Leftover Barbecue Steak

​If you’ve made five steaks for supper and only four were eaten, the last thing you want is to throw out the leftover steak. Since reheating a steak in the microwave isn’t ideal, we’ve come up with some other solutions to the leftover steak problem that we think you’ll like.

The critical first step is to get that extra steak into the fridge or freezer within two hours of it coming off the grill. This is extremely important from a food safety perspective.

When you’re ready to use the steak, remove it from the fridge, thinly slice the steak at a 45 degree angle against the grain, and then use it in one of the following ways:

1. Wraps: Combine it with romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese.

2. Stir fry: Add the steak slices to the vegetables near the end of the cooking period.

3. Pitas: Stuff pita bread with steak, thinly sliced spinach or kale, peanut sauce and shredded cheese.

4. Panini: For a great pressed sandwich filling, combine steak, ranch dressing, sliced onions and some gooey, delicious cheese to hold it all together.

5. Pizza: Try it as a pizza topping. Bonus points for drizzling it with chimichurri sauce before serving.

6. Southwestern quesadillas: Grilling the steak is the hard part. The easy part is putting the steak slices between tortilla shells with salsa, green onion, Monterey Jack cheese and jalapenos, then heating it in a frying pan.

7. Burritos: Steak, rice, salsa and guacamole, wrapped in a soft tortilla shell. It couldn’t be any easier.

It’s actually not a bad idea to cook an extra steak or two as a “planned over,” which is what we call a deliberate leftover made with a later use in mind. With all the delicious things you can do with leftover steak, why not throw an extra piece of meat on the barbecue for later enjoyment? It’s a quick and easy way to add some substance to a meal without the extra cooking time of grilling one steak for a salad, wrap or quesadilla.