As the crisp air and changing leaves usher in the fall season, it’s the perfect time to embrace seasonal ingredients in your kitchen, all while reducing food waste. Cooking with in-season produce like pumpkins, sweet potatoes, apples, and root vegetables not only adds vibrant flavors to your dishes but also helps reduce environmental impact. Here are some of my favourite practical tips and recipes that will make your autumn meals more sustainable and reduce waste in your kitchen.
Optimize Your Fall Ingredients
Incorporating fall ingredients into your recipes is a great way to reduce food waste at home. Seasonal vegetables and fruits—like pumpkins, apples, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts are abundant and often more affordable in autumn. Using these ingredients ensures you’re making the most of what nature offers, while avoiding off-season products that often require more energy (and resources) to grow and transport.
For instance, rather than discarding your pumpkin’s seeds after carving it for Halloween, you can roast them for a healthy snack. You can also use the leftover pumpkin pulp to make a delicious hummus or puree it into a hearty soup. Similarly, apple skins and cores can be turned into apple cider vinegar, while overripe apples make a perfect base for apple syrup or crisps.
Use the Whole Vegetable
A key to reducing food waste during the fall season is to use every part of your vegetables. Root vegetables like carrots, beets, and even celery can be transformed into stocks and broths that add depth to soups and stews. Try storing vegetable scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make a flavorful broth, reducing food waste while saving money. Check out this post on how to make your own Homemade Vegetable Stock.
Another excellent option is batch cooking. Preparing meals in large quantities using seasonal produce and freezing the extras for later use not only saves time but also cuts down on food waste. This strategy can be especially helpful when preparing fall favorites, like butternut squash soups or hearty stews.
Meal Planning for Zero Waste
Autumn is a perfect time to plan your meals around seasonal ingredients to reduce wasted food. By creating a meal plan that focuses on in-season produce, you can minimize the likelihood of spoiled vegetables. Consider simple yet satisfying dishes, like my Healthy Apple Muffins for breakfast or Black Bean Chili for dinner. These meals use common fall ingredients that can be easily found in bulk or locally.
Moreover, incorporating batch cooking into your fall meal plan can help you reduce the temptation to order takeout, another significant source of food waste. Double or quadruple recipes like vegetable soups or casseroles, and freeze the extra portions. You’ll always have a home-cooked meal ready, reducing food loss and unnecessary packaging.
Preserving Ingredients
Fall is a great time to try your hand at preserving. Canning, freezing, and drying can extend the shelf life of autumn’s abundant harvest. My Pickled Cauliflower is an easy recipe I love to make every fall when the farmers markets have massive heads of cauliflower available.
If you have excess produce like apples, squash, or root vegetables, these methods can ensure you make the most of the season’s harvests. For instance, you can freeze roasted pumpkin, beets or sweet potato puree for later use, or even dry apple slices for a nutritious snack.
Storing fall vegetables properly is another essential practice to reduce waste. For example, potatoes and squash should be kept in a cool, dark place, while celery and broccoli can last longer in the refrigerator when wrapped in a cloth or paper towel. Proper storage prevents food spoilage and allows you to enjoy your ingredients longer, further preventing food waste at home.
Creative Uses for Leftovers
With fall gatherings and holiday meals approaching, managing leftovers is crucial to reducing food waste. Consider repurposing leftovers from your Thanksgiving dinner into new meals, such as turning mashed sweet potatoes into a savoury breakfast hash or using leftover roast vegetables in a frittata. This not only reduces waste but also saves time during the busy holiday season. My Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza is always my go-to with all the leftovers after a Thanksgiving feast.
Sustainable Cooking for the Environment
Finally, reducing kitchen waste is not just about saving food; it’s about making a broader impact. Food waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, so every effort to reduce it can have a positive effect on the environment. You can read more about the food waste crisis in Canada here.
By choosing local produce, meal planning, and making the most of seasonal ingredients, you help conserve natural resources while reducing waste.
Final Thoughts
By embracing seasonal fall ingredients, smart storage practices, and creative ways to use every part of your produce, you can significantly reduce kitchen waste this autumn. Simple steps, like meal planning and batch cooking, make a big difference in waste reduction and environmental impact, all while keeping your meals delicious and sustainable. Fall is the perfect season to cook smart, waste less, and enjoy the bounty of nature with minimal impact on the environment.
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Christopher is a food and lifestyle expert, recipe developer and the content creator behind May Eighty Five. With over 6 years of creating recipes for your favourite food brands, he also shares tips, tricks and how to’s that he has learnt over the years. Every week, he shares quick, simple and mostly healthy recipes along with some home and entertaining tips. You will find flavorful cocktails, delicious appetizers, tasty mains and some indulgent desserts.
