What To Do With Vegetable Scraps

What To Do With Vegetable Scraps: 3 Smart and Sustainable Ideas

In our house, we go through a lot of fresh vegetables, especially in summertime from the garden—and with that comes a surprising amount of vegetable scraps. If you’re like me, tossing all that food waste in the trash just doesn’t sit right.

Recently also, our small town initiated an organics waste program where garbage is now picked up every second week, and organic waste is picked up weekly. They gave us a bin to throw our food scraps and discarded vegetables into, which is great, until it is winter, and the bottom of the bin starts getting liquid in it then the veggie scraps all freeze to it and don't fall out when the pick up truck comes.

Or in the summer when the heat is cooking those waste scraps in the bin and they either smell awful and attract visitors, or they produce maggots. It's a great idea, I am just saying, it's not ideal.

Over the years, I’ve found a few smart, sustainable, and super simple ways to reuse those scraps right in the kitchen. And it has been great showing our kids that you don't have to throw these vegetable peels, egg shells, coffee grounds and more out; rather, they can be used in really amazing ways around the house (see my kitchen scraps I'm saving below!)

So, if you’ve been wondering what to do with your vegetable scraps, here are my three favorite ways to use them up: through countertop composting, making tasty homemade vegetable broth and feeding scraps to your pets in a safe way.

1. Compost Your Vegetable Scraps

One of the easiest ways to keep food waste out of the landfill is by composting. It’s not just for people with big gardens either—anyone can do it. Whether you live in a small apartment or on a farm, you can find a way to compost your kitchen scraps and vegetables, and enrich soil at the same time.

Here are my kitchen scraps composted:

Composting for Beginners

If you’re brand new to home composting, here’s how I started: I began saving vegetable peels, onion skins, leafy tops, and even coffee grounds in a small kitchen counter food scrap container. It keeps everything tidy, and the charcoal filter helps with odors. When the container is full, I transfer it to either our outdoor compost pile or into our countertop composter.

How to Compost Kitchen Waste in Apartments

Not everyone has a backyard, which is why I’m such a huge fan of the countertop composter. This little appliance changed the game for us—it dries, grinds, and cools kitchen scraps overnight, turning them into a completely dry, odorless compost that’s easy to store and use later.

Here's my bucket I am saving of my kitchen compost:

If you’re in a small space, it’s a great way to get started with composting and reduce waste without dealing with outdoor bins, yard waste, or animals getting into things. It’s one of the best tools we’ve found for food scrap recycling.

We collect food scraps every day in our countertop compost container which literally sits on the kitchen counter—think of vegetables like garlic skins, mushroom stems, carrot peels, celery, vegetable tops, and even herb stems like parsley, thyme, and rosemary. All those veggie scraps that used to head to the trash now go toward creating compost that benefits our garden. It’s simple, rewarding, and makes me feel good every time I do it.

What is a countertop composter?

I could sing about this one from the rooftop lol. My husband laughs every time we have guests over who ask what it is because he knows I'm about to show them EVERYTHING including the dirt bucket I am saving from the compost it makes in our pantry!

It is actually my favorite kitchen appliance because I can literally add my vegetables and scraps, push a button and in several hours, I will have dry, nutrient rich compost that I can add to my indoor potted plants or save in a bucket for gardening season.

All winter, I have been using my electric kitchen composter and saving my soil in a big white bucket I keep in the pantry. As soon as it's planting time outside, I will bring it out with me and mix it into the holes I dig for my seedlings to go into. I especially love it because I get all my eggshells into the composter which is fantastic for seedlings.

Check out the FoodCycler I use HERE

Read more about countertop composters here

2. Making Homemade Vegetable Broth from Scraps

Another of my absolute favorite things to do with veggie scraps is make homemade vegetable broth. It’s easy, delicious, and completely customizable depending on what vegetables and herb stems you’ve been using lately.

Here’s what I do:

I save frozen vegetable scraps in a large freezer bag (you could use any reusable container, but I love the convenience of a ziplock) and store it in the freezer so now I essentially have frozen vegetable peels.

These are usually vegetable scraps like carrot peels, onion skins, leafy greens, green onions, garlic cloves, mushroom stems, celery tops, and even herbs that are about to go bad. Just make sure to wash your fresh vegetables well before peeling and double-check for any of those produce stickers—they don’t belong in your broth!

Once the freezer bag is full, I dump the contents into a big pot, add warm water, and let it simmer for several hours with the lid off. The result? A rich, flavor-packed vegetable broth that’s perfect for soups, rice, risotto, or other recipes. After it cools, I strain it and freeze the broth for later. You can also use this same method to make chicken stock if you’ve saved bones or carcasses from roasted chickens.

Making your own vegetable broth from frozen vegetable tops and peelings is one of the easiest ways to add more flavor to your cooking. Plus, it feels good knowing you’re stretching your ingredients further and not letting anything go to waste.

