5 Simple Homesteading Recipes Anyone Can Make

Homesteading isn’t just about becoming completely self-sufficient… it’s about slowing down, learning new skills, and actually enjoying the fruits of your labor… literally.

If you’ve been wanting to dip your toes into homesteading but have no idea where to start, don’t worry. You don’t need a farm, a huge garden, or a perfectly organized pantry. You just need to start somewhere.

One of the simplest and most useful places to start is preserving food. Whether you’re fermenting cabbage, pickling vegetables, making something from scratch, or finding a way to stretch what you already have, these are the kinds of simple skills that have been passed down for generations and they’re surprisingly easy to bring into a modern kitchen.

You don’t have to do everything from scratch. You don’t have to grow every ingredient yourself. And you definitely don’t need to know what you’re doing before you start.

That’s kind of the whole point around here.

So, in true half assed homesteading. fashion, here are five simple recipes that are actually doable even if you’re figuring it out as you go.

Affiliate disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through one of my links, at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

1. Quick Pickles

If you’ve never preserved anything before, quick pickles are one of the easiest places to start. There’s no canning equipment, fermentation crock, or waiting weeks to see if your experiment actually worked.

A simple vinegar brine can turn fresh cucumbers into crisp, tangy pickles with very little effort. Make a jar, stick it in the fridge, and let the brine do the work.

They’re perfect for sandwiches, burgers, snacking straight from the jar, or standing in front of the refrigerator eating them while deciding what you’re actually going to make for dinner.

2. Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut sounds like one of those things you need to be a real homesteader to make. You know… the kind of person with a root cellar and strong opinions about heirloom cabbage.

Turns out, you need cabbage, salt, a jar, and a little patience.

Fermentation uses naturally occurring bacteria to transform ordinary cabbage into tangy, crunchy sauerkraut. There’s no vinegar and no complicated equipment involved. Once you get over the fact that you’re intentionally leaving cabbage on the counter for several days, it’s surprisingly simple.

It’s also a great introduction to fermentation because you can actually watch the process happen… bubbles and all.

3. Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions are one of those ridiculously easy things that make you feel way more accomplished in the kitchen than you actually need to be.

A red onion, a quick vinegar brine, and a little time in the fridge turns into something bright, tangy, and slightly sweet that you’ll suddenly want to put on everything.

Tacos, sandwiches, burgers, salads, eggs, grain bowls or straight out of the jar while standing at the refrigerator. No judgment here.

And because these are refrigerator pickles, there’s no canning involved. Make a jar, stick it in the fridge, and congratulate yourself on being wildly self-sufficient for slicing an onion.

4. Homemade Chicken Broth

Homemade chicken broth is basically the ultimate “use what you’ve got” homesteading recipe.

Instead of tossing chicken bones and vegetable scraps, throw them in a pot with some water and turn them into something you’ll actually use. It costs next to nothing if you’re using scraps, makes your house smell like you have your life together, and tastes so much better than the stuff in a box.

I like to keep onion ends, carrot peels, celery tops, and other broth-worthy scraps in a bag in the freezer. When the bag is full, it’s broth day. Very organized of me, considering the bag is usually just shoved behind a bag of frozen peas.

Use the finished broth for soups, gravy, sauces, rice, casseroles, or anywhere you’d normally reach for a carton from the store.

5. Homemade Vanilla Extract

Homemade vanilla extract might be the best example of doing more from scratch while actually doing… almost nothing.

You need vanilla beans, alcohol, a jar, and patience. That’s it. Split the beans, pour in the alcohol, stick the jar somewhere dark, and occasionally remember it exists.

A few months later, you have rich homemade vanilla extract ready for cookies, cakes, muffins, pancakes, and pretty much anything else worth baking.

It also makes a great homemade gift, especially because you can make several bottles at once and look wildly ambitious despite doing very little actual work!

start somewhere.

Homesteading doesn’t have to mean doing everything yourself. You don’t need acres of land, a pantry full of perfectly labeled jars, or enough free time to churn your own butter before breakfast.

Sometimes it’s just making the pickles instead of buying them. Saving your chicken scraps for broth. Letting a jar of cabbage bubble away on the counter. Or putting some vanilla beans in vodka and forgetting about them for six months.

Pick one thing that sounds fun and give it a try. Then maybe try another.

Before you know it, you’ll be standing in your kitchen surrounded by mason jars wondering how exactly this became your personality.

That’s pretty much how it starts.