Did you ever look at the colorful water left in your pan after steaming or blanching veggies? It always amazes me to see what colors the water changes to.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the reason it is colored is some of the nutrients from the veggies have leached into the water. All the more reason to NOT dump that nutrient dense water down the drain!
Here are five easy ways you can reuse that nutrient dense veggie water:
1. Save it to use as vegetable stock in soup. If you’re not planning to make a soup in the next few days, just pour it into a freezable container (we reuse bulk yogurt tubs), label and stick in the freezer until you need it.
2. Use as an additive to your cooking. Keep a jar of veggie water in your refrigerator so you can easily pull it out and use it when cooking and need to add in a little liquid. You can also freeze it in ice cube trays and store them in a bag or container in the freezer so you can get out as many as you need when cooking.
3. Use it in homemade baby food. I make the majority of the food our little nugget eats by using our cup size blender. I add in whatever food I’m planning to puree but it always needs some liquid. Instead of adding in plain water, add in some of this nutrient dense water so your babe can get an even healthier homemade meal.
4. Drink it. I’m not necessarily saying pour it into a cup and drink it, although some might enjoy it that way. Try adding it into your smoothie. Mixed with your favorite smoothie ingredients it will add even more healthy goodness to your drink.
5. Water your plants. If you don’t have the time or desire to save and reuse your veggie water, use it to water your veggies or other plants instead of dumping it down the drain. I like to think of this as a natural fertilizer and do this when I have a plethora of veggie water.
I started keeping a jar of nutrient dense veggie water in our fridge to use in my cooking and baby food making throughout the week. If it starts to get older than a few days, I water my tomato plants in the greenhouse and start a new jar.
What other ways have you used your veggie water?
Like this? Please share it! 
Great ideas! I’ve been trying to train hubs to do this…not working so well
So I try to get to it before he dumps it down the drain.
I like to put it in the freezer for soup too. I also add the little odds and ends of veggies left over from dinner to it. Pretty soon I have veg soup ready to heat and eat!
I found you on Frugal Day, Sustainable Ways and I’m getting ready to follow you
Thanks for stopping by and following
I love the idea of adding leftover veggies to it to have an easy veggie soup- I’ll have to try that one!
Good tips!
I’ve always added it to my dog’s water bowl (after it’s cooled down of course!).
Wow, now there’s an idea I hadn’t thought of- giving it to our dogs! Thanks for sharing
I never thought to use it to water our plants with. I typically just add it to my foods and I freeze it sometimes into ice cubes and pull out a few at a time. Thank you for linking up with us at Healthy 2Day Wednesdays!
Thanks for stopping by Carrie
Thank you for sharing these creative and healthy ideas! I will definitely be putting them into practice. I always hate to pour out that healthy-looking veggie water!
Kristy @ Little Natural Cottage
Yikes! You may want to reconsider reusing vegetable water from cruciferous or green leafy vegetables because the water will be full of oxalic acid! Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist wrote an article about this. http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/should-vegetable-cooking-water-be-saved/
Water from root vegetables would be safer.
Wow, I had NO idea! Thank you for sharing this. I am going to read the article now!
I added a link to this article in my post since this is all new info to me so it can help educate others. Thank you again for sharing this!
I’m featuring you this week at our Natural Living link-up! Thanks again for sharing.
Wow, thank you for featuring this post! I always look forward to reading all the wonderful posts linked up each week
Thanks for sharing. I typically save veggie water and pasta water to water my plants, but I never thought of saving veggie water for babyfood! Love it!
Thank you for sharing! I am still really new at all this, so I never would have thought to do something like that…..
I love these tips! I’ve used my veggie water in other cooking
Melanie says
I’ve just started steaming vegetables, and I’m going to try using the water to cook rice.