These globally inspired dishes are tasty ways to cut food waste

Take a look at cuisines from around the world, and you’re guaranteed to find dishes with a particular superpower: They let you throw in whatever food you’ve got. Stews that accommodate this and that. Egg ensembles into which you can stir nearly anything. A dough or pastry that disappears meats and veggies. These flexible recipes fight food waste and save money, one half-eaten onion at a time.

They’re also delicious. And transporting. And globe-spanning inspiration for doing more with what you have, while also expanding your palate and kitchen repertoire.

The United Nations’ International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste — observed annually on Sept. 29 — draws attention to food waste’s significant role in driving climate change and squandering land, water and other resources. In the United States alone, about a third of food goes to waste; about 35% of that waste happens in homes, according to the nonprofit ReFED.

It’s a massive problem, but global culinary traditions are here to help.

“Zero-waste cooking used to be just cooking,” says Margaret Li, who co-wrote “Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking” with her sister, Irene Li. “So many cultures have figured out ways to use up surpluses that have then become famous dishes from that region.”

If deploying a use-it-up approach while cooking outside your usual repertoire is daunting, Irene Li notes that salads, soups and other “recipes that have a lot of different textures and flavors, tend to be good places to do substitutions. … Like, for a pasta salad you could use a different cheese. You could use a different crunchy vegetable.”

Subbing similar ingredients will keep your results closer to the original, but if your goal is using up what you have, don’t be afraid to veer off-script. Irene Li points out that dishes that don’t come out as planned can still taste great or at least help develop your skills. In fact, that’s how many of these dishes came to be.

We can trace a lot of them to a need to work with whatever was available. Others are simply great at corralling disparate ingredients into a unified meal. Keep reading for a world tour of examples of these varied and adaptable recipes. (Disclaimer: Many more dishes fit the bill, so consider this a sample platter.)

1. Pancakes

Pancakes, patties, fritters and frittatas are all handy vehicles for jamming together a bunch of ingredients and letting them sizzle into mouthwatering roundish delights. Take okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake whose name translates to “as you like it, grilled” because that’s exactly how versatile it is. A cabbage-loaded batter carries okonomiyaki, but you can toss extras into the mixing bowl, or pile goodies atop the finished pancake, which is sometimes also called “Japanese frittata” or “Japanese pizza.” For still more flexibility, look to jeon, the family of savory Korean pancakes that can absorb kimchi, as well as fresh or frozen vegetables, seafood, meat and tofu.

Elsewhere on the sizzle-and-flip spectrum, there’s the highly adaptable Venezuelan arepa. Made in minutes in the skillet with only precooked cornmeal, water and salt, the corn cake’s fate is to be sliced partway, then stuffed with whatever appeals. Gabriela Febres, the founder of Arepa Zone, says the flexibility starts with the dough. Some people mix in ingredients such as plantains, cheese and beets. When it comes to fillings, her favorite is tuna with various vegetables, cilantro and a hint of mayo. But, she says, if you start with a protein and cheese, then look to avocado or tomato, it’s hard to go wrong.

“You can make a ton of arepas and have a variety of fillings, and everyone around the table might make theirs a bit different,” she says.

2. Soups and stews

The Tuscan stew ribollita is so invested in working with your leftovers and extras that its name means “reboiled.” You’ll definitely need vegetables, beans and bread (stale bread is on theme, but fresh works), as well as herbs that evoke Tuscany, such as rosemary and oregano. Many recipes call for fresh herbs and hearty greens, but this is ultimately a choose-your-own-adventure soup.

If you’re staring down a mix of potatoes, carrots and other produce pulled from the earth, give them a simmer in root vegetable mafé. In his cookbook, “Simply West African,” Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam describes mafé, a blend of peanut butter, tomato, onion and other ingredients, as a regional “mother sauce.” The stew has room for other vegetables and meat, too.

Of course, soup doesn’t need to be hot. Classic versions of gazpacho, Spain’s chilled soup, feature tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers, but Washington chef, restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés is known to emphasize the soup’s adaptability with a simple question: “Will it gazpacho?” Whether it’s peaches, watermelon or cauliflower, a spin through a blender and thoughtful seasoning and toppings might put an overambitious farmers market haul to good use.

Margaret Li offers this tip for gazpacho improv: “It’s not just blended salsa with a splash of olive oil. … You need more olive oil than you think.”

3. Dumplings and hand pies

Including such dishes as pillowy Ukrainian pierogi and the crispy half-moons of Korean goon mandu, every corner of the world seems to have devised delicious ways to serve nearly anything wrapped in dough.

“Folding something into a little parcel, it’s like a little present,” says Irene Li, who co-founded Boston-based Mei Mei Dumplings and is working on a Chinese-style dumpling cookbook with her sister. “I feel that’s such a home-cooking tradition, making these precious little things out of not very much.”

Dough-wrapped preparations can be labor-intensive, but, Irene Li points out, there’s no shame in shortcuts such as store-bought dumpling or wonton wrappers, puff pastry or empanada dough. Even store-bought pie dough can work wonders, as in Chicken and Black Bean Hand Pies.

For a no-recipe dumpling filling, Margaret Li suggests striving for a texture “that’s scoopable and won’t leak or crumble apart.” A raw egg can rescue a filling that won’t hold together, and Irene Li also advises care with any hard or pointy ingredients that might puncture the dough. Finely chopping and cooking firm vegetables helps.

