If you're one of the rare people who has leftover wine after cracking open a bottle, why not save it for recipes or sauces instead of throwing it down the drain?
TikTok food enthusiast Lorna (@dicedanddished) showed her followers an easy way to preserve wine so it's just as fresh days or weeks after you buy it.
@dicedanddished Leftover wine tip-ple 🙃🍷 freeze your wine! #nowaste #foodwaste #cookinghacks #cookingtips ♬ original sound - Lorna C | DicedandDished |
The scoop
Lorna explains that this hack works best if you have an "awkward little amount" of wine left over — about a quarter of a bottle or less. Then, you'll simply portion it out into an ice cube tray and freeze it until you're ready to whip something up in the kitchen.
She says it's helpful to weigh out how much you pour in each slot so you know exactly how much is going into your recipe.
"If I'm making a recipe like a stew or a gravy or something like that, I can literally just pull these out of the freezer and I know that per each one of these ice cubes is around 25 [milliliters] of wine," she explains in the video. "And I can just pop a couple of them into the recipe as I need."
If you're not in the mood for another glass of wine, this is a great way to give it a second life and enhance the flavor of your recipes as well.
How it's helping
Even if you spend less than $10 on a bottle of wine, you don't want your hard-earned cash going down the drain if you don't finish it in the first couple of days. With this hack, you can repurpose the wine and avoid having to buy another bottle for a recipe. Plus, you'll save time at the grocery store shopping for wine, giving you more time to spend cooking your favorite meal.
Saving your wine also benefits the planet since wine production is energy-intensive and requires a lot of resources, such as water. Some research shows that it takes roughly 800 liters of water to produce just one liter of wine — a little more than a bottle's worth. In addition, winery wastewater is highly acidic and can contaminate soil and groundwater, per BTL Liners.
Plus, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, nearly 3 billion wine bottles end up in landfills each year, taking up valuable space and releasing harmful planet-warming gases in the process.
🗣️ What's the most common reason you end up throwing away food?
🔘 Bought more than I could eat 🛒
🔘 Went bad sooner than I expected 👎
🔘 Forgot it was in the fridge 😞
🔘 Didn't want leftovers 🥡
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Luckily, organizations such as TooGoodToGo and Misfits Market are helping customers score major discounts on leftover foods and unwanted produce, reducing the amount of food waste in landfills as well. Doing more with your leftovers, like Lorna's genius wine hack demonstrated, is one way to take control of your household's food waste and save money on groceries.
What people are saying
Fellow wine aficionados couldn't wait to put their leftover wine to use.
"This is so helpful! I didn't know you could do this, thank you," one person commented.
"So clever," another said.
"I do this, it's such a good no waste hack," shared another.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
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