Leftover Frying Batter: Creative Ways to Transform Your Kitchen Scraps
Key Takeways
- The best way to freeze frying batter is by letting it cool completely (or as much as possible) until it’s room temperature, then transferring it into a container that’s easy for storage.
- As you can imagine, leftover batter is a great way to use up any extra vegetables in the fridge.
- Fritters are delicious, easy and versatile—you can make them in a pan or in the oven and they’re great for brunch, lunch or dinner.
Whether it’s because you cooked too much or you just want to save some calories, there are plenty of things you can do with leftover frying batter.
Here are a few ideas:
Freeze it right away
If you’re not going to use the batter right away, freezing is a great way to save it.
The best way to freeze frying batter is by letting it cool completely (or as much as possible) until it’s room temperature, then transferring it into a container that’s easy for storage.
Label your containers with the date and contents so you remember what’s inside them when you’re ready to use them again.
The best place for frozen frying batter is in your freezer—but don’t forget about them! You should ideally keep the baked goods frozen for no longer than three months.
Letting them thaw slowly in the fridge overnight before using them will make sure they retain their freshness when you bake with them later on down the road.
Fry random food lying around in your kitchen
Fried food can be great way to use up some of the random leftovers that are lying around in your kitchen.
If you have old bread sitting around, you can fry slices of it and make a tasty snack.
Or if you have some leftover pasta, turn those noodles into something delicious by deep frying them! You could even make fries with potato peels left over from other meals by using this method!
If you’re looking for a way to make your food more interesting, frying it can be an excellent option.
There are so many different things that you can fry up, from potatoes to bread and even fruit!
If you want to make your food more interesting, then frying it is a great option.
There are so many different things that you can fry up, from potatoes to bread and even fruit!
Make fried cheesecake balls
Now that you know how to make fried batter, let’s talk about what to do with it.
You can easily turn some leftover batter into fried cheesecake balls—a perfect dessert for any party or get-together.
To start, make a cheesecake batter by mixing together 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of milk, 2 eggs and 2 ounces (1/4 cup) melted butter.
Add 8 ounces cream cheese to this mixture and stir until combined; then roll the batter into balls (about one tablespoon per ball).
Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large pot to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the cheesecake balls one at a time while they’re still cold and fry them until golden brown on all sides.
If desired, add toppings like chocolate chips or nuts before serving!
Use leftover batter to make fish and chips
To make the fish and chips, you’ll need a deep fryer.
If you don’t have one, use a heavy-bottomed saucepan filled with enough oil to submerge the fish by about two inches.
Heat your oil on medium-high until it reaches 360° (you can also use an instant-read thermometer) and test by putting in a cube of bread; if it starts turning golden brown in 30 seconds or so, then your oil is ready.
Once the oil has reached temperature, dredge each piece of fish through some flour before putting it into the pan (this will help keep it from sticking).
Fry up as many pieces as you want to eat and remove them using tongs or slotted spoon when they are done—don’t forget to let them drain on paper towels! Season with salt and pepper before serving alongside some fresh tartar sauce for dipping.
If you want to make your own tartar sauce, follow these simple steps: Mix together ½ cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon lemon juice; add some finely chopped capers and chopped pickles for a flavorful twist.
You can also use the batter to make fritters
As you can imagine, leftover batter is a great way to use up any extra vegetables in the fridge.
Fritters are delicious, easy and versatile—you can make them in a pan or in the oven and they’re great for brunch, lunch or dinner.
All you need is:
- leftover frying batter (see above)
- some chopped vegetables of choice (e.g., carrots, cauliflower and celery)
There are other things you can do with the batter too, like using it as a coating for baked french fries or sweet potato fries
There are other things you can do with the batter too, like using it as a coating for baked french fries or sweet potato fries.
Batter coated fried chicken is also super good and easy to make! Just cut up your chicken into chunks and dip them in the leftover batter.
Then bake at 400 degrees until they are crispy and golden brown.
You can also use the leftover batter to coat shrimp or other types of seafood before baking them in the oven at 350 degrees until they’re cooked through (usually just a few minutes).
