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Frugal shopper shares how they get nutrient-rich bone broth for free: 'I will never go back'

"I used to hate soups until I started making them from scratch."

Make free broth from leftovers

Photo Credit: u/prettypistolgg/ Reddit

A Reddit user shared their tip for making free broth from leftovers, saving them money and reducing waste in the process.

In a recent post on the r/Frugal subreddit, a user shared their tip for making your own nutritious bone broth out of nothing but leftovers you already have at home.

"I save up all of my veggie scraps, mostly carrot tops and onion peels, and freeze them until I have enough to make broth," the user wrote in a comment. "I also typically only buy whole Chickens because they are cheaper by weight than the individual pieces and either butcher them myself or cook them whole, removing the spine, neck, and wing tips and throw them in the freezer."

The next steps are simple. 

"Roast your bones at 425 for 40 minutes," they wrote. "Add to a pot with veggies scraps and cover with water. Bring to a boil, skim the scum off of the top, and then simmer for a couple of hours. Strain through cheesecloth for clear broth and store."

Though roasting the bones isn't 100% necessary for all broth recipes, the user clarified in another comment that they roast theirs because they "appreciate the depth of flavor that roasting them adds."

Roasting the bones also has another perk. As the original poster wrote, "It also renders out fat that you can use for cooking and reduces the amount of fat that I have to skim off of the broth while it boils. So win-win for me."

By using leftovers and scraps to create new meals and ingredients, you can save a ton of money on groceries and reduce your personal food waste. It's vital that we use as much of the food we purchase as possible, considering food waste is a massive issue in the United States and worldwide. About one-third of all food — approximately 119 billion pounds in total — is thrown away in the U.S. each year, according to Feeding America

Users expressed their excitement about the broth recipe in the comment section.

"Since I started making my own broths, I rarely buy broth from the store. Tastes so much better!" one user wrote.

"I used to hate soups until I started making them from scratch using my own broths," one user wrote. "Will never go back to the canned crap!"

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