Skip the Bin: 10 Recipe Ideas for Fruit Scraps‍

There’s a lot you can do with your fruit peels, cores, stems, or soggy bits. From strawberry tops to lemon peels, the EPA estimates that the U.S. wasted 66 million tons of wasted food in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors, and most of this waste (about 60%) was sent to landfills.

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Skip landfill or compost and use these ideas to use up every bit of your fruit. 

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1. Fruit Scrap Jam: Use fruit peels and cores to make a flavorful jam or jelly.
2. Fruit Infused Water: Add fruit scraps like citrus peels to water for a refreshing infused drink.
3. Fruit Scrap Smoothie: Blend fruit peels and scraps with yogurt and honey for a nutritious smoothie.
4. Fruit Vinegar: Use fruit scraps to make homemade fruit vinegar for salad dressings.
5. Fruit Scrap Syrup: Boil fruit scraps with sugar and water to create a fruity syrup for pancakes or desserts.
6. Fruit Peel Chips: Bake or dehydrate fruit peels into crispy chips for snacking.
7. Fruit Scrap Sorbet: Puree fruit scraps with sugar and freeze for a refreshing sorbet.
8. Fruit Peel Zest: Grate citrus peels to create zest for baking and cooking.
9. Fruit Scrap Salsa: Dice fruit scraps with onions, peppers, and herbs for a unique salsa.
10. Fruit Peel Tea: Dry fruit peels to make fruity herbal teas.
11. Fruit Peel Chutney: Cook fruit scraps with spices and vinegar to make a flavorful chutney.