12 Best Vegetables to Regrow from Kitchen Scraps

Last Updated on October 31, 2021 by Phil

These are the best vegetables to regrow from kitchen scraps. Most people don’t know that they can actually regrow new vegetables from leftovers they don’t use.

These are often the ends and some of the chewy stems that we remove.

But, if you keep on reading below, you’ll realize that you can save these scraps and regrow vegetables from them.

This means you won’t have to keep going to the store to get more. Instead, just grow your own veggies in your garden.

Best Vegetables to Regrow from Kitchen Scraps

Bok Choy

You may probably know Bok Choy as Chinese Cabbage. It was made popular by Chinese dishes served in restaurants.

And, over time has become popular with backyard vegetable gardens.

It is a cool season veggie that’s hardy to USDA zones 2 to 11. But, since it only takes a few weeks to mature, you won’t need to wait for it to get through the entire season.

Planting it early spring will let you enjoy a late spring or early summer harvest. If you start mid or later in the summer, you’ll be able to enjoy them in the fall.

To regrow bok choy from kitchen scraps, you’ll want to save the base.
Cut off any leaves. Then place the base of the veggie into a container with about an inch of water.
Keep changing the water as soon or before it gets cloudy.
Soon enough, you’ll see it start growing.

You can keep doing this and grow more and more which helps you save money in the long run.

Cabbage

To grow cabbage from scraps:

Collect any leftover leaves and place them in a bowl.
Add a little bit of water.
Place the bowl where it will get lots of sunlight.
Replace the water as it begins to get cloudy.
After some time, you’ll see roots start to form and some leaves.
When this happens transplant it from the bowl to the garden soil.

Celery

To regrow celery from scraps you’ll want to save the roots. So, make sure not to throw it away after you chop the stalks off and use them.

Keep about 2 inches of root. You won’t need more than that.
Place the root into a shallow bowl and add water. Use room temperature or slightly warm water. Don’t use cold water.
After a week or so, you’ll see the plant start to regrow.
As it gets bigger, you can now move it to the garden.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes can be regrown just like yams and potatoes. But, you want to get organic potatoes. This ensures that they haven’t been treated. Many non-organic farmers or distributors will treat their potatoes with growth retardants.

If this is the case, you won’t be able to regrow them from scraps.

The second important thing to consider is that tuberous roots will sprout from the eye.

Turnips

For turnips, the leafy tops are what you’re after when trying to regrow them from scraps.

All you need is about half an inch to an inch of the top section. The rest you can use.

Now, place the turnip top into a container with water.
After a while, you’ll notice leaves start growing from the tops withing a few days.
Let the root grow a bit until it gets to a good size.
Then transplant the turnip into the ground and allow it to grow.

Beets

To regrow beets from scraps, save the tops. You’ll be planting the tops to grow more beets at home.

This means it is important to buy the beets from the store and choose the ones with the tops that are still on. Those without the tops won’t leave you with anything to replant.
After cutting the top off, you can use the rest of the beet as you normally would be it for your salad or for cooking.
You want to use about half an inch to an inch of the beet top for growing.
And, you can do so by placing them flat part down onto a dish filled with water.
Place it in an area with bright sunlight. it will need this to grow.

Carrots

When saving carrots to regrow them from scraps, you want to keep the top of the plant. You can use the rest for cooking or enjoy them fresh.

The top of the carrot is where the new leaves will sprout from.

Place it into a container with water.
It will need a sunny spot to grow. So, choose a window that’s ideally facing the south.
Once the leaves start growing, you can move it to the garden.

Radish

To regrow radish from the fresh ones you already have is similar to that of how you grow more carrots.

You can grow them from the roots.
To do so, collect the root of the radish. All you need is about an inch of root.
Make sure to use a sharp, sterile kitchen knife to make the cut.
Once you have the root, you can plant it into the ground.

Tomatoes

To regrow tomatoes from scraps, you’ll want to save the seeds of fresh tomatoes.

Ripe tomatoes give you the best results.
Soak the seeds in water for about 14 hours.
Then dry them on a paper towel.
Plant them in the ground within the next 7 days.

Pumpkins

After cooking or carving your pumpkins, always save the seeds. You’ll be able to grow new pumpkin plants from fresh seeds.

To do so:

Collect the seeds from fresh pumpkins
Place them in a dry spot as the seeds will need to dry out before you can reuse them.
Make sure to wait until after last frost has passed as planting the seeds in the cold ground won’t help.
Sow the seeds by planting 6 of them about an inch deep.
If you have room in your yard, you can grow as many as you want using the same steps. But, do make sure to leave some space for the plants to grow .

Peppers

Peppers are like pumpkins and tomatoes. As such, you’re not going to be able to grow them from the produce you buy from the store.

Instead, you’ll want to use their seeds to grow. Fresh seeds will give you the best results.

Note that these do take much longer than the others which regrow from roots and stems. That’s because the seeds need to germinate first. Thus, patience is essential.

Ripe peppers will give you seeds that are viable.

They’ll need warm, moist conditions to grow. So, to germinate, you want to keep temperature to between 80 and 90 degrees.

If you live somewhere there’s frost, start them indoors about 6 to 8 weeks before last frost. This will let you move them outside later on when the risk of frost is gone. By that time, they’ll be seedlings ready to be transplanted.

Lettuce

To regrow lettuce from scraps, save a piece of the stem. Since you’ll be enjoying the leaves, you can leae about a half inch to an inch of stem to regrow. Then enjoy the rest of the lettuce as you normally do.

Place the stem in a dish with water.
It will need light to grow. This means you can place it near a window that receives a lot of light. Or, place it under grow lights.
Change the water every few days before it gets cloudy or murky.
Soon, you’ll start seeing the stem grow.