61% of Irish people bin BBQ leftovers — here's how to stop

If you’ve ever stood at a BBQ scraping half a bowl of soggy pasta salad into the bin while silently calculating how much that actually cost you, you are not alone.

New research from food waste app Too Good To Go has shone a light on just how much food Irish households are binning after summer barbecues — and the numbers are fairly eye-opening. According to a survey of 1,000 people carried out by OnePoll, a whopping 61% of us admit to throwing out leftovers after a BBQ. That’s nearly two thirds of people chucking food that was bought, prepped and served, straight into the bin once the garden chairs are folded away.

The biggest culprit? Salad. Half of all respondents said salad is the most commonly wasted BBQ food — which, honestly, tracks. Side dishes and bread both came in at 30%, which feels about right when you consider the number of bread rolls that survive every single barbecue untouched and somehow still don’t get used the next day.

Why does it keep happening?

The main reason people gave for the waste was simply overestimating how much food guests would eat — cited by more than 60% of respondents. There’s a very real anxiety that kicks in when you’re hosting, that creeping fear of not having enough, which almost always results in buying too much. Throw in the fact that 45% of people said food spoils faster in warm weather, and 22% mentioned a lack of outdoor refrigeration or suitable storage, and it’s easy to see how a fun afternoon in the garden can quietly become an expensive waste of food.

Machaela O’Leary, Key Accounts Manager at Too Good To Go, put it plainly: “Summer BBQs are a great way to bring people together, but they can also lead to significant food waste if we’re not mindful about planning portions and storing food correctly. Small changes such as preparing realistic quantities, keeping food chilled, and finding creative ways to reuse leftovers can make a big difference.”

She also made the point that this isn’t just a planet problem — it’s a pocket problem too. With almost half of those surveyed estimating they spend more than €20 on food for each BBQ session, any food that goes in the bin is money gone with it.

Making leftovers actually work for you

The good news is that a bit of forward planning goes a long way. Too Good To Go has shared some practical tips for cutting waste at your next outdoor gathering, and none of them require a spreadsheet or a culinary degree.

• Plan portions based on the actual number of guests rather than worst-case-scenario anxiety

• Keep salads and anything perishable refrigerated right up until you’re ready to serve

• Store leftovers promptly once eating is done — don’t leave things sitting out

• Repurpose leftover bread, salad and cooked meats into lunches and next-day meals

• Freeze any surplus food where possible before it turns

That last one is genuinely useful. Leftover cooked sausages and burgers can be sliced and thrown into a pasta the next evening. Leftover salad leaves wilting in the fridge? Blend them into a soup before they’re fully gone. It’s not glamorous, but it works.

A small shift that adds up

Between the school lunches, the weekly shop and the general cost of keeping a household running, most of us don’t have a lot of room in the budget for waste. BBQ season is genuinely one of the most enjoyable parts of an Irish summer — rare sunshine, kids running around the garden, a bit of ease after a long school year. It’s worth putting in a little bit of thought beforehand so that the fun doesn’t come with a side order of guilt when you’re clearing the table.

Too Good To Go connects users with local food businesses to rescue unsold food from going to waste. In Ireland alone, the app has helped save over 2 million surprise bags through more than 880,000 registered users. Find out more at toogoodtogo.com.