How to make vegetable stock out of scraps | Zero Waste Tutorial

Before chucking vegetable scraps in the compost, I sometimes try to get just a little bit more utility out of them by making vegetable stock or broth out of them.

If you google vegetable stock recipes, you’ll find a ton that yield more predictable results than just using scraps. You can definitely make stock using a carefully-curated collection of ingredients, which is great if you can spare the veggies and are particular about the outcome.

Why make your own vegetable stock?

Homemade vegetable stock is free of packaging and replaces liquid stock in cartons or powdered cubes. You can use in soups or to add flavour to all kinds of dishes. Making stock out of scraps is also a good way to extract the maximum nutrition from your vegetables.

It also costs almost nothing if you make it out of scraps and healthier as it contains not additives and you can control the amount of salt in it.

Homemade vegetable stock tutorial

Ingredients:

Technically, you can use any combination of vegetable scraps to make stock, but certain ingredients give it more flavour and should be proritised. I’ve put an asterisk (*) next to ingredients that it’s good to have in greater quantities.

This list is not exhaustive—you can use any vegetable scraps you have on hand, but in general starchy vegetables like potato and pumpkin should be used in small quantities. I like to collecft my scraps in the freezer until I have enough to make a batch of stock.

• Carrot tops and peel*
• Onion skins*
• Celery leaves*
• Leek leaves and roots*
• Garlic peel
• Lettuce stumps
• Bell pepper cores and tops
• Eggplant tops
• Broccoli stumps
• Potato peel
• Beetroot leaves
• Cucumber peel
• Tomato tops and peel
• Zucchini tops and peel

* Good to have in greater quantities

If you want to give your stock a better flavour, you can add the following:

• Fresh crushed garlic cloves
• Herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro or bay leaves

NOTE: When preparing vegetables whose scraps you intend to use for stock, make sure you wash them thoroughly to get rid of any soil or dirt, which will ruin the taste of your stock. This is easier to do before you prepare the vegetables than after you’ve cut and peeled them!

Step 1

Put all your scraps into a pot.

Step 2

Pour water into the pot until it just covers the scraps.

Step 3

Simmer for 1 to 2 hours, depending on how concentrated you want the stock to be.

Step 4

Strain the stock using a colander, and keep only the liquid.

Store your homemade vegetable stock in the fridge and add it to all sorts of soups and dishes for a dash of flavour!

You should generally try to use the stock within 4-7 days. I sometimes keep mine in the fridge for close to two weeks, but if you’re going to do likewise always taste it before adding it to your cooking to make sure it hasn’t gone bad.