How to Make Stock from Kitchen Scraps

Learn how to transform leftover kitchen scraps into homemade vegetable stock or bone broth. Reduce food waste and create something delicious!

or read on for common questions and answers

Transforming Kitchen Scraps into Liquid Gold

I love incorporating this age-old restaurant technique into my home cooking.

In professional kitchens, we learn quickly that every little piece of food is flavor. Scraps that home cooks often throw away, like vegetable peels, herb stems, or bones and skin, can be turned into something delicious.

That’s why everything is saved, labeled, and turned into different stocks—vegetable, chicken, beef, etc.—and used for soups, stews, sauces, and braises.

Homemade stock is the foundation for many recipes and an instant flavor booster. The best part is it can easily be frozen and pulled out when needed. The scraps can also be frozen until there are enough to make a batch of stock.

It’s so versatile, delicious, and cost-effective, so please start saving your food scraps! Before we get into the steps to make homemade stock and a simple soup from it, I’m going to cover a few common questions first.

What scraps are best for stock?

Vegetable scraps:

• Carrot peels, tops, and ends

• Onion peels and ends

• Corn cobs

• Pea pods

• Celery leaves and ends

• Mushroom stems

• Leek tops and ends

• Tomato tops and guts

• Herb stems like parsley, thyme, and rosemary

• Vegetables like celery that are beginning to wilt or tomatoes that may be overripe, as long as they are frozen or used before they start to spoil 

Meat scraps:

• Raw bones from poultry or red meat animals

• Cooked bones, meat bits, and skin from whole roasts, rotisserie chicken, bone-in chops, and scraps off dinner plates

• Meat trimmings such as skin, silverskin, or connective tissue

• Fish bones or heads

Scraps to avoid:

• Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts can overpower the stock

• Large quantities of bitter vegetables like kale stems, dandelion green stems, or turnip greens

• Potatoes or other starchy vegetables

• Spoiled, moldy, or scraps covered with dirt

• Highly pigmented vegetables like beets or purple carrots can make your stock bright pink (unless that’s what you’re going for?)

How long can you store kitchen scraps for stock?

I like to freeze vegetable or meat scraps right away in a zip-top bag.

It’s the best way to store them until there are enough to make a stock since everyday cooking only produces small amounts.

Frozen scraps are good for 6 months.

Should scraps be roasted for stock?

Yes and no.

Roasting bones and vegetables can add a deeper flavor, but it's not strictly necessary. If you're using already cooked or roasted scraps, or if you want a lighter-tasting stock, you can skip the roasting step.

How to balance flavors in a stock?

Use a good mix of scraps, avoiding too many of the same type.

Think of it this way: if you make a stock with only onion skins, it will be bitter and overpowering. Similarly, using only sweet vegetables like carrots or corn cobs will result in a very sweet stock.

The classic base ingredients for stock, referred to as “mirepoix” in French culinary terms, are:

• 2 parts onions

• 1 part carrots

• 1 part celery

• Optional in small quantities: garlic, leeks, tomato paste, bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley stems, thyme

These mirepoix ingredients are all you need for a simple vegetable stock. For a meat-based stock, add bones along with the mirepoix and optionally wine.

Try to follow the classic mirepoix ratios when making your stock from kitchen scraps, but use similar ingredients you have on hand. You can also add a whole carrot or onion to balance the flavors, depending on the primary contents of your scraps.

An exception to this rule is meat scraps and mushroom stems. You can make a stock with only those ingredients, but they will still benefit from the addition of a mirepoix for depth of flavor.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Ingredients

For stock:

• 1 large freezer bag worth of kitchen scraps (about 2 pounds or 1 kilo)

• For meat-based stock: rotisserie chicken carcass, skin, leftover meat bits and bones from dinner plates, any vegetable scraps, etc.

• For vegetable-based stock: mushroom stems, vegetable scraps such as carrot peels, onion skins, leek tops, herb stems, etc. 

