A TikTok video has shown how turning vegetable scraps into broth can help you get your money's worth from the food you buy.
With grocery bills continuing to increase, throwing large chunks of vegetable scraps in the trash can feel like a big waste.
But according to TikToker Joseph Clark (@joesgarden), there is an easy way to eke out extra cooking ingredients from your leftover greens before you chuck them away.
@joesgarden Today we are using scraps from home grown vegetables, to make a delicious home made zero waste vegetable broth. It's fantastic when added to your home cooking for that extra flavour! 😊🌱 #diy #zerowaste #healthy #recipe #vegetables #seasoning #learnontiktok ♬ Soulful Strut - The Young-Holt Unlimited
The scoop
We produce a lot of food waste from the vegetables we cook from scratch, like the peeled skin, stems, and pith.
These tend to go straight into the trash, even though they are edible. Clark says that these can be turned into broth instead, which can be used in further cooking.
In his video, Clark pops vegetable scraps from his home cooking into a sealable bag, which he keeps in the freezer. This keeps leftovers fresh and ready to use later once the bag is full.
When he has a good amount of vegetable scraps saved up, Clark pours them into a saucepan, drizzles over some olive oil, and seasons them with salt and pepper before pouring water on top.
He then boils the pan and leaves it to simmer for 30 minutes before straining the resulting broth through a colander into a sealable mason jar.
"What you're left with is this amazing homemade veg broth, which is fantastic when added to chillis, soups, lasagnas, and bolognese," Clark writes in a caption.
How it's helping
Although the rise of food prices has slowed compared to last year, Americans' grocery bills are still expected to continue to climb in 2023.
According to the Economic Research Service, food prices were 8.4% higher in March 2023 than they were in March 2022. Food groceries are expected to increase by another 6.6% by the end of the year.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers loved this simple food hack, and some shared their own tips to make it even tastier.
"If you want to make it stronger, leave it to simmer for hours and drain and then place it back onto the heat to reduce," one user replied.
"Alternatively, leave it in a slow cooker to save energy. It makes amazing stock," another added.
"I have just managed to get my hands on (a very overgrown!) allotment — beyond excited!" said another.
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