Homemade Vegetable Broth

Homemade broth is so easy to make and it tastes a million times better than store bought broth. Vegetable broth is the easiest of all broths. You don’t have to work with raw meat at all, and prepping the vegetables couldn’t be simpler and faster. You don’t even have to peel anything and a rough chop is all that’s needed, no precise knife work here.

You can adjust the flavor of the broth by using the vegetables that you like. Plus, you can be very frugal, and use up all your kitchen scraps. I like to make a huge portion and freeze the broth, so I have some on hand all the time and only have to make fresh broth every few months. Broth doesn’t need any baby sitting; it will be happily simmering away while you do other housework, or hang out with your family. That’s when I usually make it. I’ll throw everything in the pot, wait for it to boil, reduce the heat and leave it alone while I watch Shark Tank with Sergi or we both have fun watching Nathaniel crawling and trying to talk. 

Ingredients:

2-3 onions

3-5 carrots

3-5 celery stalks

1 head of garlic

1-2 leeks

8 oz fresh mushrooms

1/2 oz dry porcini mushrooms

1 bunch of fresh parsley

about 10 thyme sprigs

1 Tablespoon black peppercorns

2 dry bay leaves

salt, to taste

Instructions:

I use a 16 quart stockpot, but you can definitely cut the recipe in half and use a smaller pot. I bought this pot specifically for making broths and homemade kompot (a Russian fruit drink). Since I use homemade broth so much, I like to make a huge batch and not worry about it for a few months.

Wash the vegetables to remove grit, but you don’t have to do a very thorough job, since you will be straining the broth later anyway.

Cut the onions into quarters and place them into the stockpot with the peels. The onion peels will actually give a nice brown color to the broth. Plus, it’s so much easier not having to peel any vegetables. Coarsely slice the carrots and celery. Cut the head of garlic in half. Place all of these vegetables into your stockpot.

Cut off the dark green part of the leek and leave it whole. Slice the light part of the leek. Place the leeks into the stockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients – fresh and dry mushrooms, parsley, thyme, black peppercorns and bay leaves.

You can omit the mushrooms, of course, but I think they give terrific flavor to the broth, especially the dry mushrooms. It’s the famous “umami” flavor that all chefs are talking about all the time. It basically means a very hearty, almost meaty flavor.

You can use any combination of vegetables in the broth. Here are a few other ideas: Cauliflower, kale, spinach, parsnips, potatoes, zucchini, etc. However, if you want to keep it simple, all you really need for a great vegetable broth is some carrots, celery, onion and garlic. That’s it.

Another great tip is to save any vegetable scraps while you’re cooking. I have a freezer ziplock bag in my freezer all the time and any time I’m chopping celery, I cut off the tops and put them in that bag. Carrots peels, the tops of onions, etc, they all go in there. If you have some carrots that get a little bit soft, just chop them up and put them into that bag. Also, whenever I use leeks in other recipes, I never use the dark green tops, so I save them to use in broth later. Any time you want to make broth, add all these scraps that are still full of nutrients and flavor and add them to the pot. I recently made chicken broth, so I don’t have very many scraps in the bag, but usually it’s pretty full.

Fill the stockpot with water all the way to the top, leaving just enough room for the broth to simmer and not boil over.

Cover the stockpot with a lid, bring to a boil. I would highly recommend for you to stay near by, so you can turn down the heat before you hear it boiling over when you’re not watching. Season with salt. I like to keep it light on the salt, since when I’m using the broth in some recipes that require me to reduce the broth, the flavors will concentrate and the broth will be much too salty.

Reduce the heat to low and keep the broth simmering for about an hour and a half. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve lined with a cheesecloth or paper towels.

Store in the refrigerator or freeze.

I also have recipes for Homemade Chicken Broth and Homemade Beef Broth.

Homemade Chicken Broth

Homemade Beef Broth