4. Bread and tortilla revival

To make Mexican chilaquiles, you drop stale tortilla chips or crisped tortillas into a simmering sauce, then serve with toppings such as onion, cilantro, beans, chicken, queso fresco and beyond. The name of a similar dish, migas, literally means “crumbs,” and while Tex-Mex preparations typically call for stale chips or tortillas scrambled with eggs, Spanish versions revive stale bread. (If you prefer to preserve the crunchy texture, you can also simply sprinkle the tortilla chip pieces over the top of your migas.)

Also consider panzanella, the Italian salad that reinvents stale bread with heat, olive oil and the fresh tomato juices it soaks up in the bowl. Or try fattoush, the Middle Eastern salad that does similar work with pita, and often includes spices such as sumac. Both are endlessly riffable.

5. Rice-based

Fried rice famously revives leftover rice, studding it with vegetables, eggs and other fridge odds and ends. But for a master class in applying what you’ve got to a traditional recipe, consider its Peruvian cousin, arroz chaufa. Developed by Chinese immigrants who improvised a taste of home amid rough conditions in the 19th century, arroz chaufa is now an established Peruvian dish. It’s true to the original’s soy sauce and egg, but leaves much up for grabs. Consider using quinoa instead of rice, or mixing in hot dogs.

The many spellings of kichidi (kichadi or kitchari, for starters) hint at the endless variations of this rice, legume and vegetable comfort food you’ll find across South Asia. You’ll also find many variations across your kitchen, depending on exactly which pantry staples and produce get your attention at dinner. The dish may have evolved into Egypt’s famous koshary, which includes pasta in addition to rice and lentils, and provides an oniony, sauce-drenched canvas onto which you can substitute what you have for the various categories of ingredients.

• Rachael Jackson is the founder of EatOrToss.com.

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Chicken and Black Bean Hand Pies

½ cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed if canned

½ cup salsa, preferably chunky, plus more for serving

1 generous tablespoon chili powder, plus more for optional garnish

¾ teaspoon garlic powder

¾ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

⅛ teaspoon ground cumin

⅛ teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

1 generous cup (5 ounces) finely chopped cooked chicken

½ cup (1½ ounces) coarsely shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeño pepper (optional)

All-purpose flour, for the counter

1 package refrigerated pie crusts or 2 homemade pie crusts recipe

1 large egg, beaten

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Crema or sour cream, for serving

In a medium bowl, mix together the beans, salsa, the chili, garlic and onion powders, the oregano, cumin and salt until well-combined. Using a fork or the back of a spoon, mash the ingredients together until the mixture is chunky, but with some beans left whole.

Add the chicken, cheese and jalapeno, if using, and stir to combine. Taste, and season with more salt if needed, keeping in mind whether you're planning to add flaky salt to the pies before air frying.

Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out each pie crust to about a 12-inch-wide circle, rotating and flipping and dusting with more flour as needed to prevent it from sticking. Using a 5-inch biscuit cutter (or a 5-inch-wide plate or bowl and a paring knife), cut out 10 circles. (You may need to gather and re-roll the scraps. Frozen crusts can be dry, so sprinkle the scraps with a little water if necessary.)

Set the air fryer to 350°F and preheat for at least 5 minutes.

To make the pies, add 2 heaping tablespoons of the chicken mixture to the center of each circle, brush half of the border with the egg, then fold the pastry over the top, seal in a half moon and crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers.

Transfer to a large, rimmed baking sheet. (If freezing the hand pies for later, line the baking sheet with parchment paper.)

Brush the tops of the hand pies with the egg, sprinkle with flaky salt and chili powder, if using, and cut two small vents in the top of each pie.

Working in batches, place the pies in the air fryer basket, leaving about 1 inch of space between the pies, and cook for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a platter, carefully wipe out the basket if there are any spills, and repeat with the remaining hand pies. Serve warm or at room temperature, with more salsa, crema or sour cream, if desired.

Notes: This recipe was tested in a Cosori 5.8-quart air fryer. Depending on the appliance you use, you may need to adjust the cooking time and/or temperature to achieve the desired results. To use a conventional oven, position a rack in the middle of the oven, preheat it to 375°F and bake them for an additional 5 minutes, or until golden brown. They won't be quite as crisp on the outside. If buying prepared pie crust, look for the unroll-and-bake refrigerated or frozen ones. Don't feel like messing with pie crust? Heat up this filling and tuck it into charred or steamed tortillas, or add it to corn chips to make nachos.

10 servings

Make ahead: The uncooked hand pies can be placed on a parchment paper-lined, rimmed baking sheet, frozen until solid, transferred to an airtight container and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. To air-fry from frozen, add 5 to 7 minutes to the cooking time.

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 1 week. Recrisp in a 350°F oven or air fryer for about 5 minutes or until warmed through.

Substitutions: Want to skip the chicken? Add another cup of beans; No beans? Use ½ cup rice or favorite grain.

Nutrition | Per serving (1 hand pie): 331 calories, 29g carbohydrates, 35mg cholesterol, 19g fat, 2g fiber, 11g protein, 14g saturated fat, 239mg sodium, 1g sugar

— Ann Maloney, The Washington Post, 2023