3. Feeding Vegetable Scraps to Your Pets in a Safe Way

First of all, I will share what we do, and that is save our kitchen scraps for our chickens. If you raise backyard chickens, then vegetable scraps are basically free chicken treats. Our chickens (and turkeys!) love broccoli stalks, leafy greens, carrots, and onion ends—just no citrus or moldy foods. They love most other veggie trimmings.

To keep things easy, I use a separate reusable container on the counter just for chicken food. This way, I can quickly separate scraps as I’m chopping vegetables, and at the end of the day, I bring the container out to the coop.

Not only does this help reduce waste, but it also helps save money on chicken feed, and gets me those really golden egg yolks from all the nutrients the chickens are getting.

I will share that they eat so much more of these scraps if they go through a food processor first.

Here are some vegetable scraps I have put through the food processor, they are much easier for the birds to pick at and they get all eaten up this way:

You can see this exact pile of food we processed for the chickens, they absolutely love when we bring them scraps like this:

See the food processor we use here

I promised I would share something with you here if you are not a backyard chicken keeper, and that is you can make homemade pet treats with your vegetable scraps. Specifically, I am talking about homemade dog treats.

If you know what dogs can and can't eat, you can keep those food scraps separate and grind them up and dehydrate them to be added to DIY doggy treats!

Food waste scraps you can save to make diy dog treats:

• Pumpkin

• Broccoli

• Carrots

• Green beans

• Kale and spinach

• Brussels sprouts

• Zucchini

• Sweet potatoes

Save these scraps, use a food processor to make them small pieces, and use a dehydrator to dry them out and add to homemade dog treats, or, simply add them right to your dog's food if their stomach is good with these ingredients!

Read more about dehydrators here

(This is an article about finding the best dehydrator forjerky, but the exact same principles apply if you want to make dog treats if you are wondering what to look for).

This is the dehydrator we use

Watch our video on our YouTube channel showing the dehydrator we use below:

Final Thoughts on Uses for Vegetable Scraps

So, whether you’re saving scraps for a homemade vegetable stock, feeding veggie scraps to your chickens, or putting them in your compost pile or compost bin, there are plenty of ways to reuse what would otherwise be food waste. Every little bit counts when it comes to vegetable scraps recycling—and I love knowing that these small actions are making a difference in our home and garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do with vegetable scraps instead of throwing them away?
There are plenty of useful and sustainable ways to reuse vegetable scraps! You can compost them, feed them to backyard chickens, or make homemade vegetable broth or vegetable stock. Each method helps reduce food waste and can even help you save money.

Can I compost vegetable scraps in an apartment?
Yes! How to compost kitchen waste in apartments is a common question, and the answer is simpler than you might think. A countertop composter is a fantastic solution. It breaks down vegetable scraps quickly and without smell, creating a dry, usable compost perfect for potted plants or garden beds.

How do you make homemade vegetable broth from scraps?
Start your vegetable broth by saving vegetable scraps like onion skins, carrot peels, garlic skins, and herb stems in a freezer bag.

Once it’s full, dump it into a pot with warm water, bring to a boil, then let it simmer for a few hours. Strain and freeze your tasty homemade vegetable broth to use later in soups and other recipes. Always make sure your vegetables are washed before peeling, and remove any stickers before storing scraps.

What scraps are best for vegetable broth?
Great options include onion skins, carrots, celery tops, mushroom stems, garlic cloves, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Avoid cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cabbage if you’re sensitive to strong flavor.

They can make your broth bitter. Collect everything in a Ziplock bag and keep your veggies in the freezer. Once enough frozen vegetable scraps are collected, it's time to make broth!

Can I freeze vegetable scraps for later?
Absolutely! I always keep a dedicated freezer bag for frozen vegetable scraps. It makes collecting easy, and when I’m ready to cook, everything is already prepped and ready to boil. Just be sure to wash everything before freezing.

What’s the difference between vegetable broth and vegetable stock?
They’re very similar, and often used interchangeably. Vegetable stock is a liquid that is typically made with more neutral, balanced ingredients and used as a base in soup recipes, while vegetable broth can be a little more seasoned and enjoyed on its own.

Both can be made from veggie peels and kitchen scraps and are great ways to add more flavor to your cooking.

Wondering what else you can dehydrate for snacks, preserves and use as décor?

How To Dry Flowers

How To Dehydrate Mushrooms

How To Dehydrate Strawberries For A Healthy Snack!

How To Dry Orange Slices for Drinks, Garnishes & Décor

DIY Healthy Banana Chips

The BEST DEHYDRATOR (Check today's price!)

Here are some other resources you may be interested in:

BEST Ways To Use Natural Beeswax In Your Home!

Where To Buy Real Beeswax

Shop for the BEST USA-made cast iron cookware HERE

Shop for beeswax wraps here

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