Freezer scrap stock is homemade stock made from vegetable scraps that have been stored in the freezer as they accumulate. Cooking inevitably produces vegetable scraps, and this is a great way to put those scraps to use! It’s free, and it tastes better than any pre-made stock you can buy.

Making homemade stock or broth from scratch can seem intimidating at first, but once you design your own practice for it, it will feel simple.

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Table of Contents

What’s in Freezer Stock?
Gathering Scraps
Freezer Scrap Stock Tips
Equipment
How to make Stock, step-by-step
Freezer Scrap Stock Recipe
Freezer Scrap Stock

What’s in Freezer Stock?

Vegetables:
Unfortunately, not just any vegetable can be used to make stock. (Trust me— I’ve done the legwork and made many weird batches of stock!)
Most of my stock pile is made up of the ends and outer layers of onions!
The flavor of other types of vegetables can be too assertive, too sweet, or just not not do much at all but muddy the flavor.

Scraps and peels from these traditional stock vegetables and herbs work best:

Carrots
Onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, scallions
Thyme and parsley
Celery
Fennel
Potatoes
Mushrooms
Parsnips

Chicken parts, bones, or seafood scraps (optional):

Chicken backbones or necks (uncooked chicken parts will provide the most flavor. I tend to have chicken backbones on hand from spatchcocking chicken.)
Beef or pork bones (usually these take longer to cook than the time listed for this recipe, but add them if you want to!)
Shrimp shells or heads, and/or fish heads

4 other things I always add:

Vinegar
- A splash of vinegar draws nutrients and flavor out of bones and vegetables. Its vinegary aroma and flavor will cook off.
Whole peppercorns
- A great standard seasoning
Salt
- Of course! You get to decide how much
Bay leaves
- These are optional. They’re easy to keep on hand dried, and add an herbaceous tone. Great especially if I don’t have any parsley or thyme in my stock pile.

Gathering Scraps

How much of each scrap is needed?
- It’s not an exact science! Use what you have. You don’t need every vegetable, but try to always include celery, carrots, and onions.
- Here are some ballpark ratios to give you a rough idea of what makes up your 1 gallon zip-top bag of scraps:
  - 1/8 bag or less mushrooms/mushroom stems
  - 1/8 bag or less carrots and carrot peels
  - 1/8 bag or less fennel
  - 1/4 bag or less potato and potato peels
  - 1/3 bag or more onions, alliums (scallions, garlic, shallots, leeks), and/or celery (as many as you want of these, really!)
  - Herbs are optional, a few sprigs worth is great

Note: What’s in the stock can change it’s appearance
- (But it will still taste great.)
  - Lots of red onions will give the stock a faint purple/red hue
  - Mushrooms will make the stock darker in color
  - Lots of potatoes/potato peels will make the stock cloudy

How long does it take to save a gallon zip top bag full of scraps?
- It depends on how often you cook with these vegetables. I usually make 1 batch a month.
- If you’re anxious to make a batch, you can make a smaller batch, or, supplement with whole vegetables cut into 1” pieces.
- Scraps can start to burn or lose their flavor as they sit in the freezer, so they’ll probably be best if used within 4-6 months of freezing.

a big bowl of homemade broth made with vegetable scraps — Beautiful finished homemade stock!

Freezer Scrap Stock Tips

Limit quantities of sweet vegetables: carrots, fennel, and sweet potatoes
- If you’ve got a ton of sweet vegetable scraps, just split them up between a few bags for different batches of future stock.
- Avoid fennel fronds especially, since they are very flavorful. A few are fine— think of them like sprigs of herbs. Fennel isn’t often thought of as a sweet vegetable, but its licorice anise flavor makes it sweet.

Don’t use dirty scraps
- Don’t add anything to your scraps bag that you wouldn’t want to eat. Be sure to scrub potato and carrot skins clean before saving their peels, and remove dirt from mushrooms.
- Do not save scraps that are moldy or slimy.

It doesn’t need to be zesty
- Remember, in order to be versatile, stock should act as a backdrop, and something that can be molded to serve whatever you’re cooking.
- So, if it tastes a little boring when all is said and done, that’s okay! You don’t need to add extra spices, herbs, or even salt to zest it up. That can be done within the individual dish its being used for.

Equipment

Stock pot
- A big pot, larger than 8 quarts (or, make stock in an 8 quart pot with fewer scraps!)
Colander insert, open steamer basket, or perforated drop lid
- The pot I use is a big pasta pot that came with a colander insert. I got the idea to use an insert like this for stock from Alton Brown
Skimmer or spoon
Flour sack towel or cheesecloth
- This is optional, but with strain the stock finely
- if you’ve never used flour sack towels in the kitchen, you will love them. They’re great for handling food!
A really big bowl or another large pot
- For straining the stock into
Paper grocery bag
- This is to put the solids in after straining
Ladle
Freezer safe storage containers
- I like to store my stock in the freezer, and I like these containers because they’re stackable and won’t crack or break when frozen.

