I'm a Dietitian & This Is My Favorite Way to Use Up Leftover Cranberry Sauce

I love many holiday foods, and many of them taste even better to me as leftovers. Even outside of the holiday season, I love getting creative with leftovers to help me save money and cut down on food waste. So naturally, I try to find ways to work extra holiday foods into every meal of the day. One of my favorite ways to use up leftover cranberry sauce is by using it in baked oats. Read on for how I do it and why I love it so much. 

Baked oats are great for so many reasons: they’re versatile, super healthy and a great way to use up a lot of fruit—including fruit preserves like cranberry sauce. Plus, they’re simple to make. Most of our recipes call for mixing together about 1½ cups of your milk of choice with 2 large eggs and about ½ cup sweetener like brown sugar or maple syrup, then adding that to a dry mix of around 2½ cups oats, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and any other spices you want to add. (I typically use our Blueberry Baked Oats recipe as a guide and swap in other fruits or spices as desired.)

Other optional additions include a few tablespoons of melted butter, citrus zest, vanilla extract and nuts. Then, I’ll add the oats to a baking dish and top with my desired fruit. In this instance, I added orange zest, chia seeds and walnuts to the batter, then swirled my leftover cranberry sauce across the top. Simply bake at 375℉ for about 40 minutes and you’ll have 10 servings of a heart-healthy breakfast ready for the week. 

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Not only does this breakfast help me cut down on food waste, but it’s also really nourishing. Oats are a great source of fiber, and the specific type of fiber they contain (called beta-glucan) helps to lower cholesterol levels and promote heart health. When combined with the protein in milk, they help keep you full and energized all morning long. Chia seeds add an additional boost of fiber and protein as well as brain-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Plus, cranberries are packed with antioxidant compounds that help support immune health, heart health, urinary tract health and more. And last but certainly not least, the flavor of these cranberry baked oats is super delicious and seasonal.  

Getting creative with leftovers can help you save money and cut down on food waste. And you might just stumble upon your next favorite recipe, as I did with this cranberry riff on my go-to baked oats breakfast. It’s easy to make, offers a variety of health benefits and is a tasty way to start the day. Having a delicious and healthy meal-prepped breakfast is a great way to get back to feeling your best after the holiday season, too.