04/01/2026
One of the easiest ways to stretch your groceries and waste less in the kitchen is saving scraps for homemade broth. Instead of throwing things away while you cook, keep a gallon freezer bag in your freezer and add to it throughout the week.
Vegetable scraps that work well include onion skins and ends, garlic skins, carrot peels and tops, celery ends and leaves, mushroom stems, and herb stems like parsley or thyme. Avoid things like broccoli, cabbage, or anything bitter because they can make the broth taste strong.
If you cook whole chickens or bone in cuts of meat, save those too. Chicken carcasses, wing tips, backs, beef bones, and even the bones from a roasted chicken all make excellent broth. I keep a separate freezer bag just for bones.
Once your bag is full, it’s time to make broth. Place the scraps and bones into a large stock pot or slow cooker. Fill with water until everything is covered by a few inches. You can add a teaspoon or two of salt, a splash of apple cider vinegar to help pull minerals from the bones, and any extra herbs you like.
Bring the pot to a gentle simmer and let it cook slowly. Vegetable broth usually needs about 3-4 hours. Bone broth can simmer much longer, anywhere from 24to 48 hours depending on how rich you want it.
When it’s finished, strain the broth through a fine strainer or cheesecloth to remove all the solids. What you’re left with is a rich, golden broth that can be used for soups, cooking rice, sauces, or sipping on its own.
If you want to preserve it for the pantry, broth must be pressure canned. Fill hot jars with the strained broth leaving 1 inch of headspace, wipe the rims clean, and place on lids and rings. Process pints for 20 minutes or quarts for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.
After the jars cool, check that each lid has sealed. The center should be firm and not flex when pressed. Remove the rings, wipe the jars clean, label them, and store in a cool pantry. If any jar did not seal, simply refrigerate it and use within a few days.
It’s one of the simplest kitchen habits that saves money, reduces waste, and keeps a steady supply of broth on the shelf. Those little scraps add up to something really useful.
