, you won’t even need to go too heavy on the spices for the dishes to be enriched with flavors. The next time you plan on throwing away your uneaten beef, take a look at some of these leftover roast beef recipes and turn them into economical and toothsome meals instead.

How Long Is Roast Beef Good For?

There’s no definite answer to this question since the length of time could depend on multiple factors, with the method of preservation being one of the most crucial ones. Here are the two most common ways for storing leftover roast beef and their approximate time frames:

In the Fridge

According to the USDA, cooked beef should last for 3-4 days when kept in the refrigerator. Placing it in airtight containers or tightly wrapping it with plastic wrap will ensure that its quality, as well as taste and texture, remain relatively unchanged.

In the Freezer

If you want to preserve cooked beef for more than a few days, the freezer is a surefire way. When properly stored—tightly wrapped in cling film and kept in a freezer-safe container—it should be in good condition for 2-3 months.

After thawing, it should last for an additional 3-5 days, according to the USDA. However, it’s best to eat it as soon as possible to avoid any bacteria that might develop after the meat is no longer frozen.

What to Do With Leftover

Whether it’s fresh or leftover, beef is an extremely versatile ingredient. There are endless ways you can work with it to create beautiful and flavorful dishes. If you have roast beef that’s left uneaten, consider transforming it in the following ways:

Fillings and Toppings

Make the most of your leftover roast beef by turning it into fillings or toppings for the next meal’s main dish. This is a splendid way to keep your dishes on a budget but still packed with gorgeous flavors.

The leftover meat can go into any recipe that would normally require beef, such as sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, pot pies, lasagnas, casseroles, and many more. It’ll be well-cooked and smothered in a delectable collection of ingredients, so there’ll be no need to worry about any lingering “leftover” taste.

Soups and Stews

With the companion of colorful veggies, warming spices, and a hearty broth, your leftover roast beef will taste as good as new when added to soups and stews.

What’s more, since the meat is already cooked, you can skip the browning and simply reheat it as you cook. The process is simple but you’ll still end up with a dish full of warmth and marvelous flavors.

Stir-fried Dishes

Stir-frying food, in general, is an efficient way to clear out your uneaten food while still making a delicious and enjoyable dish. Just gather everything you may have sitting around, such as vegetables, pasta, noodle, rice, etc., and toss them around in the pan along with your leftover roast beef. In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have an easy and casual dinner filled with gorgeous flavors ready to go.

Ways to Reheat

Some leftover roast beef recipes might require the beef to be reheated before the actual cooking process. Here are some quick and easy ways to get it done:

On the Stovetop

This method gets the job done in a relatively short amount of time. You can cut the roast beef into medium-sized pieces then sear them in the skillet over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Make sure the pieces are of similar sizes so they will all be done at approximately the same time.

In the Oven

Loosely wrap the beef in foil then bake it in the oven at around 250 ˚F (or more). This method is a bit more time-consuming compared to the other ones, taking at least 20 minutes depending on the specifics. However, with the meat turning out to be perfectly succulent and juicy, we’d say the extra time is worth it.

As a bonus, you can drizzle the meat juices that seeped out onto the meat before reheating it to keep it moist and flavorful.

In the Microwave

If you don’t have time for the oven, the microwave might just be the next best thing. Simply place the sliced beef onto a microwave-safe container, and cover it with plastic wrap, then reheat in 30-second intervals until thoroughly heated.

Much like with the oven, you should also make use of the juice and drizzle it onto the meat so it turns out delectably succulent and tender.