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I'm looking for a word that is similar to leftovers. In this case, the leftovers are not from one of my previous meals, and they are completely uneaten, but they are already cooked.

Example 1:

My friends go to Chipotle and they bought an extra burrito. I'm given the burrito, and I save it in the fridge. The next day I decide to eat it for lunch.

I could say, "I'm going to eat my leftover burrito." That would imply the burrito is partially eaten, or from one of my previous meals. It is from my friends' meal, but it was not part of it because they bought it for me. What would I use instead of leftover in this case?

Example 2

On a Sunday night, I decide I didn't get enough and I cook 5 burritos to eat for lunch all week. On Wednesday at work, I might say, "These are delicious leftovers!"

My coworkers might get the impression that I had burritos for dinner the night before. Again, what could I use instead of leftovers in this case?

(This is my first question on this site, feel free to edit and improve.)

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  • Your friends brought you a "doggie bag".
    – Drew
    Commented May 4, 2015 at 22:42
  • Since there's nothing materially different with these untouched burritos vs a newly-purchased or cooked burrito, I see no need to distinguish them.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented May 4, 2015 at 22:47
  • If the food items were cooked/purchased with the intent of eating sooner, but said eating was deferred somehow then they're "leftovers". There's no requirement for any of the items to have been partially eaten. And even if twice as much food as needed was intentionally prepared for the prior mean, with the intent that there be, well, "leftovers" for later consumption, it's still "leftovers".
    – Hot Licks
    Commented May 5, 2015 at 0:08
  • Leftovers that haven't been eaten? Leftovers that have been eaten are, alas, no longer leftovers. By definition, leftovers are left over, after eating.
    – Drew
    Commented May 5, 2015 at 1:42
  • Example 1: you've used "extra", which works. "Spare" could also work especially if they knew someone would want it but not who. Example 2: you've just made your lunch in advance.
    – Chris H
    Commented May 5, 2015 at 8:06

3 Answers 3

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The correct term is

  • Planned-Overs

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Plannedovers

Sometimes spelled as Planned Overs http://plannedovers.com/

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Leftovers works fine in the first case. Food left over from a meal.

In the second case, it is not correct. You intentionally cooked some food in advance for the week; you didn't cook and serve the extra food, and save what was not eaten.

The inaccuracy in the second case is so slight that it would rarely create confusion. It would be a useful shortcut in most cases.

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"looking for a word that is similar to leftovers"

Before leftovers were called leftovers, they were called relics, and, before that, relief. Citation from Farlex Trivia Dictionary, see TFD leftover

For your second example, food purchased and/or prepared with foresight against a coming need (work, travel, etc.), “provisions" might be useful.

provisions noun: b. necessary supplies, such as food and clothing, as for a journey. See TFD provision

And, of course, there is always my Granny’s favorite term for food items, in general,

victual noun

1. food fit for human consumption.

2. food supplies; provisions.

Usage Note: Victual is properly pronounced (vĭt′l), with two syllables and no (k) sound. It was borrowed in the 1300s from the Old French form vitaille, which had stress and a diphthong in the second syllable, but the word was Anglicized after that to put the stress up front in the manner of most native English words. The spelling with c (and a little later with u) has a long history too, in both French and English. This spelling is a learned one, showing off the knowledge that the word came from Late Latin victuālia, "provisions." The word is now usually spelled victual, or on occasion vittle, but the pronunciation has remained (vĭt′l). Citation from American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, see TFD victual

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