How to make Stock, step-by-step

freezer vegetables scraps in a pot for broth — Add 1 gallon zip top bag’s worth of scraps to a large pot, plus bones or meat if using.

seasonings for stock: vinegar, salt, peper, bay leaf — Add a splash of vinegar, two large pinches of salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves to the pot.

filling a stock pot with water — Cover with water until scraps are submerged when pressed down (they will naturally float).

stock pot with lid — Bring the pot to a simmer over high heat (I add a lid for this part to speed up the process.)

placing a colander, steamer, or drop lid into stock to keep solids submerged — When simmering, remove the lid and add the drop lid, open vegetable steamer, or colander insert to the pot and reduce heat to low.

skimming stock — Maintain a low simmer, just 1-2 small bubbles breaking the surface at a time. During the first hour of simmering, skim any skim (like shown here) from the surface.

adding water to stock as needed — Simmer for 5-6 hours. Add more water as needed to keep the solids below the colander submerged at all times.

bowl in sink — Time to strain! Place a very large bowl or large pot in the sink (I do this in the sink to catch any splashes).

flour sack towel inside bowl — Place a flour sack or lintless towel inside the bowl. This is optional, but I think the fine straining of a flour sack towel makes for a better quality stock. You could also used a few layers of cheesecloth, or skip this.

straining stock — Place the colander insert or a colander inside the lined bowl. (If you’re using a regular sized colander, it’s going to fill up quickly. Pour part of the stock through, then pause to discard the solids into a paper grocery bag, and then repeat.)

straining stock through a colander — Remove the colander with the solids. I like to put the solids into a paper grocery bag or back into the pot. I let them cool, then discard in the compost later.

straining stock through a flour sack towel — Grab the corners of the flour sack towel and lift. Allow the stock to drain through.

stock being ladled into containers — Let the stock to cool to room temperature, then ladle into containers for storing.

broth in pint sized freezer containers labeled with an oil pencil — I like to return my stock to the freezer in these freezer containers that I mark with a china marking pencil. (To erase the pencil, use a magic eraser.)

home made broth in an ice cube tray — Ladle a little stock into an ice cube tray for small quantities of stock to keep on hand!

A ladle of steaming homemade stock made with freezer scraps using this broth recipe

Freezer Scrap Stock Recipe

Print Recipe

Freezer Scrap Stock

This is a basic stock recipe, and can also be used to make stock from fresh vegetables.

Begin cooking your stock early in the day, as the process takes several hours to complete.

Total Time8

Servings: 4 quarts

Equipment

1 Large stock pot
1 Colander insert, open steamer basket, or perforated drop lid optional
1 Skimmer or spoon
1 Flour sack towel or cheesecloth optional
1 Big bowl or another large pot for straining stock
1 Ladle
Storage containers or jars
1 Large paper bag

Ingredients

1 Gallon sized zip-top bag collected vegetable scraps (A mixture of carrots, onions, and celery are recommended. Parsley, thyme, fennel, potatoes, parsnips, and mushrooms make great additions)
1-2 lbs chicken necks or backs optional
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
10 (ish) whole black peppercorns
1-2 dried bay leaves optional
2 Tbsp salt or as much as you want!

Instructions

Combine everything in a large stock pot. Cover with water until the solids are submerged by 2-3 inches of water when pressed down (they will naturally float).
Place the pot on the stove over high heat. When small bubbles begin to break the surface, reduce the heat to medium-low, and place your colander insert, steamer basket, or drop lid inside the pot, if using. (See recipe notes in article above for more information.)
During the first hour of simmering, use a skimmer or spoon to skim any skim that rises to the surface of the stock and discard.
Keep the pot at a low simmer (so that just a few small bubbles rise to the surface continuously) for 5-6 hours. Add water as needed to keep the colander insert and solids covered by 2-3 inches of water when pressed down.
After 5-6 hours, remove the stock from the heat and remove the colander insert or perforated drop lid. At this point you may choose to allow the stock to cool for 30-60 minutes.
To strain, line a large bowl or pot with a flour sack towel or cheesecloth if using. Place a colander on top of that and pour the stock through. Pause to discard solids into a paper grocery bag as needed.
Remove the colander, then pick up the corners of the flour sack towel or cheese cloth and let the stock strain through. Now straining is complete.
Allow the stock to cool to room temperature, then ladle into containers and store. Stock will keep in the refrigerator for 5-7 days, or in the freezer for 1 year.