Our mission is to stop food waste at home, especially during the holidays, when families gather for that big massive feast! One thing that feels hard to use creatively outside of a traditional holiday meal is gravy — especially when all of the mashed potatoes are gone. How to transform this delicious ingredient into another delicious meal? One word: POUTINE.
What is Poutine?
Some of my very best friends are Canadian, and they introduced me to the wonderful world of poutine. For those of you who have never had it before, poutine is the ultimate comfort food: french fries, gravy, and melted cheese. Poutine was invented in Quebec in the 1950s, and I’m so glad they did because it’s become one of my favorite indulgences!
How to Store Leftover Gravy
Gravy is a tricky leftover to store, but we did all of the research so you didn’t have to! You can keep leftover gravy in the fridge for about four days, but after that, you can pop it in the freezer for four to six months so you can enjoy poutine all year long! We like to store it in containers and bags that are big enough to thaw out and use for poutine, but if you’re going to use your leftover gravy for something else, pour your gravy into a spare ice cube tray to keep in small amounts at the ready.
What else can I use leftover gravy for?
After you make a nice, big plate of poutine, you can use the gravy that’s leftover to thicken and flavor soups or as a base for a thick sauce instead of a roux!
How to Make Poutine
First, you need french fries! I love keeping things easy and heating up frozen french fries in my air fryer. Lay your fries out on a plate, then pour the re-heated leftover gravy over them. Next, melt some cheese on top. If you don’t have the traditional cheese curds, feel free to use regular shredded cheese or whatever kind you have in your fridge!
What Kind of Gravy?
This is the perfect recipe to use up your leftover gravy. In my house, we LOVE our Poutine and include it regularly in our rotation of “naughty side dishes that may not be totally healthy and that’s okay.”
We keep a large package of gravy mix in the pantry. It’s so convenient to make gravy, in less than 5 minutes.
Use Poutine as a Base for Exciting Flavors!
Technically, that’s all that goes into Poutine, but I love spicing mine up to get an even more exciting, delicious dish. If you have leftover meat on hand, feel free to slice some up and serve it on top of the poutine. To really take things to the next level, add a little extra something like kimchi, pickles, or even thinly sliced jalapeno peppers. There are so many ways to make this — you’ll be eating a new poutine every time you make it!
Give new life to your leftovers!
Think of this basic Poutine recipe as a blank slate for giving new life to your leftovers. Use whatever you have on-hand in your fridge to prevent food waste…or check out some of our favorite combos below
- Korean bulgogi beef and kimchi
- Fried egg and leftover breakfast sausage
- Leftover sliced chicken breast and crunchy fried onions
- Sliced avocado and crumbled bacon
- Leftover taco meat, chopped tomato, drizzle with Mexican sour cream (crema)
- Leftover pulled pork, ham, pineapple chunks for a Hawaiian style Poutine
- Sauteed mushrooms and onions, truffle oil or truffle salt
- BLT Poutine: bacon, lettuce tomato and ranch dressing
- Buffalo Poutine: leftover fried chicken, buffalo sauce, side of celery
- Alfredo Poutine: leftover chicken, mushrooms, alfredo sauce instead of gravy
Poutine with Air Fryer Fries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound frozen french fries
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese
- 1/2 cup prepared gravy
Instructions
- Set your air fryer to cook at 400F for 20 minutes. Place fries in basket or shelves (depending on your model). Cook, tossing the fries in the basket or rotating shelves halfway through.
- Place the hot fries on a serving platter, top with shredded cheese. If you want the cheese nice and melty, you can microwave for 30 seconds. Top with hot gravy.
