Often brewing too large a pot of coffee or having less than a cup of cold brew in our refrigerator, we’re left with coffee that we don’t know how to use. Rather than wasting the dark, aromatic liquid, use it as an ingredient in your next meal or drink. Keep the coffee grounds too. They can be used to add flavor to meats, scrub pots and pans, and fertilize your garden. Here are 10 tips for using leftover coffee and coffee grounds in and out of the kitchen.   

Dry Rub
Coffee grounds are often found in dry rub recipes. Instead of using freshly ground coffee, use leftover grounds. You’ll get the same flavor and the already wet grounds will stick better to the meat when cooked, continuing to add flavor to the protein. 

Marinades & Barbecue Sauce
Cold brew concentrate has natural sugars that help meat caramelize when cooked. Add to your favorite marinade or barbecue sauce and cook over an open flame to create a cruncy, caramelized layer with a deep, sweet flavor.  

Baked Goods
Adding instant coffee to chocolate based baked goods is becoming a well known baker’s hack to amplify the chocolate flavor. Fortunately, there are other ways to add coffee to baked goods without having to keep a stash of instant coffee in the back of your pantry. Recipes that call for hot water, like cakes and brownies, can be substituted with hot coffee. If making a quick bread or coffee cake that calls for a simple glaze, substitute the milk with room temperature coffee or cold brew and whisk in powdered sugar. Besides chocolate, coffee complements baked goods with dates, coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, walnuts, pecans, banana, and caramel. 

Overnight Oats
If you want a change in flavor from overnight oats, substitute milk with coffee and add a sweetener to cut through the bitterness of the coffee. Vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, or honey will complement the coffee with the addition of shredded coconut, chocolate chips, chia seeds, bananas, or berries.  

Syrup
Using a 1:1 ratio, combine cold brew concentrate and sugar and bring to just a boil making sure sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Use the syrup to mix into drinks, flavor whipped cream toppings or custards, drizzle on top of ice cream, or blend into milkshakes or smoothies. 

Stews, Chilis, and Stocks
Add coffee to stews, chilis, and braising stocks like you would with wine. The reduced coffee will enhance the robust and smoky flavors in the liquid and meats adding additional layers of flavor. 

Freeze
Pour leftover coffee into ice trays and freeze. Use the coffee cubes in cold brews, iced coffees, or smoothies instead of ice cubes to prevent the drink from getting too diluted. Blend the coffee cubes for a frothy mocha or other flavored coffee-based frozen drinks. 

Face & Body Scrub
Leftover coffee grounds are coarse enough to make homemade face and body scrubs. Mix together brown sugar, coconut oil, and leftover coffee grounds and apply to skin and gently exfoliate. 

Fertilizer
If you have garden beds with flowers, trees, and shrubs, save used coffee grounds and sprinkle occasionally on the soil. The coffee replenishes nutrients used up by the plants, adding potassium, magnesium, and nitrogen back into the soil. The coffee grounds have also been known to keep invasive pests away. 

Scrub Pots & Pans
If you have stubborn burnt bits on the bottom of your pans, take a handful of leftover coffee grounds and scrub with a brush. The grounds are abrasive enough to remove the stuck on grim. Rinse and wash with soap and hot water for spotless pots and pans.

Unpretentious People Say...

Other Articles You Might Enjoy