Cut Down Food Waste With These Staple Ingredients for Your Kitchen

Grocery shopping and cooking should be an enjoyable experience that lets you flex your chef muscles and nourishes you with fresh home cooking. However, the shocking amount of domestic food waste that comes out of it is a less-than-pleasing accompanying by-product. Thankfully, this is easily avoidable through a zero-waste targeted mindset that makes the most out of each ingredient. Above all else, the most valuable kitchen tips that help to limit the debris you are left with include conscious planning before buying too much for you to chew and making dishes that are built around the use of leftovers.

For your next shopping trip to the supermarket, tick off these few ingredients below from your shopping list for some healthy and versatile kitchen staples that you can use down to its every inch.

Cucumber

This watery vegetable might not be the most impressive in terms of the flavours it delivers, but it sure makes up for it in its varied uses and refreshing bite. The smooth, verdant skin of a cucumber is just perfect for tzatziki, an addictive and versatile dip that brightens up any salad or makes for a delectable companion to your snacking.

Aside from adding a splash of hydration to salads or a palate cleanser in the form of a summery side dish, cucumbers are also a fantastic addition to your bar trolley. As a garnish, or thrown in to infuse, easily elevate any iced cooler, cocktail, or mocktail with some cucumber. Raise your G&T to the low carbon footprint it leaves as well!

Carrots

Oft overlooked, the carrot’s fronds and skin are in fact two tasty parts that have untapped potential in the kitchen. Ensure that the carrots are being properly scrubbed and rinsed, then peel them into strips before throwing them in the air-fryer or oven for the easiest carrot chips. A simple snack, this dish makes for a tasty and healthy alternative to your usual oily chips.

Clean the top thoroughly and it’s ready to be ground into a pesto that gives an extra level of flavour. In fact, most recipes requiring parsley can be substituted with carrot fronds. Whether in soups, salads, or even simply sauteed, these leafy bundles are brimming with a full earthen palate and carry with them tons of vitamins and dietary fibre.

Minced Meat

Also saving you major time in preparation and keeping you from throwing excess food away, minced meat is a convenient basic ingredient to add to your rotation if you indulge in animal proteins. Easily shaped into burger patties and meatballs, or even bite-sized crumbles that you can throw into stir-fries or bulk up your pasta sauce with, the ingredient is one that’s simple to portion control, ensuring you aren’t left with awkward amounts of scraps.

Oat Flakes

Boasting a fantastically low carbon footprint, oats are an essential that offer versatile cooking options, are inexpensive and healthy, on top of being filling and delicious. Not just limited to breakfast—though we do love some overnight oats or a traditional steaming bowl to power through the day—oats work as a great carbohydrate base for warming savoury dishes. They make for a hearty and easily customisable go-to when you don’t feel like doing too much in the kitchen.

Beyond your usual cooking methods, oats can also be incorporated into desserts and beverages. Blend the oats up and you have a new ingredient on hand! Oat flour is a great addition to your baking toolkit that edges out conventional bleached flour in its nutritional value, thanks to its lower levels of calories and fat, and higher fibre. You can always add a small amount of oats into your smoothies for that extra bit of thickness, or break out your strainer to whip up some homemade oat milk.