9 Food Scraps You Should Never Throw Away—and the Best Ways to Use Them

Cutting down on food waste is not only a smart strategy for the planet, but also for your budget. I grew up in a household where we didn't throw away a lot of food, and then worked in restaurants where there is often a lot of waste, so it’s something I try to be very mindful of. 

Reducing food waste is a multi-pronged approach for me. I try to be careful when I go food shopping and buy only the perishable foods I plan to use, and then I store them properly at home to keep them fresh for as long as possible. The other part of my strategy is to reuse those leftover bits that often wind up in the trash (or, hopefully, the compost bin). There’s a lot of value and flavor in citrus peels, Parmesan rinds, and slightly wilted herbs, for example, and once you know how to use them, you’ll waste less and enjoy them more. 

Here are nine foods you should save, not toss, along with my favorite ways to use them.

Bread Bits 

Leftover bits of stale or dried-out bread can be turned into breadcrumbs for topping all kinds of foods. Break your leftover bread, pitas, bagels, and rolls into smaller pieces, then stash them in a freezer bag until you have enough bits to make breadcrumbs. Including a mix of breads, like whole wheat and seeded, makes for a more interesting breadcrumb mixture with some texture and flavor. 

When you’re ready to make the breadcrumbs, drop semi-frozen bread pieces into a food processor and pulse until you have your desired crumb size. To enhance the flavor, I often add some herbs, finely grated aged cheese, butter or olive oil, seasoning, and sometimes also some lemon zest.

Use coarse crumbs to top a salad, casserole, or mac and cheese, and finer crumbs to coat chicken and fish. Homemade breadcrumbs are moister than store-bought breadcrumbs, so I keep mine in the freezer to extend their life.  

Leftover Herbs

I use fresh herbs often, so there are always a few bunches in my refrigerator. I monitor them periodically so I know which ones need to be used up quickly. Rather than discard wilted or leftover herbs, try one of these uses:

Use all parts of the herb: When chefs talk about tender herbs, they are referring to herbs like parsley, cilantro, and basil that are tender, not woody. I use all parts of these herbs in my cooking, including the soft stems—just chop them up when you are chopping the leaves. (Some basil can be too big and tough for this, use your judgment.)

Leftover herb pesto: Pesto isn’t just for basil; it’s really a format for all kinds of herb pastes. Experiment with new combinations you like (cilantro with chiles and cashews works for me!), then store it in ice-cube trays in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to a freezer-safe bag and you’ll always have a cube of pesto available to flavor stew, rice, or pasta.

Herb oil: Fresh, woody herbs like rosemary or sage can be chopped up and mixed with garlic and olive oil. Store the herb oil in the freezer, again using ice cube trays. 

Dried herbs: You can dry your own herbs. Strip the leaves off, place them on a plate lined with paper towels, and dry them in the microwave, checking after 20 seconds and repeating until the herbs are crisp and dry. 

3 Ways to Preserve Herbs:

The Last Bits of Condiments

For those last remnants of mayo, mustard, or jam left in the jar, you can transform them into sauces, dips, and glazes—mixed right inside the jar they came in. 

Mayo: The mayo at the bottom of the container can become a dip or dressing. Season it with salt and pepper then:

• Add smoked paprika and sherry vinegar to use with roasted potatoes or other vegetables.
• Add celery seed or caraway seed to the mayo for a slaw-like dressing.
• Cumin, garlic, and lime juice gives it a Southwestern flavor. 
• Rice vinegar, sriracha, and a drop of sesame oil creates a spicy mayo.

Mustard: Add honey to leftover mustard to make a honey mustard dipping sauce. Add extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to make a dressing.

Jam: Turn a bit of jam into a glaze for chicken or another protein simply by adding white wine, red wine, or sherry vinegar to raspberry jam along with a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes—the heat compliments the sweet and sour combination. Experiment with adding vinegars or citrus juice to other jams for different glazes.

Ketchup: Add a bit of brown sugar, a little chili powder, hot sauce and/or Worcestershire, and a splash of vinegar to the last bits of ketchup to make a quick BBQ sauce.

Parmesan Rinds 

Don’t toss that Parmesan rind! When you’ve grated all the cheese you can, you can use the leftover rind to add depth of flavor to all kinds of dishes. Store rinds in a bag in the refrigerator, then add one to the pot when you cook polenta, tomato sauce, vegetarian stews, or vegetable stock to add rich, umami notes. 

Vanilla Bean Pods

Vanilla beans are precious and pricey. Make the most of them by not only using the vanilla seeds, but also the pod. Whenever I have a leftover pod, I add it to a jar of sugar to infuse it with vanilla flavor. The vanilla sugar lasts indefinitely (mine must have about 40 pods in it by now) and is a wonderful addition to baking recipes, custards, or even coffee. The pods will become brittle and hard over time, but that doesn’t matter. I just give the container a shake every now and again to agitate things, which gives the sugar a nice speckled appearance.

Citrus Peels 

I add citrus to just about everything I make—not only the juice, but the zest as well. Citrus zest is perishable and doesn’t freeze well, so if I don’t need it for what I’m cooking that day, I’ll add it to some sugar or salt to preserve its fresh flavor and aroma.

Citrus Sugar: Infuse sugar with orange, lemon, or lime zest. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks. Try using citrus sugar for baking, especially for sugar cookies or a simple cake, or in tea. 

Citrus Salt: Infuse salt with zest and use it to rim a glass for a cocktail—it will add a wonderful zing without making it sour. It can also be used as a finishing salt on any entree that would benefit from a touch of citrus. (I wouldn’t use the citrus salt for seasoning a dish as you cook, just for serving.)

Citrus Syrup: When I have a lot of spent citrus halves, I might use them to flavor a simple syrup and use that for glazing cakes or in cocktails.

Bones and Shells

If I roast a chicken, I never throw away the carcass. It’s another thing I keep in a bag in my freezer until I want to make a flavorful stock. Shrimp shells are like gold to me; they have so much flavor, and making a quick shrimp stock takes just five minutes. 

Corn Cobs

After stripping the kernels off a fresh cob of corn, save the cob to make a really delicious and quick corn stock. It makes a great base for summer soups or chowders, is delicious in risotto, and when thickened with a roux and gilded with Parmesan (or your favorite aged cheese), it makes a wonderful pasta sauce.

Vegetables

Have some leftover vegetables you won’t have time to use? Extend their life by taking a couple of radishes, carrots, or green beans and make a quick brine in the microwave or on the stovetop. In a few hours (or overnight), you will have pickled vegetables to use alongside a sandwich or on top of a salad.