• Optional flavor enhancers: 

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

• 2 garlic cloves

• 4 quarts (liters) water

For simple soup:

• 2 potatoes, diced

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 carrots, diced

• 1 pound (454 g) shredded cooked chicken

• 1 lemon, juiced

• salt, to taste

Equipment

• Pot and heat source

• Strainer and bowl

Makes: 3 quarts/liters stock

Prep: 2 min  Cook: 1 - 4 hours

How to make it

Step 1

Combine stock ingredients.

Place the frozen scraps (no need to thaw) along with any optional flavor enhancers in a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Then turn down to a simmer.

I’m using cooked leftover chicken bones, carrot, and onion scraps in my stock.

Step 2

Simmer for 1 - 4 hours.

Simmer, uncovered for 1 hour for vegetable stock, or 1 - 4 hours for meat-based stock. Skim excess fat if necessary.

Stock will smell amazing, reduce volume by about 25%, and become darker in color when it’s ready.

Step 3

Strain.

Remove from heat, strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth, and discard the solids. Transfer to storage containers or jars, cool, and store if not using it right away.

Read the next two steps to make a really simple chicken soup from your stock.

Step 4

Combine soup vegetables with stock and cook for 30 min.

Place the potatoes, onions, carrots, and homemade stock into the same pot we used to make the stock. Bring it up to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender - about 30 minutes.

Step 5

Add the chicken, season, and serve.

Add the shredded cooked chicken and simmer for an additional five minutes to warm through. Then take off the heat and season with salt and lemon juice to taste.

What is the best way to store homemade stock?

• Store homemade stock in storage containers or jars in the fridge for up to 5 days.

• For longer storage, freeze in ice cube trays or freezer-safe containers, leaving some space at the top for expansion, for up to 6 months.

• Personally, I like using plastic liter (32-ounce) deli containers for my homemade stock.

Ideas for using homemade stock

Now that you’ve made your homemade stock from kitchen scraps, you might be thinking, “What are some good ways to use it?” Here’s a little inspiration:

• Soups and stews - this one is pretty obvious, but use it as a base for any soup or stew to enhance its depth and richness.

  Whether it’s homemade ramen or pho, simple one-pot chicken soup, or a chunky beef chili con carne, it’s bound to boost the flavor.

• Sauces and gravies - a good stock is at the heart of a great sauce or gravy.

  I would recommend roasting your stock scraps to get a deeper flavor if you’re planning on using it this way.

  To get a really deep flavor in a vegan gravy, use dried mushrooms in addition to your scraps when making the stock, and add umami flavor boosters like miso or tamari to finish the sauce.

• Cooking grains - replace water with stock when cooking rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat, lentils, or other grains to infuse them with more flavor.

• Braising liquid - use it as a braising liquid for meats and vegetables such as braised beef brisket, braised leeks, or fondant potatoes.

• Risottos - homemade stock is essential for making a deeply rich and flavorful risotto.

  It’s also a perfect way to use those leftover mushroom stems when making a mushroom risotto.

• Deglazing pans - use stock to deglaze pans after cooking meat or vegetables to make a quick and flavorful pan sauce such as in my duck breast with red wine pan sauce recipe.

  Just replace the wine with stock and season with an acid such as lemon or lime juice, or a dash of vinegar like apple cider or sherry vinegar, to add a little brightness.

• Casseroles - use homemade stock in a pot pie, shepherd’s pie, pasta, or cheesy vegetable bake. It adds depth and richness you just can’t get from store-bought stock.

Easy Technique

Big Flavor

I know it seems really simple, but the chicken soup made with my homemade kitchen scrap stock had such a deep, rich flavor.

If I had used store-bought stock or just water, I’d have to add many more ingredients to make it taste even half as good.

Incorporating homemade stock is one of the easiest techniques to seriously boost flavor in your cooking.

All I did was save the leftover chicken bones from our meals instead of throwing them away, then dumped all the frozen stock scraps into a pot with water and let it simmer for a few hours. It doesn’t get much easier than that. 

Do you save your kitchen scraps too? Share your favorite homemade stock recipes in the comments!