Fridge Bottom Frittata – the perfect way to use up leftovers....

I first shared my fridge bottom frittata recipe on here way back in 2013 and I still make versions of it now, although what goes into it changes pretty much every time.

That’s the whole point of a fridge bottom frittata really. It’s not so much a recipe as a way of turning all those random bits and pieces lurking in the fridge into an actual meal.

You know the kind of things I mean. A couple of potatoes left over from dinner, half a pack of something you’ve opened, vegetables that need using up or the last little bit of cheese that isn’t quite enough for anything else. None of it looks particularly exciting on its own, but throw it all together with some eggs and you’ve got a really easy meal.

Why I started making fridge bottom frittata

I used to make this all the time on a Sunday afternoon because Sunday morning was when I did my weekly food shop.

When I got home and started putting all the new shopping away, I’d inevitably find a few things lurking at the back of the fridge that were looking a bit past their best. Rather than putting all the fresh food in front of them and promising myself I’d use them before they went off, I’d take them out and make something with them there and then.

Quite often, that something was a fridge bottom frittata. Sometimes it was a curry, because a curry hides a multitude of sins. 😉

It meant nothing was wasted and, as an added bonus, my lunches for Monday and Tuesday were usually sorted too. I’d make a big frittata using whatever needed eating, we’d have some fresh from the oven and the rest would go into the fridge ready for the next couple of days.

I don’t do my shopping on a Sunday morning these days, but I still make fridge bottom frittata for exactly the same reason.

This week’s fridge bottom frittata

This week’s version was a big one!

I used the biggest flan dish I have and made it quite deep because I deliberately wanted enough for tea that night as well as lunches for the next two days. I even sent some home with my daughter, who’s always loved my fridge bottom frittata when I make it.

This time I used:

10 eggs
bacon that I’d bought from the yellow sticker section in Asda and stashed in the freezer
mushrooms that I’d also bought reduced
leftover cooked potatoes from sausage and mash
tomatoes from the garden
grated cheese

The cheese was unfortunately full price because the price of cheese is astronomical these days, which is even more reason not to waste a scrap of it!

I cooked the bacon and mushrooms first and then added them to my flan dish along with the chopped leftover potatoes.

One thing I’ve learned from making frittatas over the years is to get as much moisture as possible out of your ingredients before they go into the dish. Mushrooms in particular release quite a bit of liquid as they cook, so I keep cooking them until most of that has disappeared.

Too much moisture going into your frittata can leave you with a watery bottom rather than nice firm slices, so if you’re using leftover vegetables that are quite wet, give them a really good drain first too.

Once everything was ready, I beat my 10 eggs together and poured them over the top. I added the grated cheese and tomatoes and baked the whole thing at 180°C for around 40 minutes.

This one was particularly deep, so it took a while to cook all the way through. If you’re making a smaller or shallower version, I’d start checking it earlier. You want the egg to be completely set in the middle and the top to be lovely and golden.

How many eggs do you need for a frittata?

This is where I don’t think giving you an exact recipe is particularly helpful because it depends entirely on the size of your dish and how much food you’re trying to use up.

This week’s giant version needed 10 eggs, but you definitely don’t need that many for a normal-sized one.

I generally start by beating a few eggs together and pouring them over everything. If there isn’t enough to hold everything together, I’ll beat another couple and add those too.

That’s actually exactly what happened when I made the original version of this recipe back in 2013. I started with five eggs, realised that wasn’t enough and ended up using seven.

There’s no science to it in my kitchen. 😂

What can you put in a fridge bottom frittata?

Pretty much anything within reason.

Leftover cooked potatoes are brilliant because they bulk everything out and make it more filling. Cooked vegetables like broccoli, peppers, peas and sweetcorn work well, and you can add ham, bacon, chicken, chorizo or whatever else you have that needs using.

Most cheeses work brilliantly too, which makes a frittata perfect for using up those random little bits that seem to accumulate in the fridge.

Just remember that anything that needs properly cooking first should be cooked before it goes into the frittata. The oven is really just there to cook the eggs and bring everything together rather than to cook raw meat or hard vegetables from scratch.

You can make fridge bottom frittata in the slow cooker too

When I originally wrote this post in 2013, I actually made my frittata in the slow cooker.

That particular version was made with the equivalent of about three leftover cooked potatoes, a good handful of cooked broccoli, some leftover ham, grated cheese and a couple of soft tomatoes.

I chopped the potatoes and broccoli and added them to the slow cooker, followed by the ham and most of the grated cheese.

I started with five beaten eggs, but once I’d poured them in I realised that wasn’t quite enough, so I added another two. I gave everything a good stir, sprinkled over the remaining cheese and added sliced tomatoes to the top.

I cooked it on high for around an hour until the egg was cooked through. You can check by inserting a knife into the middle – if it comes out clean rather than covered in wet egg, you’re good to go.

Perfect for planned leftovers

I love that something which started as a way of using up leftovers actually creates useful leftovers of its own.

If I’m making one now, I’ll often deliberately make it bigger than we need for one meal because I know the rest will sort out lunch for another day or two. It’s lovely cold straight from the fridge, or you can warm a slice up and serve it with salad, vegetables or whatever else you have.

And clearly my daughter still agrees. She was eating my fridge bottom frittatas when I first shared this post all those years ago and now she’s grown up and I’m still sending her home with some. 😂

Can you freeze frittata?

Yes! Frittata freezes really well, which is another reason I tend to make a big one rather than making just enough for one meal.

Once it’s completely cool, I cut any leftovers into individual portions and freeze them separately. That way I can just take out one piece at a time when I need an easy lunch rather than defrosting the whole lot.

I usually let a frozen slice defrost in the fridge overnight and then either eat it cold or warm it through. The texture can be slightly softer after freezing, especially if you’ve used vegetables with a high water content, but I’ve never found that to be a problem.

Just make sure you’re getting as much moisture as possible out of things like mushrooms and other watery vegetables before making the frittata in the first place – that helps both when you’re eating it fresh and when you’re freezing it.

And next week’s will probably be completely different…

As I’m updating this post, I’ve just had a look in my fridge and I can already see the makings of another one.

I’ve got spring onions, more tomatoes from the garden and some feta cheese that I bought last week. There’s still some bacon and mushrooms left too, so some combination of those will probably end up in the next frittata along with anything else that needs using by then.

And that’s exactly why I can’t give you one definitive fridge bottom frittata recipe.

The version I made back in 2013 had potato, broccoli, ham, cheese and tomatoes. The one in these new photos has bacon, mushrooms, leftover potatoes, cheese and garden tomatoes. The next one is looking like it could involve feta and spring onions.

They’re never quite the same twice – and that’s the whole idea. This is my first ever one back in 2013….

A frittata is a great way to use up whatever you have left at the end of the week because most things will go great in one and any frittata leftovers are perfect for the next days lunch!

Thank you for reading.

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