Winners of the 2025 Food Waste Prevention Week Cooking Challenge!

 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to fight food waste and enter the 2025 Food Waste Prevention Week Cooking Challenge! 

 

We were so excited to see submissions come in from across the country, and even from as far away as South Africa! Every entry contained great ideas on reducing food waste. And in our humble opinions, every entry was a winner because it celebrated and promoted a style of cooking that benefits the world. 

 

Selecting the winners was tough! We used a scoring rubric that evaluated entries on: 

 

• Versatility (ability to use up random ingredients, etc.)

• Using parts of the food that are often wasted (peels, stems)

• Creativity

• Appeal

• Power to inspire others to reduce their waste

• Wild card - A chance for judges to boost entries that do something special not accounted for in the other categories.

 

Entrants did not need to submit a recipe, but rather simply tell us the story of their dish and how it promoted waste. We also encouraged people to submit multiple entries and awarded bonus points for sharing on social media because ultimately this was all about getting as many people as possible to cook as many low-waste meals as possible. 

 

And here are our winners!

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VIEW VIDEO OF WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT HERE

 

“Rescued Fried Chicken and Broccoli Rice”

Maggie from Grace Klein Community, Birmingham, Alabama

 

Maggie’s submission was the result of her participation in the “Chopped Challenge,” which was put on by the Grace Klein Community, an Alabama nonprofit that helps people in need. Here’s an excerpt from her submission:

 

“As part of Grace Klein Community’s inaugural “Chopped Challenge,” Maggie received four ingredients typically headed for the landfill: broccoli stalk, half a pack of Ritz crackers, crumbly dry American cheese and a Lucky Charms cereal bar. Every ingredient she used was rescued food—intercepted by Grace Klein Community before it could be wasted and redistributed at no cost to the community. Maggie shallow-fried a chicken breast crusted in Ritz crackers, French fried onions and spicy seasonings. She grated the broccoli stalk to create a nutrient-dense rice alternative, then sautéed it in garlic oil made months ago from preserved garlic. For the final component, she crafted a sweet sauce using the Lucky Charms bar, mustard and strawberry vinegar created in-house from strawberry tops. Beyond using 100% rescued food and the four required ingredients, Maggie incorporated two preserved products: garlic oil and strawberry vinegar. Her dish highlighted multiple preservation methods and embodied the mission of a sustainable kitchen. Her dish was top tier.

 

“Delicious Possibilities”

Diane Sheya, Salt Lake City Utah

 

Diane’s entry got our attention because, not only did she share the story of a delicious, low-waste meal, but she also outlined her method for creating balanced and delicious meals with what she had on hand. Cooking Challenge judge Rachael Jackson was so impressed with the outline that she’s since published it on EatOrToss.com (check it out here ADD LINK). The specific dish Diane submitted for the Cooking Challenge used up a partial bag of pasta, leftover chicken breast, frozen swiss chard, cooked leftover carrots, a quarter raw onion that was in the fridge, and homemade chicken stock in the freezer. The result was a cheesy, veggie-filled chicken pasta dish. Here’s an excerpt from her entry:

 

“I try to plan my week’s meals, create a shopping list and shop for the week.  But stuff happens!  That’s ok-I’ve got a formula!  I love to challenge myself to create something delicious from what I have in my pantry, freezer and refrigerator (and in the summer, my kitchen garden).  When my husband asks what’s for dinner, I tell him “you’re in the test kitchen tonight!”  He rarely complains and gives me good feedback on what he likes or suggestions for substitutions.” 

 

“Check out day eggs”

Claudia Fabiano, Washington, D.C. 

 

We loved how this entry identified easy-to-overlook possibilities, like leftover garnishes on a restaurant plate, and used the final breakfast at a vacation rental as an opportunity to eat up extras before heading home. Here’s an excerpt from her entry:

 

“It's the morning we are checking out of our rental house. I have about 2/3 cup of canned tomato sauce and eggs (I'm out of butter and oil). I'm craving shakshuka and I have no container in which to take home the extra sauce. I also have some leftover chopped onions and cilantro from a Mexican restaurant where we ate the night before. So I heat up the tomato sauce with the leftover onions and cilantro for 5 minutes in a frying pan. Then I crack two eggs into the same pan, sprinkle salt and pepper over them, cover them and let them cook sunny side up to my desired firmness. Is it shakshuka? No-- I won't lie to you about shakshuka, ever. But it was delicious, healthy and filling, and it used up a few ingredients I would have needed to toss otherwise!”

 

Halloween Pumpkin a la Rescue

Jacquelyn Ottman, New York, New York

 

Jacqui found an intact, but discarded Halloween pumpkin, and got to work! Here’s an excerpt from her entry:

 

“I brought it upstairs to my kitchen, and proceeded to make the following: roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin bread, roasted pumpkin skins, and pumpkin and parmesan puree soup. All were delicious except the skins. I'm alive to tell the tale! and I am encouraged to help spread the word next year to as many kids as possible that the pumpkin that brings them joy on Halloween can bring them even more joy -- and nourishment, and a great opportunity to learn some cooking tips -- after the holiday's over.

 

Note: Jacquelyn was careful to work with an intact pumpkin and to avoid the area with marker on it. We encourage using good judgment when selecting ingredients to use up. If you’re curious about the safety using “found” gourds, check out this episode of the podcast, Risky or Not, in which two food safety experts conclude that cooking with a butternut squash discovered during a dog walk was not risky. 

