13 Mind-Blowing Ways to Turn Table Scraps into an Entirely New Meal

As the price of food continues to increase, chefs and home cooks alike are looking for creative ways to repurpose every part of their meals into something new. That’s why I love this idea for turning table scraps into entirely new meals to feed your family. Here are 13 hacks that will simply blow your mind.

A green pot partially covered with a lid is simmering on a stove, filled with a stew containing meat and vegetables. Steam is rising from the pot. — Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Leftover Risotto Becomes Arancini

Aranciini made with leftover risotto. Photo credit: Leah Ingram.

Arancini are cheese-filled fried risotto balls. They make great appetizers or as a hearty side for a meat or poultry dish. It’s commonly how we’ll use up any leftover risotto.
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Turn Old Bread into Croutons

A baking tray filled with evenly spaced, golden brown croutons on parchment paper. — Baking croutons. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Using stale bread, for example, to make croutons ensures that nothing goes to waste and eliminates the need to pay expensive grocery store prices for this household staple.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals

Reuse Meats in Burritos

Three burritos with various fillings, including chicken, beans, and vegetables, are arranged on a wooden serving board next to a glass bowl of black beans, a bottle of oil, and fresh tomatoes. — Use leftover meat in burritos. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Use grilled meats or fish, for example, in burritos, omelets and casseroles within a week. This will help you avoid feeling like your meals are repetitive. That’s exactly how we reuse the meat from our pork loin in the Crock Pot recipe. What’s leftover becomes the filling for burritos or another meal on another day.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals

Create Fried Rice With Leftover Grains and Veggies

A plate of fried rice with shrimp, corn, peas, and pieces of meat, accompanied by a pair of chopsticks on the side. — Fried rice. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

You can take leftover grains and use them in salads or stir-fries. Or you can create your own version of fried rice, which is basically a dish where you can toss everything into it.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals

Use Vegetable Scraps for a Homemade Broth

A pot of vegetable soup with visible ingredients including carrots, squash, zucchini, and celery in a clear broth. — Turn vegetable scraps into broth. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Vegetable peels and ends are often discarded, but they are packed with nutrients and flavor that can be used to make a delicious vegetable broth for soups, stews and sauces. Not only is this homemade broth cheaper, but it also tastes fresher than store-bought alternatives.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals

Make Veggie Chips

A wooden table with scattered potato peels next to a cast iron skillet containing partially peeled potatoes. A knife is partially visible in the background. — Veggie peel chips. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Another great use for vegetable peels is to make roasted peel chips. Toss the peels in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and any other desired seasonings and roast in the oven until crispy for a healthy snack.
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Growing New Lettuce from Old Lettuce

A small plant in a pink pot sits on a window sill, with sunlight streaming through the nearby window. — Growing lettuce from food scraps. Photo credit Leah Ingram.

Most often we’re growing new lettuce but we’ve also had great success with growing new bok choy from a bulb we might otherwise have thrown away.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals

Make Fruit Infused Water

A wooden table with a cutting board of sliced strawberries, a knife, and two glasses and a jar filled with strawberry and mint-infused water. — Fruit infused water. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Instead of throwing out fruit peels, rinds and pieces, consider using them to make infused waters and teas. Allowing apple peels, berry tops or citrus rinds to infuse into your water for a couple of hours in the refrigerator imparts a subtle and refreshing fruit flavor.
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Homemade Vinegar

Top view of a glass jar filled with fermented peaches submerged in liquid. — Making homemade apple cider vinegar. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Another great use for fruit scraps is to create homemade vinegar. Leftover parts of the apple can be left to ferment in a clean jar with water and sugar for a couple of weeks to make apple cider vinegar. This vinegar can be used in homemade salad dressings.
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Throw Together a Panzanella Salad

A bowl of panzanella salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, croutons, and basil leaves. — Use stale bread in a Tuscan Panzanella salad. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

With a panzanella salad, you combine chunks of stale bread with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and basil, dressed in olive oil and vinegar. It’s a great way to use up old bread without having to make croutons.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals

Cook Up Bread Pudding in the Crock Pot

Loaf of sliced bread inside a black Crock-Pot slow cooker on a kitchen counter next to a stove and a pot of pink flowers. — Bread pudding made in the Crock Pot. Photo credit: Leah Ingram.

We’ll use a stale loaf of bread to make our overnight French Toast in the Crock Pot. It ends up tasting just like bread pudding.
Read the article: How to Make French Toast in the Crock Pot

Bone and Beef Broth

Close-up of a bowl of broth, garnished with chopped parsley and a drizzle of oil. — Meat broth. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Similar to the use of vegetable peels, bones and meat scraps can also be used to make rich and flavorful stocks and broths.
Read the article: Making Bone Broth

Use Leftover Broth to Make Risotto

A ladle is adding broth to a pan of risotto on a stovetop, with a pot of broth and a wooden spoon visible in the background. — Adding broth to risotto. Photo credit: Leah Ingram.

For a delicious gourmet meal, use the broth to prepare risotto. Start by heating the broth in a large pot while you sauté shallots and lightly toast Arborio rice in a saucepan. Ladle in the broth.
Read the article: How to Turn Table Scraps into Gourmet Meals