23 Vegetables and Herbs You Can Regrow From Kitchen Scraps

We learned to grow vegetables and herbs from kitchen scraps during the pandemic, when getting to the store for fresh produce wasn’t easy. We’ve continued doing it years later and have discovered many more vegetables and herbs we can regrow from kitchen scraps. Here’s a list of 23 vegetables and herbs you may want to try to regrow on your own, too.

Two crystal bowls on a windowsill with green plants growing out of vegetable scraps in water. A clear measuring cup filled with water is placed next to the bowls. — Regrowing vegetables. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Two images show kitchen scraps of leafy greens growing in containers and on a baking sheet. The text reads: "Growing Tips for Turning Kitchen Scraps Into Food.

Basil

A glass with a yellow dot pattern, filled with water and fresh green herbs, is placed on a white textured surface near a window with a blurred green outdoor background. — Basil. Photo credit: Leah Ingram.

Currently, we have a basil plant growing in our vegetable garden. However, I’ve also got a stalk of basil propagating in a glass on my window sill. By soaking a stalk in water, soon enough it will sprout roots and then I can plant a second basil plant in my garden.
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Beet Greens

Close-up of vibrant Swiss chard leaves with prominent red veins and green and purple hues in a garden setting. — Beet Greens. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

You can’t regrow beet roots, the kind you might like on a salad or for making a cold beet soup. However, you can regrow beet greens, if you like to eat them.
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Bok Choy

Two green plants growing from cuttings in water-filled plastic cups, supported by wooden skewers, placed on a white towel on a windowsill. — Bok Choy. Photo credit: Leah Ingram.

Recently, we made a stir fry using store-bought heads of bok choy. Before cleaning up, though, we kept the base of the bok choy, pierced it with toothpicks and submerged it in a glass of water. A few days later, and we’re already growing new leaves of bok choy. Eventually, we’ll plant this outside.
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Cabbage

The next time you buy a head of cabbage at the store or farmers market, be sure to choose one that still has a stem on it. This is what you’ll cut off and soak in water in order to grow new cabbage you can plant in your garden eventually.
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Celery

Regrowing celery is a lot like regrowing bok choy. Like the other vegetable, you want to cut the base of the celery bulb and place it in water. In a few days, you’ll have new shoots. And in a few weeks you’ll be able to plant it in the garden to grow more.
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Cilantro or Coriander

Close-up image of lush green cilantro leaves growing in a garden. — Cilantro. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Did you know that cilantro and coriander are the same herb? It’s just that different countries refer to them using a different name. Whatever you call it, you can propagate new cilantro or coriander in water. Once you have roots, you can replant them in your garden.
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Radishes

You have two options for regrowing radishes. One, you can propagate new radish greens from the stem you cut off. Then, put it in water. Or, two, you can take the greens, plus a portion of an existing radish, and plant it directly in the garden. Over time and in proper conditions, you can grow new radish bulbs.
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Fennel

Cut the bottom off a fennel bunch. Place it in a container of fresh water and watch new sprouts develop in just days. Eventually, you can transplant that sprouted bulb into the garden to grow more fennel.
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Garlic

You don’t have to propagate garlic to grow anew. Just take a bulb and plant it, point side down, in your garden. Soon enough, you’ll see garlic sprouting. Alternatively, if you reach for garlic in the kitchen and see that it’s already sprouting, go ahead and put it right in the ground — assuming it is still in the growing season. If not, plant it in a pot inside to grow more.
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Scallions or Green Onions

Regrowing green onions in water in a glass jar on a windowsill. — Scallions. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

When using scallions or green onions in a recipe, you’re chopping the green tops. If you can, keep the bulb at the bottom intact so you can grow new scallions from there. We’ve propagated them in water and also planted them directly in the garden. Both worked for regrowing.
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Lettuce

We’re regrown all kinds of lettuce, including iceberg and romaine. Here’s what we did. Cut off the bottom of the lettuce head and then placed it in shallow water. Once it sprouted a couple of inches of new leaves, we planted it in the garden and voila, new lettuce for our salads.
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Leeks

I’ve always found leeks to be one of the more expensive vegetables to buy at the store. That’s why I was thrilled to learn how to grow new ones on my own. When you cut off the bottom before washing them, set the bottom aside and then place that cut bottom in shallow water. When you’ve got a few inches of new sprouts, transplant to the garden.
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Lemongrass

Do you like using lemongrass in Asian-inspired dishes? Well, you’ll love being able to grow your own by propagating new shoots. Just soak the bottoms of the lemongrass in water to regrow new ones.
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Onions

Sometimes, if you don’t use your onions fast enough, they’ll start growing on their own. If you find that happening, don’t put them in your kitchen compost. Instead, plant them in the ground — or a pot, if it’s cold outside — to grow new onions.
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Mint

Like with other herbs you’ll propagate inside, you’ll want to start with a few clean cuttings of mint. Place them in water and watch them sprout roots. Once those roots are established, transplant them into soil for a new mint plant.
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Potatoes

Close-up of a potato with sprouts emerging from its surface against a plain white background. — Potato sprouts. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

Potatoes are a lot like onions: if you don’t use them fast enough, they’ll start to repopulate on their own. If you see this happening, cut out the potato eye with a sprout and plant it in soil. Alternatively, if the potato hasn’t started to regrow on its own, save the eyes from the potato, dry them on the counter for a few days and then plant them in the garden like you would a seed.
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Sweet Potato

Interestingly, regrowing sweet potatoes is completely different from regrowing other kinds of potatoes. With the sweet potato or yam, you’ll cut one in half. Then, pierce with toothpicks and suspend in water. You’ll get roots on the bottom and shoots on the top, and then you’ll be able to plant in the soil to grow even more.
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Swiss Chard

According to Ditch the Wheat, here is how you regrow Swiss chard: “Cut off the bottom inch of a Swiss chard bunch and place it in a glass of water. New growth will emerge from the center, and you can transplant it into the soil for further development.”
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Turnips

A purple and white turnip with green leaves rests on a burlap surface. — Turnip. Photo credit: Depositphotos.

When it comes to regrowing turnips, it is possible to regrow their greens, not whole turnips themselves. However, if you like to cook with turnip greens, this is a great vegetable growing hack. Simply take a piece of turnip, with greens already growing, and place in water. Watch more greens sprout.
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Avocado

Maybe it’s because avocados are so expensive that my mother felt the need to regrow them in water on a window sill. You can still do that today. However, unless you live in a climate that’s conducive to growing avocado trees, you won’t have much luck getting a whole plant out of a propagated avocado pit. But it’s a fun project to do with children.
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Butternut Squash

We’ve had the best luck regrowing butternut squash versus any other squash variety. I think it’s because when you scoop out the butternut squash, you’re getting more organic matter than just the seeds. You can germinate the seeds indoors in colder weather and transplant in the soil in the spring. Or you can scatter in your garden and see what happens.
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Pumpkin

One year we became accidental pumpkin growers when we tossed all the “guts” from our Halloween pumpkins into our compost pile. By the next year, we’d grown dozens of pumpkins in our yard. Now, each year when we carve a Jack o Lantern, that’s how we’ll regrow pumpkins for next year.
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Rosemary

Like other herbs, the way to regrow rosemary is to soak a sprig or two in water. Pretty quickly you’ll see roots. Once they look hearty, you can remove the rosemary, roots and all, from the water and plant it in soil.
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