Homemade Vegetable Scrap Stock

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A simple, sustainable way to turn kitchen scraps into a rich, flavorful broth—perfect for soups, stews, and sauces! Ingredients

Prep Time10

Cook Time2

Total Time2 10

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade vegetable stock, vegetable scrap stock

Servings: cups

Calories: 0.3kcal

About 1 to 2 pints of vegetable scraps Roughly a half-full produce bag. Such as onion peels, garlic skins, tomato stems, celery ends, carrot peels, and broccoli stems
5 to 6 cups water enough to cover the scraps
2 bay leaves
5 to 7 whole peppercorns

Collect & Store Scraps: As you cook, save vegetable scraps in a freezer-safe bag until you have about 1 to 2 pints (a produce bag about half full).
Simmer the Stock: Transfer the scraps to a medium-sized pot and fill with 5 to 6 cups of water, just enough to cover. Add bay leaves, peppercorns, and a pinch of salt (or skip if planning to salt later
Cook: Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Let cook for about 2 hours, or until the stock is deeply colored and fragrant.
Strain: Let the stock cool slightly. Remove large vegetable pieces first, then strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve.
Store: Pour into mason jars (about 6 cups total) and refrigerate for up to 5 days. For longer storage, freeze in resealable bags—lay them flat in the freezer for easy stacking.

💧 Don’t Overfill With Water: Only add enough water to cover the vegetables in the pot. Too much water can dilute the flavor of your stock.

🧅 Be Mindful of Onion Color: Red or purple onion skins can darken the color of the stock, but the flavor stays the same. If you prefer a lighter, golden stock, use yellow or white onion peels.

🌿 Add Flavor Boosters: Add 2 bay leaves and about 5–7 whole peppercorns for a deeper, more layered flavor. These are optional, but they make a nice difference.

🧂 Skip the Salt if Needed: If you plan to reduce the stock or use it in recipes that already include salt, leave the salt out of the stock to keep things balanced.

🚫 Toss Spoiled Scraps: Don’t use moldy or rotten vegetables. It’s fine if scraps are a little tired or soft, but anything spoiled should go in the compost or trash, not the stock pot.