What to make with those leftover Chinese food condiment packets
05/15/2015
If you're like me, you just hate throwing away food stuff for no reason. Whenever we order Chinese food, we end up with about 6 million extra little packets of duck sauce, 4 billion packets of soy sauce, and about infinity packets of hot mustard that I just KNOW can be used for something. So yesterday I surveyed the packets we had accumulating on the kitchen counter from the past few order-out days and came up with a couple marinades and sauces for ya.
First, I used a few packets of mustard, duck sauce and soy to create a marinade for chicken which I skewered with broccoli and onions to grill.
Next, I made a ginger and sesame marinade for some beef cubes using a couple more packets of soy and mustard. I skewered them with some mushrooms, peppers and onions and grilled them too!
Finally, I made a ginger soy dipping sauce for the beef skewers and a honey mustard dipping sauce for the chicken skewers.
Of course, you can go out and buy these ingredients, but if you already have these packets laying around they can save you some money!
Sweet and hot mustard chicken and broccoli skewers
with honey mustard dipping sauce
- 6 10 inch bamboo skewers soaked in water
- 3 packets* Chinese hot mustard
- 2 packets* duck sauce
- 1 packet* soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice vinegar (or white vinegar if rice vinegar isn't available)
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 crown broccoli cut into florets and slightly steamed
- 1 onion cut into wedges
- melted butter for basting
Add condiment packets, vinegar, and garlic to a large plastic bag or sealable container. Add the chicken cubes and toss to coat. Marinate for at least 2 hours. Poke alternating chicken and vegetables onto the soaked skewers and grill for about 15 minutes, turning and basting with butter every 4 minutes.
To make dipping sauce:
Mix together 3 packets of hot mustard, 1 tsp honey, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, and 1 Tbsp either coconut water or regular water.
Sesame beef and vegetable skewers
with sesame soy dipping sauce
- 6 10 inch bamboo skewers soaked in water
- 3 packets of soy sauce
- 1 packet of hot mustard
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 lb 1 inch beef cubes (sirloin works great)
- 6-10 button mushrooms
- 1 onion cut into wedges
- 1 green bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- melted butter for basting
Add condiment packets, sesame oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic to a large plastic bag or sealable container. Add the beef cubes and toss to coat. Marinate for at least 2 hours. Poke alternating beef and vegetables onto the soaked skewers and grill for about 15 minutes, turning and basting with butter every 4 minutes.
For the sauce:
Mix together 3 packets of soy sauce, 1/8 tsp ground ginger, and toss in a few sesame seeds for fun.
*Each packet contains about 8 grams (or 1.6 tsp) of each condiment.
I served these skewers with a blend of different rices and the whole family really enjoyed them. Hope you do, too!
Do you have any good uses for all those leftover packets? I'd love to hear them!
Also, this is not a sponsored post. These pictures represent the brands I have in my pantry right now.