Tips for Reducing Food Waste – Simple Stir Fry Recipe

This Simple Stir Fry is completely customizable! Use up leftover vegetables, stems, and protein from other recipes in your week for a flavorful and satisfying meal perfect for any night of the week!

How to Reduce Food Waste - Simple Stir Fry Recipe #glutenfree #dairyfree #lowFODMAP

Happy wonderful Friday!

I’m kicking off the weekend with a Recipe Redux post that is just PERFECT timing.  Sunday evening, I board a plane to NYC so I can meet with the people I have been working online with for one of my experiential internships.  Seriously, I am SO excited.

The reason why this post is so timely is because the Recipe Redux theme of the month is:

Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, we’re challenging ReDux members to show how they reduce food waste. Whatever you would normally toss, use it up. Share tips for reducing food waste in meal planning, prep or using up scraps.

Because I am heading out of town, I am attempting to utilize ALL leftovers so there is zero food waste before I head out.  Brian isn’t traveling with me, but he is a little less creative in the kitchen – I’ll keep basics on hand for him and use up any leftover parts and pieces of veggies I can find!

How to Reduce Food Waste - Simple Stir Fry Recipe #glutenfree #dairyfree #lowFODMAP

Reducing food waste is something that I am constantly working towards, and I can definitely use some tips if you have them!  While I can improve on my food waste efforts, there are a few things I do on a regular basis to reduce my food waste each week:

Meal Planning

I find that by having a meal plan, I can purchase almost exactly what I need for the week and I can pick recipe that utilize similar ingredients.  Having overlap helps save time, and reduces the number of ingredients I have to purchase overall!

Composting

This is something BRAND new to me, so any advice you have for me is welcome!  This is really helpful with food waste because I can toss the parts of vegetables I don’t want to eat, coffee grounds, etc into the compost bin and I know that it will be used for a better purpose than just sitting in the dump.  We haven’t started planting our garden yet, but when Mother’s Day rolls around I will be excited to start using some of the compost I have been brewing up for the past couple of months.

Making Homemade Broth

I set aside veggie tops and scraps to use while making my homemade vegetable broth.  Some of my favorite things to include are herbs, carrots, parsnips, zucchini, and turnips.  The broth is wonderful for using as a flavor base for a TON of recipes, it is lower in sodium and has no preservatives like the store-bought broth, AND it gives the parts of your veggies you would throw away a use.

Tips for reducing food waste! #EarthDay #TheRecipeRedux Share on X

Using Food Stems and Leftover Vegetables in a Stir Fry

This is where today’s recipe comes in handy!  Many food stems that are often discarded (kale stems, broccoli stems, heads of carrots, ends of zucchini, etc) are actually quite flavorful and can be used in a stir fry dish like this!

Because this dish is dependent on the ingredients you have on hand, feel free to customize and think of it more like a method rather than a specific recipe.  You can interchange:

  • any type of protein
  • any type of aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger, chives, green onion, etc)
  • any type of vegetables
  • any type of grain or cauliflower rice

How to Reduce Food Waste - Simple Stir Fry Recipe #glutenfree #dairyfree #lowFODMAP

How to Reduce Food Waste - Simple Stir Fry Recipe #glutenfree #dairyfree #lowFODMAP

If you give this Simple Stir Fry a try, share on Instagram! #trebleinthekitchen

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How to Reduce Food Waste - Simple Stir Fry Recipe #glutenfree #dairyfree #lowFODMAP

Simple Stir Fry Recipe


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  • Author: Tara | Treble in the Kitchen
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Description

This Simple Stir Fry is completely customizable! Use up leftover vegetables, stems, and protein from other recipes in your week for a flavorful and satisfying meal perfect for any night of the week!


Ingredients

Scale
  • For the stir fry:
  • 1 Tbsp avocado oil
  • 1 lb chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (can use any protein)
  • 1 Tbsp chives, finely chopped (can sub garlic, onion, green onion)
  • 1 Tbsp ginger, finely grated (can sub garlic, onion, green onion)
  • 5 cups of vegetable parts leftover from the week (zucchini ends, kale stems, carrot tops, eggplant, radish greens, etc)
  • For the sauce:
  • 3 Tbsp chives, finely chopped
  • 3 Tbsp low sodium Tamari
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock (I used homemade vegetable stock)*

Instructions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with avocado oil.
  2. Once heated, add the chicken or protein of choice and allow to sit for about 3 minutes to create a crisp texture. Toss the protein and coat until golden brown and mostly cooked through.
  3. Remove the chicken or protein from the skillet and set aside.
  4. Toss the chives and ginger or other aromatics in the skillet for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Next, add the vegetables.
  5. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
  6. Toss the chicken or protein of choice in with the vegetables.
  7. To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
  8. Pour the sauce in with the protein and vegetables and allow it to get bubbly.
  9. Stir and cook the vegetables and protein with the sauce until the protein is cooked through completely.
  10. Serve and top with your favorite fresh herbs and a side of grains or cauliflower rice.

Notes

*For low FODMAP, avoid garlic and onion
Nutrients for this recipe were calculated using MyFitnessPal and will vary depending on which ingredients you choose to use.

This recipe has not been tested for FODMAP content, but you can sub in low FODMAP vegetables compliant with the Monash University App and guidelines. Please eat the foods that make you feel your best!

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Category: low FODMAP, gluten free, dairy free, dinner, lunch
  • Cuisine: asian

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/4 recipe without rice
  • Calories: 195
  • Sugar: 4 g
  • Sodium: 858 mg
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 9 g
  • Fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 24 g
  • Cholesterol: 55 mg

How to Reduce Food Waste - Simple Stir Fry Recipe #glutenfree #dairyfree #lowFODMAP

Questions of the Day:

  • How do you attempt to reduce food waste?
  • Do you have home compost?  
  • Any trips on the horizon or recommendations for NYC?

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  1. Great recipe and substituted garlic & green onion for the ginger 🫚 I didn’t have any ginger 🫚

  2. I really am pleased that you are into FODMAP…I haven’t seen anyone else online who is. What is the position of the various flours on FODMAP? Can any at all be used?
    Thanks

    • Hi Jan! Thanks for reaching out! I know how hard it is to find information regarding a low FODMAP diet. Kate Scarlata has a ton of resources (katescarlata.com) and so does “A Little Bit Yummy.” When I am searching for the FODMAP content of various foods, I use the Monash University app. It’s a bit pricey, but it is CONSTANTLY being updated and the money goes toward FODMAP research!

  3. You are right indeed! Stir fry’s are the best! Love the flavor combo here- tweeted to make sure more people get on board the stir fry train!

    • Our compost isn’t very big 🙂 Hoping that it helps us with our first garden this year!