20 Recipes That Use Food Scraps To Make the Most of Your Ingredients

It never feels good to throw food away. Whether you're tossing scraps from a batch of mashed potatoes or peels from bananas Foster, it’s always a win to stretch those pennies just a little bit further. It might come as a surprise to find all the ways that you can use odd bits of waste, from ingenious appetizers to creative sauces and sides. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite tricks for using various scraps headed to the compost bin so you can perform feats of culinary magic and save a buck, too. For example, many people toss the tough broccoli stems in favor of the dark green crowns, but the stems have a lot of flavor and a great texture if prepared right. Peel away the hardy exterior and include them in a creamy, cheesy potato gratin.

Choosing the right kind of lemons is key to making this whole-lemon lemonade, where you can blend the entire fruit — skin and all — to make the drink. If you like your lemonade on the tart side, start with half the amount of sugar and slowly add more to taste.

Freeze or bake whole bananas to soften the skins and blend them right into this moist cake batter. The peels add both fiber and flavor to the cake, which gets topped with a fluffy brown sugar frosting.

Just because greens have started to wilt, doesn’t mean they’re no longer fit to eat. While you may not be able to restore their crispiness, you can turn them into a flavorful, savory green jam to serve with fish or spread on toast.

Don't toss those citrus peels! Dried orange, lemon and grapefruit peels are a great addition to your pantry and can add extra flavor to loose-leaf teas, syrups and even cocktails.

Even banana peels can be saved and made into something edible — and nutritious. The peels are full of flavor and can be blended into a batch of sweet banana bread.

Broccoli stems can be eaten raw, as long as you have the right dressing. Paired with grated carrot and apple, this tangy slaw holds up well and would be a great addition to a picnic spread.

You might be trimming the crusts off bread when making stuffing, but that doesn’t mean those crusts are destined for the garbage. Toss them with a bit of grated Parmesan, fresh thyme and a drizzle of oil to make a batch of tasty breadsticks.

The leftover pulp from juicing can also be used to make moist and tender vegetarian meatballs. The recipe uses plenty of garlic, cheese and olive oil, so you won’t even miss the meat.

Watermelon rind doesn’t have a ton of flavor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a use for it. The white, firm part of the watermelon between the fruit and the skin can be pickled and used to make snacks and drink garnishes.

If you can find crisp spring carrots with the tops on, you can make a verdant pesto out of them. This version combines the tops with walnuts and basil and pairs it with the carrots, roasted in a spicy-sweet curry powder.

Looking for a way to sneak some extra veggies in? These gluten-free crackers use scraps of leftover veggies to form the base of the dough, which bake up perfectly crisp.

Don’t toss those potato peels! The skins contain a ton of healthful nutrients and will crisp up to golden-brown perfection with the help of some leftover bacon fat.

Shrimp shells can be used to create a brothy, spicy soup. The shrimp itself is lightly poached in the cooling broth and topped off with a squeeze of fresh lime for extra tang.

Leftover potato peels can be transformed into a fun take on breakfast nachos. The crispy, golden brown peels are layered with a tangy herb sauce and citrusy mayo, all topped with a fried egg.

If you’re in the habit of juicing at home, you’ve probably been confronted by mounds of wasted pulp. Turn this trash into treasure by baking the leftovers into a simple quick bread that you can serve for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.

Chicken stock is one of the simplest, most versatile ways to use up leftover scraps. Start with a chicken carcass — a grocery store rotisserie bird is fine — and simmer it with a few vegetables and spices to save yourself from having to buy boxed broth.

Coax the most flavor out of shrimp by saving the shells and making a tasty, rich stock. The stock forms the base of a creamy pasta sauce that luxuriously coats pieces of succulent sautéed shrimp.

There’s a lot of flavor locked in banana peels that rarely gets used. Instead of tossing them, make this banana “tea” that serves as a syrup for iced lattes.