Reduce your food waste by saving vegetable scraps in your freezer to make your own homemade vegetable broth!
I hate food waste. I try very hard to plan meals around what needs to be used up first, freezing anything that can be frozen if needed, and finding new purposes for leftovers. But even when I am the most diligent there are still bits of waste that could be of use still.
I’m talking about all the scraps that arise from peeling and chopping vegetables for various recipes or general eating. Sure it may not seem like much, but we have not purchased our own vegetable broth (or poultry stock) because we make our own out of the scraps!
We do have a composter but not all food scraps should be pigeon-holed into one role, at least not at first. Instead, start a new habit to celebrate #NationalStopFoodWasteDay and save those vegetable scraps in a gallon sized zip-top freezer bag until it is stuffed full.
Things that you should save for vegetable broth include: onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, tomato, squash guts, mushroom stems, garlic skins, and herb stems (parsley, rosemary, thyme).
However, these should not go into your broth: stems from leafy greens, zucchini, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, potato, and beets. Basically, no starchy veggies. Save those scraps for the compost pile.
When you are ready, all you need are bay leaves, water, and a large stock pot. Once processed, you can can the broth or freeze it until you are ready to use it. And those boiled vegetables? Now you can toss them into the composter!
Let cool completely before transferring broth to a sealed container. If using within a few days, store in refrigerator. Otherwise, store in freezer for up to 6-8 months.
National Stop Food Waste Day
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FAQ
How do you store homemade stock in the freezer?
How long will homemade broth last in freezer?
Can you freeze vegetable stock?
Make a large portion of vegetable stock, then freeze some for later use. While homemade vegetable stock will stay safe to eat indefinitely, freezer storage of stock beyond two to three months can impart some off flavors in the finished dish. Freeze stock in containers of many sizes.
Do frozen vegetables make a good stock?
A stock made with frozen vegetable scraps isn’t by any means a beautiful stock, and if you’re only using vegetables and aren’t adding anything with collagen (meat, basically), it will have no gelatin in it, which means it will lack body and, as a result, will never thicken, no matter how much you reduce it.
Can you use frozen vegetables to make chicken stock?
To use frozen vegetable scraps to make chicken stock (preferably from a stripped carcass): Simmer the carcass along with a bay leaf in water to cover for about three hours (one hour in a pressure cooker on high), then add the frozen vegetable scraps to the pot of chicken stock in the final 15 minutes of cooking.
How do you make a vegetable stock?
To make a vegetable stock, place the contents of your freezer bag or whichever vegetables scraps in whatever ratios you’ve chosen in a pot, add a bay leaf if you want, cover everything with water, bring the water to a boil, reduce it to a simmer, and let it all cook for 10 minutes, and no longer.