 

“Eco Empanadas”

Caitlin Vicini, Brookfield, Wisconsin

Raffle winner

 

This entry easily could have won on its merits, but was lucky to win the raffle of all entries! We loved how Caitlin identified food at risk of going to waste and found a way to use it. Caitlin, who was already thinking about turning some of her leftovers into empanadas, was visiting with family when they told her they were going to throw away a new type of cheese they didn’t like. Here’s an excerpt from her entry:

 

“...I said that I would take it and use it somehow because one of my biggest frustrations with the USA is how much food goes to waste and how many people still go hungry and are food insecure. I used frozen pie crust (leftover from Thanksgiving) instead of making homemade dough. I grated the unwanted gruyere cheese and mixed with sliced mushrooms that were about to go bad, some "not so pretty,” wilty spinach and leftover stems. I added the last bit of ricotta leftover from a lasagna I made last week. Finally, I added some garlic powder and onion powder, folded the cheese mixture into the dough, creased with a fork and baked according to the recipe. THEY WERE DELICIOUS! Using all recovered food. Zero waste, eco friendly empanadas. Salud!”

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Going Bananas to Care for Earth (Banana Bread)

Dusty Krikau, Malone, Wisconsin

Dusty rescued a box of bananas that a local company was about to throw away. He made five loaves of banana bread, subbing aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) for eggs in his recipe. He blended the peels and fed them to his chickens. The woody tops of the bananas went to his compost pile. He froze some of the banana bread and shared some with others. Dusty then took the incredible step of calculating the impact of rescuing those bananas. He determined: “I would need to drive 6,826 times around the planet in order to produce the same amount of methane as that 25 pounds of bananas would have produced in a landfill.” We’re trusting his math and are IMPRESSED!

 

Complete Cauliflower Cake

Christina Badaracco, Washington DC

 

Christina’s entry was beautiful and creative all at once. Here’s her entry: 

“I love to cook with cauliflower and am so often disappointed when recipe writers waste the stalk and leaves that are such great sources of nutrition. I made this cake following an adapted version of Ottolenghi's recipe (https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-cauliflower-cake-recipes-from-the-kitchn-217980), in which I finely chopped the stem and leaves and incorporated them along with the florets into the rest of the cake. The basil was grown at home, negating the need to buy a small amount of the herb in plastic. I also used a whole-grain flour, rather than refined flour, to add nutrition.”

 

Fruit scrap kombucha (fermented soda)

Teralyn Pilgrim

Beavercreek, Oregon

Congrats to Teralyn, last year’s raffle winner, for placing again! Here’s an excerpt from her entry:

“I hate not being able to use all the fruit on a mango pit, or use mushy strawberries, and I love probiotics! You can make delicious soda in just a few days, and it's great for your gut health.”

 

Candied Orange Rinds

Sophia Lin Kanno

Alexandria, Virginia

Sophia’s candied orange rinds were beautiful, tasty and made for great gifts!

“We had a large bag of cuties as well as a large amount of leftover orange rinds from taking leftover orange slices from a Chinese banquet meal. It felt like a lot of waste to just toss all the rinds into the compost. I decided to candy the rinds…I ended up saving the orange peel tea for cocktails as well as the orange syrup for cocktails or dessert recipes for later! The candied rinds made for excellent host gifts to my neighbors who hosted us for dinner and they LOVED them! They would also work great dipped in chocolate for the holidays!”

 

NotablE 

These entries got our attention because the submitter identified an item that they found hard to use up and did something about it. 

 

Lusciously Lemony Chicken Soup

Sarah Brenes

Minneapolis, Minnesota

“I have always dreaded tossing lemon peels after juicing them for recipes.  I have made preserved lemons that have sat in my fridge. I also dehydrated leftover lemon slices from a pitcher of lemon water I made for a party that took up counter space. I finally put them to good use by adding a punch to a lemon chicken soup recipe I found online. The recipe called for lemon juice, but I threw in a half preserved lemon and dehydrated lemon slices.  They transformed the soup’s taste to a rich and lusciously lemon flavor.”

 

General Tso's Chicken Croquettes

Jen Chapman

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Leftover Chinese takeout, sadly, often ends up being tossed after lingering in the fridge or unsuccessful attempts at reheating. I mean, it's 100% never as good and often ends up soggy.  The #FWPWChallenge seemed like the perfect excuse to try something completely different …I'd been thinking recently of a childhood favorite, chicken or turkey croquettes, that I hadn't had in decades! So I decided to croquette my leftovers and it turned out to be ridiculously good!  Bonus: I used ALL of the leftovers (which was basically everything that came with my meal): General Tso's Chicken, rice, AND the broccoli.  PLUS, I also used a sad-looking red pepper, the last of a box of chicken stock and the end of a box of panko.”  

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Mock Apple Pie

Michelle Nadler

Neptune City, New Jersey

Michelle’s entry explained how she uses up extremely abundant zucchini in late summer. Her “fake apple” pie, which subs zucchini for apples and fills in the apple pie flavor with apple juice and spices. Michelle grinds the peels and freezes them for smoothies or tomato sauce.

 

Note: Excerpts have been lightly edited