15 Vegetables You Can Re-Grow Yourself from Kitchen Scraps

No time or space for your own vegetable garden? No worries! You can still enjoy growing vegetables at home. There are some vegetables that you can regrow again and again from kitchen scraps. We have come up with a roundup of 15 vegetables that you can regrow again and again. Examples include lettuce, celery, basil, sweet potato and carrots.

They are super easy to grow. You’ll just need a little bit time and patience to take care of the new plants and make sure they have the necessary water and sunlight. But the benefits are huge. You will have your own organic vegetable garden with regular supply at essentially no cost! In addition, projects like these will be great activities or fun experiments for the kids. They will have fun watching the scraps sprout and regrow. It’s a great way for the kids to learn about recycling and how plants and food can grow.

Sounds magical? Let’s get started!

Lettuce, Bok Choy and cabbage are relatively easy to grow from scraps. Instead of throwing out those leftover leaves, simply place them in a bowl with just a bit of water in the bottom. Keep the bowl somewhere that gets good sunlight and mist the leaves with water a couple of times each week. After 3 or 4 days, you will notice roots beginning to appear along with new leaves. When this happens you can transplant your lettuce or cabbage in soil.

Very similar with lettuce growing, you put your sprouting garlic in a bit of water and let it grow. The garlic sprouts are very flavored, but not tough on the palate as actual garlic. Use the sprouts in Asian dishes or to garnish whatever meals you’re planning.

Put clippings from basil with 3 to 4-inch stems in a glass of water and place it in direct sunlight. When the roots are about 2 inches long, plant them in pots to and in time it will grow a full basil plant.

Green Onions are probably the easiest vegetables to regrow. You can regrow green onions by cutting them in about an inch from the roots and placing them in a glass of water.

Your leftover carrots need to be put in water in a bowl and kept close to the window for maximum light. That way you grow carrot greens from carrot tops leftovers. Be warned that the carrot greens can be a bit bitter, but this still sounds like a fun project to do wth kids. No?

Cut off the base of the celery and place it in a saucer or shallow bowl of warm water in the sun. Leaves will begin to thicken and grow in the middle of the base, then transfer the celery to soil. 

If you love using lemongrass but have a difficult time finding it, simply regrow your own. Lemongrass will grow just like regular grass. You just place the root that is leftover in a glass bowl or jar with enough water to cover it and leave it in the sunlight. After about a week, you will notice new growth and when this happens you can transplant your lemongrass in a pot or in your herb garden.

Place cilantro stems in a glass of water until they grow roots. Then plant them in a pot with soil and leave them by the window for more light. Takes only a couple of months and you have a full plant. Use them in soups, over fresh rice or other dishes you have in mind.

If you love cooking with bean sprouts you can grow them yourself as well. You just need to soak a tablespoon or so of the beans that you want to grow in a jar with shallow water. Leave this overnight and in the morning, drain the water off and put the beans back in the container. Cover the container with a towel overnight and rinse them the next morning. Keep doing this until you notice the sprouts begin to appear and then until they reach the size that you want. This works well with mung beans and wheat berries.

You can regrow sweet potato by placing it in a jar of water in direct sunlight and letting it sprout. Then plant the well-rooted sprouts in soil.

Regrowing leeks works the same as regrowing green onions. Just cut them in about 2 inch from the roots and place them in a glass of water. 

I’m crazy about ginger tee made at home. And I’ve tried making some ginger beer as well. For that, you will – of course – need plenty of ginger. Rest assured you can regrow it. Ginger roots can sprout and grow more ginger – but it’s going to take months to sprout, while harvest-worthy ginger roots take almost an year.

Avocado seeds can be used to grow a steady supply of this super food. You just have to wash the seed and use toothpicks to suspend it over water in a bowl or jar. The water should come up enough to cover the bottom inch of the seed. Keep the container in a warm place but not in direct sunlight and remember to check the water every day and add more as needed. It can take up to six weeks for the stem and roots to appear and once the stem reaches about 6 inches you will need to cut it down to 3 inches. When leaves begin appearing, you can plant the seed in soil, remembering to leave about half of it above ground.

You can grow your own pineapple even if you don’t live in the tropics. You just cut the top off and insert a few toothpicks to hold it above a container filled with water. Keep the container in direct sunlight. If it is warm outside, sit it on the porch or deck during the day and bring it in at night. Remember to change the water every other day or so and keep the container filled so that it reaches just about the base. You will notice roots in about a week or so and once they are formed you can transplant into potting soil. If you live in a cooler area, it is best to grow your pineapple indoors.

Similar to basil, lemon balm can be regrown by putting a 2 to 3 inch cutting down the stem in a glass of water. When the roots are long enough, you can plant them in pots.