Give Leftover Pulled Pork A New Lease On Life And Make Chili

If you have leftover pulled pork, using it to make another pulled pork sandwich is not your only option — you can also add it to your next pot of chili. Pork is the star of many chili recipes for good reason — it's not only a delicious addition to any meal, but makes a bowl of chili even more hearty and filling. Plus, by using leftover pulled pork from the day before, you make the cooking time for a batch of chili much shorter. Between a shorter cooking time and not letting food go to waste, there really is no downside here.

Whipping up a batch of chili with leftover pulled pork is a breeze. All you have to do is heat up the leftover pork in a stock pot with oil until it crisps up, then add the other chili ingredients from your favorite simple recipe. You can even keep it super simple with what other ingredients you include — perhaps just beans, diced onion, and diced bell pepper, along with the chili. Or, use whatever veggies you have in your fridge that need to be used before they go bad — this recipe is all about no food waste after all.

If there's a specific chili recipe that you have in mind, you can make that batch exactly according to the recipe — except replace the protein with the leftover pulled pork. For example, maybe you're in the mood for Texas red chili, which calls for ground beef. Instead of spending the time cooking the beef, add the leftover pulled pork to the pot to heat it up, then continue the instructions as normal to complete the dish. You shave off a bit of cook time while using up the leftovers.

Or, there's our hearty turkey chili, which is already a dish that takes less than an hour to cook. For this dish, forget about the turkey and start by sauteing the veggies, then add in the leftover pulled pork to heat it up. Finish by adding the rest of the ingredients to complete the chili. With the extra time you have on your hands, you can spend your energy preparing a side for the chili (perhaps homemade cornbread) or what dessert you'll indulge in afterward (maybe something light to balance out the rich chili like a two-ingredient strawberry mousse).