Ever wondered what to do with orange peels? A common (and useful) suggestion is to slice it up and soak in vinegar to make homemade orange scented surface cleaner. I do this all the time, but sometimes you have too much, especially during citrus season.
Here are a few suggestions to use up those orange peels:
Think outside in. Zest orange rind can be added to anything really. Try bliss balls, soup, or salad dressing. You can zest the orange and use the inside another time. My mom did this and I recall we often had oranges in the fruit bowl with just the pith showing, fine and ready to use elsewhere.
Make candy. These taste like gummy worms with an intense orange flavour. Zero Waste Chef has a no fuss recipe (of course she does). My trick is to add a dash of citric acid to the candied peels to make ’em sour.
Make tea. An idea from the always inspiring Milkwood is to make tea with what you have. Orange peel would go nicely with cloves and a black tea. To dehydrate, just place the peel on a sheet in a low low oven for a long time until perfectly dry.
Make citrus powder. Dehydrate the rinds and then blitz in a food processor to make a powder to add to anything, like scones, if you’re fancy.
Make a jug of water more refreshing. A good solution for entertaining, when making cocktails or guacamole, or anything citrus leaves you with a pile. Pop the ends into the water jug. This was orange, mint and lime.
More ideas to use up orange peels
- Add peels to your homemade broth since bones are best cooked with some acid.
- Make a small decorative box
- Make a cheat’s preserved oranges.
- Some people make intricate orange peel artwork.
- You could make a floating tea light holder
- Try orange rind halves as seed starting vessels – just poke a hole in the bottom for some drainage.
Would you or have you tried any of these ideas? They can all be adapted to whatever citrus peel you want to use up. You can also store rinds in the freezer until you get around to trying any of these suggestions.