Low Waste Kitchen: Radical Recipes for Sustainable Living

by Alessandro Vitale

Welcome to Alessandro Vitale a.k.a SpicyMoutstache’s world, where he’s on a determined mission to reduce waste in your kitchen.

Everyone wants to live more sustainably, but it's hard to know where to start. With all those small steps towards zero-waste will come to light. Through 100 step-by-step low-waste recipes, Alessandro Vitale (Spicy Moustache) shows that everyone can make small changes for a big environmental impact.

Driven by a desire for a more sustainable world, Alessandro’s success has been his plant-based 60 second videos on maximizing flavor and making the most of different fruit and vegetables. Now, Spicy brings his straightforward approach to the page, with step-by-step low- and zero-waste recipes for delicious plant-based meals and snacks, along with a handful of household remedies, cosmetics, and useful tips on food storage, shopping, and more – everything you need to reduce waste in your kitchen and home.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Reference, Cooking, Nonfiction

397 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 25, 2025

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira]

Alessandro Vitale, an Italian gardening expert who has lived in London for more than a decade, is best known for his low-waste videos on various social-media platforms and for Rebel Gardening, a book on urban gardening. Here Vitale has produced a cookbook on sustainable vegan cooking and much more, a cookbook with the most exquisite photos and step-by-step instructions.

For full disclosure, I am an omnivore, but I found a lot to like here. First of all, it’s hard to dislike the heavily tattooed, cheery, passionate Vitale. Secondly, regardless of how you eat, there are off-beat recipes you will enjoy; however, which and how many depends heavily on who you are. Vegans will love this cookbook, of course — although, again, how much depends on how committed they are to sustainability. Most won’t want to make nettle soup, nor will they want to make their own oat and almond milks, using the pulp to make cookies. Vegan or not, few will want to process vegetable skins and peels to make coloring powders, turn pineapple peels into a drink, make rice into bread, or make a Chickpea Chocolate Mousse. Maybe that’s just me.

At the same time, vegan or not, who wouldn’t love Lettuce and Potato Soup, Upside-Down Onion Tart, Grilled Polenta with Sage, Corn Pancakes and Herb Bomb frozen cubes to use up fresh herbs that are looking not so fresh and bring them out later? Other recipes, like Carrot Top Pesto and Pineapple Chutney, look intriguing.

So why am I not attaching a star rating to this singular cookbook? As I noted, the rating depends on who you are: five stars for committed sustainable vegans, four for less committed vegans and three for the Great Unwashed, like lazy me.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and DK RED in exchange for an honest review.

[Nic]

Bro. You lost me at LETTUCE SOUP 🤢

[bookcookery]

I went into this unfamiliar with Alessandro Vitale (aka Spicy Moustache) but was intrigued by the premise of low-waste, vegan cooking.

I tried a handful of recipes. The Rice Bread was interesting. I’d never encountered it before and wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of flavor or texture (less sweet and gummy than mochi was my initial guess). Quick and easy to make, it uses raw rice (not something I usually waste), and while the result was dense with a pronounced rice aroma, it sliced cleanly and held up reasonably in sandwiches. The feijoada was solid, and the chickpea chocolate mousse, though not as smooth as I’d hoped, was popular and quickly eaten. The Sourdough Discard Crackers were flavorful, with the addition of herbs giving them an edge over similar versions like those in PlantYou. The Date Bites, while a variation on a familiar recipe, were new to me. They reminded me of the mochi-stuffed dates from PlantAsia in that they were sweet-on-sweet and in need of a bit more salt to bring balance.

The recipes I chose leaned on the more familiar side, which might have been my misstep. They didn’t feature foraged ingredients or focus on foods that typically go bad in my kitchen. Had I gathered nettles for the risotto or tried more regionally specific dishes, like the lettuce and potato soup or the plum dumplings, I might’ve gotten a clearer sense of the book’s personality.

A few minor quibbles: I prefer to avoid heavily processed vegan substitutes, especially vegan cheeses, which appear more often here than I’d like. And like the cookbook Preserving the Seasons, this book leans heavily on edible flowers, more than I think most home cooks or gardeners have readily available (unless you’re on very good terms with a lot of neighbors).

Still, this was an engaging and educational read. There’s clear creativity here, and for the right home cook, especially one with a green thumb, it’ll be an inspiring resource.

Thanks to DK RED and NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy.

[Chatti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first “met” Alessandro Vitale when he was interviewed on a YouTube channel and we toured his small backyard garden and he made the host some type of bread. My initial thought was, “This is a cool guy,” and that led me to follow him on Instagram. Ever since, I love seeing his inspiring posts pop up in my feed, so naturally, I was thrilled to get my hands on his cookbook, "The Low Waste Kitchen."

At first glance, I mistakenly assumed the book would include gardening tips as well - I’m not entirely sure why, since the title clearly says “Low Waste Kitchen.” However, it turned out to be exactly what I needed! Often, I find myself growing an abundance of vegetables but getting stuck using them in the same old recipes. Alessandro, known as Spicy Mustache, brings a fresh, Mediterranean-inspired twist that excites me, especially since Mediterranean cuisine has always intrigued me but felt somewhat intimidating. The recipes seem easy enough to recreate.

Here are a few recipes I'm particularly eager to try:

Nettle Risotto: This caught my eye despite typically not liking risotto.
Crispy Potato and Carrot Skin Snacks
Everything in the “Flowers” section
Purple Lemonade
Whole Orange Almond Cake

The photos and styling in this cookbook are stunning, adding an extra layer of joy to the experience. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed "The Low Waste Kitchen" and greatly appreciated the practical tips for creating a more sustainable and creative kitchen environment. Congrats on publishing, Spicy Mustache! Well deserved.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful vegan cookbook brimming with photos, personality and fresh ideas. Vitale is immensely likable and his recipes are creative and beautiful. I am not vegan but I marked so many recipes to try. They are colorful, healthy and inventive. I love his use of wild and foraged foods, and he has lots of recipes that our family has also loved for years like dandelion honey and elderflower soda. There are photos of most recipes and there are often multiple photos if there are steps that need them. I love his uses of scraps, like granola made from the leftover pulp from homemade oat milk, chocolate covered orange peels, and colorful vegetable peel powders. There is no nutritional information and I usually dock a star for that but it’s such a great cookbook that I let it slide. Well recommended.

I read a temporary digital loan of this book for review.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sustainable kitchen is a wonderful goal, and this recipe book has lots of ingenious ways to move toward a zero-waste kitchen by using leftover scraps and planning out your meals.
This plant-forward book has so many ideas that aren’t readily found in most cookbooks- things like vegetable skin powders, carrot top pesto, and lots of pickling options. There’s even non- food recipes like lip balms and shower steamers!

A really good book with lots of great and unusual ideas to get your kitchen cleaned up!

I received a free ebook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Kacey/Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an inventive cookbook. Alessandro brought cooking to a new level. With the way the prices of produce rising having a resource to help one use as much as one can and not waste is marketing genius.

[Brooke Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised. I picked this up on a whim thinking it would be interesting but probably would not have many recipes I could try. Wrong! ideas were flowing can't wait to try to make something.