Vegetable Stock from Scraps

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Vegetable Stock from scraps couldn’t be easier! Just save your leftover kitchen scraps! So flavorful and healthy! A great way to reduce your food waste, as well! Freeze for at least 6-8 months in freezer bags!

Waste not, want not. How many times did I hear this growing up? Countless! Making your own Vegetable Stock from Kitchen Scraps is a perfect way to utilize perfectly good ingredients that would have ended up in a landfill!

I saw this idea on Pinterest whilst scrolling through looking for new inspiration a few years ago.

Funny story. When I mentioned it to my Mother, her response was, “Oh Julia (Child) used to do that years ago!” (In her haughty tone! 🙂 ) Of course she did. Julia pretty much did it all, didn’t she?

What you need

• kitchen vegetable scraps
• water

What scraps to use

• onion skins and ends
• garlic skins and ends
• celery ends
• carrot ends
• asparagus ends
• cabbage ends & leaves
• Brussels sprouts ends & outer leaves
• potato skins
• tomato cores
• pepper cores
• turnip peels
• butternut/ acorn squash peels
• pumpkin peels
• squash ends and seeds
• any fresh herbs or leaves

How to save scraps for using

Anyway, to make this vegetable stock, just save all of the small ends, skins and stems from the vegetables you are using for your meal preparation. I just put them all in a plastic gallon freezer bag.

Every time I have new scrap to add to the bag, I pull it out and then pop it right back in the freezer.

Once the bag is full, just throw all of the scraps in your crockpot or dutch oven on the stove (cook for 1-2 hours on stove) and barely cover with water.

Let them cook on low for about 5 hours. Strain the solids from the stock. Then place the stock in freezer bags, or jars and use it in all of your favorite dishes!

Pro Tip; Do not use too many of the very strong vegetables in one batch. Such as; Brussels sprouts, broccoli, turnip, beets. Also don’t use very strong herbs in too great quantities, or it will overpower the stock. Such as; rosemary, sage, thyme, cilantro, etc.

How to make it

1. Place frozen scraps in slow cooker. Cover with water.
2. Turn on slow cooker. Cook low setting for about 5 hours.
3. Strain solids through sieve.

How to make it on the stovetop

• Place scraps in large Dutch oven.
• Bring to boil.
• Reduce heat to simmer.
• Simmer about 2 hours, until scraps are soft and stock has a nice color.
• Strain solids. Store in jars in refrigerator or freeze in freezer containers.

Since every batch will have different scraps in different quantities, every batch will be different. I have done this stock for many years and have never had a batch that I didn’t like.

It’s great to be able to pull a bag out of the freezer to substitute for the water or chicken stock that I normally use! It stores in the refrigerator, in sterile pint canning jars, for several weeks, as well.

How to store it

You can place cooled stock in freezer bags and freeze for close to a year. Store it in the refrigerator for at least a week, or two.

What to do with it?

Use your stock in soups, stews, rice dishes, potatoes, gravy, anything you would normally use stock in.

Recipes to use it in

• Curried Carrot Soup
• Venison Soup
• Best damn pot roast
• Venison stew
• Asparagus soup

Have you ever made Vegetable Stock from Kitchen Scraps? It is so easy, you should really give it a try! Then let me know what you think!!

If you grow your own produce, you will have lots of scraps! Learn how to plant a garden in our How to Start a Garden Series! The first part is Planning Your Garden! Second is Preparing the Garden Site.

The third is Choosing Plants and Planting Your Garden. The fourth is Garden Maintenance, and the last is Harvesting a Garden and Preserving the Harvest, this post has over 100 FREE recipes for preserving your harvest!

Enjoy! And have fun cooking!

Originally published 2/27/2018 Last updated 6/1/2020