8 Dishes That Taste Like Trash As Microwaved Leftovers

Flickr / Kelly Garbato

Most Americans reheat leftovers, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all do it, sometimes even in cases when it can be harmful to our health. There are some dishes though that just taste straight-up horrible when you reheat them. Here are eight foods you should never nuke the next day.

1. Pot Roast

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Yeah, yeah, your parents sent you back on the train with the remains of that amazing pot roast dinner from the other night. Well, guess what? The fats in that pot roast will solidify when they’re refrigerated. They turn into a gelatinous mess when you try to reheat the dish. Those fats don’t have enough time to slowly break back down into the broth it once was if you’re rapidly reheating it. That’s a hard pass.

2. Seafood

We think this is a no-brainer, but in case you were wondering if that salmon from last night will be good for lunch the next day, we’ll say not reheated. Seafood has a tendency to smell like…well…seafood. We highly suggest, for your coworkers’ sake (or anyone who plans to be in the vicinity), that you don’t reheat your seafood in the microwave. It’s just common courtesy, guys.

3. Dry Rice

Leftover Chinese food can be the most magical meal on the planet, depending on how hungover or tired you are. However, when you go to reheat rice, make sure it’s covered in sauce, or add a little water to it before reheating. Dry, microwaved rice can be crunchy and unpleasant, and no one needs that.

4. Anything Fried

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Self-explanatory, right? Well, for some of you who think french fries totally sound great right now, think about preheating your oven instead of throwing them into the microwave. Fried foods have multiple moisture profiles, which means that heating them quickly could make the oil and water separate from the dish, making it soggy AF.

5. Already-Cooked Vegetables

If you’re a picky eater based on texture, you should never microwave already-cooked vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Vegetables often lose their moisture when being cooked the first time, so reheating them again could take even more moisture out of the vegetables, making them shriveled. Also, they’re notorious for smelling up the microwave and surrounding area.

6. Hot Sandwiches

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Want to reheat a meatball sandwich? Definitely never microwave it. Hot sandwiches tend to be dense, and if they’ve been refrigerated, they can become difficult to heat evenly all the way through in the microwave. There’s nothing worse than biting into searing hot bread and ice-cold meat. Warm your sandwich in the oven instead.

7. Eggs

Beyond the fact that reheating eggs could hurt your digestive system, they taste rubbery and just generally unappealing after being microwaved. Eating the eggs cold or reheating them in a pan might be better ways to go.

8. Cream-Based Sauces

Flickr / Kelly Garbato

That penne alla vodka may have been so good last night, but microwaving the next day is going to leave you with an extremely disappointing dish. The issue with cream-based sauces is that when they’re rapidly reheated, the oil from the meats or the cheese separates from the solid fats, resulting in your dish swimming in oil (NOPE). Though many online commenters have tried to successfully reheat dishes along these lines, the oil-fat separation seems inevitable.