Frugal Vegetable Scrap Stock - Greedy Girl Gourmet

This Easy Frugal Vegetable Scrap Stock is a great way to use up leftovers and make your vegetables go a bit further! There isn't a formulaic recipe to making this, as it's about using up what you have, but I've include a few tips & tricks for getting the best flavoured stock.

Scrap spring onions, mushroom stems, and carrot peels in a pot.

Ingredients

This is a leftovers recipe, so you basically use whatever vegetable scraps you have on hand with a few "rules":

Avoid cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cruciferous, as they can make the stock bitter
Using mushroom stems in the stock will help give your broth a more umami flavour.
WASH your veggies WELL: you can use garlic skins, onion ends, carrot tops etc but they must all be free of soil and dirt!
Consider the color of your final dish (if applicable): Adding skins and peels will change the color of your stock. If your dish needs to be light or white in color, you might want to skip the carrot peels and onion skins for that round of veggie broth.
Add herb scraps that are complementary in flavor for example, I would use ginger and lemongrass scraps in the same pot, but would hesitate to use parsley and galangal in 1 pot

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

Tip #1: I like to freeze my veggies in dedicated zip lock bags (e.g. a bag for carrot peels, a bag for mushroom stems etc.) However, you can also freeze a mix bag with various scraps inside- just note that each round of stock will then have a different flavor (As each bag of scraps will have a different variety of scraps.)

Tip #2: The resulting stock will not have any body as there is no gelatin in the veggies, unlike with chicken broth. (It will not thicken.)

Tip #3: You can add the veggie scraps to chicken stock but only add them in the last 10 minutes of cooking the chicken bones!

Tip #4:

You can use this vegetable scrap stock to cook grains and rice, but it won't make a very flavourful sauce. (This recipe helps you be frugal but it is NOT the sock to use when cooking for someone you want to impress!)

🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions

Method 1: Thawing the veggies

Thaw the frozen veggie scraps in the fridge. Simmer for 10 minutes, strain.

Note: If you thaw the frozen veggie scraps before cooking, don't simmer the stock for more than 15 minutes or the stock will become overly sweet. (As SeriousEats shared, vegetables' flavor is more pronounced when thawed after freezing.)

OR Method 2: Simmer from frozen

Alternatively, bring the frozen veggies to the boil in a pot. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, strain.

🥡 How to Store

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes

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