Chicken tenders are another way to use up the leftover batter.
Cut your chicken into strips and dip them in the leftover batter.
Then bake at 400 degrees until they’re cooked through (usually just a few minutes).
Or you could use it as a thickener for soup or chili
You can also use it to thicken soup or chili.
Simply add the remaining leftovers to your pot of broth and let it simmer for a few minutes.
The batter will absorb the liquid, thickening the whole thing into a hearty consistency.
If you want to make gravy with leftover batter, soak up some of that extra grease by adding flour or cornstarch first (or both).
Then stir in your leftover batter until it’s incorporated into the mix.
Cook everything together for about five minutes on medium-high heat until it begins bubbling—and serve!
If you want to use your leftover batter as a sauce, try adding some fresh ingredients like onions, garlic or tomatoes.
Then cook everything together for about five minutes on medium-high heat until it begins bubbling—and serve!
Or to add texture to a seafood salad
If you’re the type of person who doesn’t like eating fried food, or if you just want to eat healthy food, then this is a great option for you.
If you have some leftover batter from frying fish or shrimp, it’s easy to put that into your next seafood salad.
All you need to do is add the batter and stir it around a bit before serving.
The result will be a seafood salad that has both texture and flavor.
If you want to make a seafood salad, then it’s important to get the right ingredients.
You’ll need mayonnaise, which can be purchased in stores or made at home.
You’ll also need some type of seafood, whether that’s crab meat or shrimp.
Then you should add some vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers for flavor and texture.
Another good option is frying vegetables in the batter
A great way to use leftover frying batter is to fry vegetables in it.
The vegetables will absorb some of the batter’s flavor, and you’ll end up with a tasty side dish or appetizer that’s healthy, too!
You can also use the leftover frying batter as a coating for baked french fries or sweet potato fries.
This works well if your batter has become too thick and gummy to turn into anything else; just add a little bit of oil to get back that crispy texture.
Did we mention soup? Or chili? If you’re lucky enough to have some extra batter lying around—whether it’s from making onion rings or fried chicken—you can use it as a thickener for either one of those dishes.
Frying is not the only way to use leftover batter, though; you can also bake with it to make breads, muffins, quick breads and more
Baking with leftover batter is a great way to use up any leftover batter.
Baking uses less oil than frying and can result in delicious baked goods that still have the same texture as their fried counterparts.
Here are some ideas for how to bake with your fryer leftovers:
- Breads: You can make bread from any of your favorite recipes using the leftover frying batter, whether it’s a pound cake or yeasted bread dough.
- The only trick here is making sure you mix in enough water before adding it to the bread pan so it doesn’t burn on contact with heat as much when baking at high temperatures (about 400 degrees).
- This might mean decreasing all liquid ingredients by half or cutting back by one third depending on how thickly you’d like them spread throughout each loaf.
- If possible, we recommend doing this in advance so they have time to rise while waiting for dinner hour!
- Muffins: They’re easy snacks that kids love but also make great additions on any brunch table! Simply fill up those cups full of batter until they’re overflowing then let them sit overnight so they can rise into perfect little morsels come morning break time!
If bread isn’t your thing, you can always use leftover batter to make waffles or pancakes
If you don’t have a hankering for bread, don’t fret! You can use your leftover batter to make waffles, pancakes or crepes.
And if you prefer scrambled eggs over French toast, try frying that up with your leftover batter as well.
Whatever you decide to do with it—whether it’s filling in the holes in the dough or frying something else altogether—be sure to save those last few tablespoons of oil at the bottom of your pan and add them back into whatever you’re making.
The extra little bit will give your dish some extra flavor!
The next time you make pancakes or French toast, save some of the batter in a separate container.
This can be used for waffles, crepes or fried eggs.
You can also use it to make homemade breadcrumbs or croutons by drying out the leftover batter on a baking sheet and tossing with salt and pepper.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has been helpful in showing you a few ways to use up any leftover frying batter you might have.
We know it can be an annoying problem and we’re glad that we’ve been able to help!