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Chili, definitely. Spanish rice. Chocolate chip cookie dough gets refrigerated overnight before baking. Bread pudding. Spaghetti sauce.

I watched that episoce too. has to dowith the gelatinization of the meat...

chili, stew, soup...

In school we learned that it had to do with flavors continuing to penetrate all ingredients - which is why things like chili and soup (meatless as well as meat) taste better the next day.

Anything braised...in fact, making a Pot Roast today for Thursday night dinner.

its definately true!

I agree that soup, chili and lasagna taste better the next day.

Chocolate cake.

marinara sauce, fried chicken. I get fried chicken just so i can eat it the next day.

@southern_bella--I am so with you on the Sangria!

Definitely with beef burgundy and beef stew, not so much with chili or lasagna.

Pizza, lasagna, chilli, stews, curry dishes, beer cheese soup....the list goes on...something about the melding of the flavors. And sometimes it's necessary, because then other flavors come out that you didn't have before, or were too subtle. :)

Mmm stews, curries, and soups are always great the next day!

I'm not so fond of cream sauces, but I really don't like them the next day. Same with most seafood, e.g., cioppino.

for me, it's eggplant parmesan, pasta sauce, chili, and most stews.

Marinara sauce, minestrone, and definitely sangria! It has fruit in it--that counts as food.

Any pasta sauces, soups, pizza.

Surprised nobody mentioned it here, but anything with vinegar in it tastes much better the next day, to the point that a lot of my mom's cooking was done a day in advance for holidays and such so it could "rest" for a day.

Potato salad, sauces with a bit of sweet&sour to them, etc are all definitely better the next day.

Definitely agree with you all about yummy leftovers. One thing that tastes BAD the next day, however, is leftover cauliflower cheese! YUCK.

Our family's oyster dressing for the turkey.

@Southern Bella...Mmmmm Sangria....Mmmmm

Onto the food:
My mom's banana pudding is amazing the day after. And of course the usual, tomato sauce, lasagna, and cheesecake!

Cabbage Rolls. Cabbage stuffed with burger and rice simmered in tomato juice and sauerkraut (NOT baked). More delicious as each day passes. Some people call them Pigs in a Blanket, but in my neck of the woods, those are sausage links wrapped in pancakes or biscuits.

Everything! And cold! Or best of all, half hot and half cold mixed together! People don't like to eat with me :P

spaghetti and meatballs... cold.

There's the old English rhyme:

"Peas porridge hot,
peas porridge cold,
peas porridge in the pot
nine days old."

I'm guessing they probably peaked around day 3, but the tradition has been around for a long time. As for me, I once made a mango salsa that was horrible, but I threw it in the fridge anyway. The next day it was sublime. I've also found good luck with overnight resting some of the rural French dishes like daube and coq au vin.

Word up on Meatloaf!

TABOULI!
Mac and cheese.
My cous cous salad. mmmmmm.

Let me put in a quick exception: I made a pasta e fagioli with blue potatoes a few weeks ago, which tasted fantastic (they've got a great texture for soup), but then after sitting in the fridge overnight, I had a bowl full of navy-blue soup. It was a bit off-putting, though of course the taste was fine.

Hmm, I think a navy blue soup would be fun to eat!

tzatziki

also - anything that is a roasted veggie marinated in a vinaigrette, especially eggplant or a root vegetable

kasha varnishkes -- toasted buckwheat groats with bowtie pasta. it's ten times more flavorful heated up the next day.

spice cakes always have deeper flavors when they age a bit.

Well gosh, yes! A partial list: beef or pork meatloaf (turkey meatloaf does not age as well), red chili (white chicken chili not so much), lasagna, my mom's brisket and sweet and sour meatballs, scallped potato and ham casserole, asparagus vinaigrette, English-style baked pudding (chocolate-orange!), ham and cranberry beans or white beans, cold sesame noodles, and khao soi (but reheat gently so that the coconut milk does not curdle).

The follow-up question should be what only really is good the first day . . . or the first hour or two!

As long as it's not baked, I feel like flavor improves. Certainly in my chili and chicken soup!

@hungrychristel

Ok, here it is:

14 oz. Condensed Milk
1 1/2 C. Cold Water
1 Small package of Instant Vanilla Pudding
2 C. Whipping Cream
36 Vanilla Wafers (this is what the recipe calls for, but we usually wing it)
3 Bananas Sliced & dipped in lemon juice (we normally add more Naner's)

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat condensed milk, water, and pudding mix. Chill for 5 minutes. Fold in whipping cream. Layer the pudding, banana's, and wafers, in a large bowl or trifle dish.

Enjoy!

@Mizbee: I was thinking the same thing!

I would have to say Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, Lasagne.

But never anything cold. I respect the leftovers. :)

Banana pudding, chili, Green chile,and meatloaf.

@nightowl. funny. Although, if I had to eat a musician (Plane in Andes had to) I think I would go for Ted Nugent. He's drug free and organic. He also sweats a lot, which I think would be some sort of marinade. Meatloaf would probably be too fatty.

Any cake is usually better the next day!

I like leftover potato salad - it seems to develop flavors when left in the frig for a few hours.

@CarolynEats;

THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Your mom's recipe looks great!
I've tried way too many low-quality recipes with bad results--

--kudos on the vanilla wafers too! Right on!

Definitely chili. and someone above said Kimchi Jigae - absolutely agreed. and also Dak Doritang (Korean spicy chicken and potato stew)

Any tomato based dish, meatloaf, beef stews, cooked beans, baked yams, vegetarian casseroles, tuna salad. If we have takeout leftovers, we keep them for no more than one additional day.