The next time you enjoy a piece of fruit, don’t throw away the peel, pit, or core. Fruit scraps are a versatile ingredient to use in your kitchen. They can be transformed into all kinds of goodies, from homemade vinegar and pickles to loose-leaf tea blends. Just about any kind of fruit scraps—including watermelon melon rinds, pineapple cores, apple and pear peels, citrus rinds, and strawberry tops–can be saved and used anew. We spoke with an expert food preserver and a fermented foods professional to get their advice on how to pickle, candy, and ferment our way through all our fruit scraps.

There are three main reasons to save your fruit scraps. First, it helps eliminate food waste. Second, it's a budget-wise move when you use, rather than trash, an ingredient. Third, they are a great way to add some subtly sweet flavor to recipes. Simply wash and dry the scraps well, and they’re ready to proceed with any of the following ideas. 

Candied fruit is either made in two different ways: Preserving in syrup or drying and coating it in a granular sugar crust. It makes for a delicious snack in its own right, but it can also be diced and folded into muffin and cake batters to add a sweet and chewy punch of flavor. Expert food preserver, cooking teacher, and cookbook author Camilla Wynne’s go-to for excess fruit scraps is candying–citrus peels, to be exact. Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and more can be candied in just about any shape or form, including matchsticks, thin wheels, or bite-sized pieces. 

While citrus peels are the standard, Wynne notes that other scraps can be used, as well. “Even apple peels are fun to candy,” she says.

Wynne often makes homemade vinegar infused with fruit scraps, too. Vinegar is made through a process of alcoholic fermentation, which includes fruit (or fruit scraps), water, sugar, and a starter culture (often an existing vinegar). If you like to enjoy a variety of different salad dressings, homemade vinegar can be a real game changer. An added bonus is that vinegar has a virtually endless shelf life because it has such a high level of acidity. 

Apple peels will lend a slightly tannic flavor to homemade apple cider vinegar, but we also love to infuse vinegars with fruity strawberry tops or the pits from cherries or apricots. Wynne incorporates apple and tomato scraps (yes, tomatoes are a fruit!) into her homemade vinegars.

Kombucha undergoes a fairly similar process to vinegar. They are both fermented liquids, but kombucha’s main ingredient is tea. While vinegar ferments into alcohol before it becomes vinegar, kombucha ferments into a sippable sweet and sour beverage, and in much less time.

“Most often, I use fruit scraps to flavor homemade kombucha,” says Wynne. Whatever your favorite kombucha flavor is, try brewing it with scraps from that fruit—the skins from peaches and other stone fruits are particularly delicious.

Tepache is another fermented drink. It's made from the peels and cores of pineapple and usually sweetened with piloncillo (an unrefined cane sugar that’s popular in many Latin American countries) or brown sugar, not with white sugar. Serve it cold over ice, sprinkled with a heavy hand of chile powder. 

The most typical pickled ingredient—the cucumber—is technically a fruit, so it only makes sense that other fruits would also be delicious when given the pickle treatment. Jorge Azevedo, CEO of Fermented Food Holdings, explains that because fruits have a much higher sugar content than most vegetables, they tend to ferment very quickly. “If you aren’t careful, they could also develop small amounts of alcohol, which can be good or bad depending on your expectation for the final product,” he notes. 

Vinegar pickling, as opposed to more gut-friendly lacto-fermentation, is a beginner-friendly method that has little to no risk of alcohol development. Whichever pickling method you choose, Wynne recommends opting for more fragrant and mellow spices when pickling fruit, rather than the usual garlic and dill combination you usually see with vegetables.

If you find yourself with an assortment of fruit scraps, turn them into homemade preserves. Maybe you have some mushy berries or over-ripe peaches—all you need is some sugar and a touch of lemon juice to make a batch of delicious preserves. 

The only caveat is that you’ll need quite a few scraps to make a whole jar of preserves. Luckily, fruit scraps can be frozen for later use. Wynne says she often freezes citrus peels from juicing if she doesn’t have time to put them to use the same day. 

Citrus peels can also be preserved just like you would with whole citrus. They will be a bit more bitter since it’s only the zest and no flesh, but make a condiment that is delicious in dishes like chicken tagines, simple pastas, or lemony vinaigrettes.

Simple syrups are a great way to add a touch of sweetness to drinks like coffee and iced tea or to add to drinks, whether boozy or non-alcoholic. Simple syrup is also one of the best ways to add moisture and flavor to cake layers. When simmering a simple syrup, Wynne likes to add strawberry tops and/or rhubarb trimmings. She says she always saves the forced rhubarb trimmings to make syrup because it’s so precious.

If you’re able to dehydrate fruit scraps, such as citrus, apple, or pear peels, they can add a lot of flavor to loose-leaf tea mixes. Grind them up and toss them with the tea leaves to make a unique brew. Earl Grey will benefit from some added citrus notes, while apples pair well with blends made with warming spices.