The most flavorful homemade vegetable broth made with a variety of vegetables is actually really easy to make. This staple recipe is one that you can customize and use in many other recipes.
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. In addition, you don't even have to peel anything and a rough chop is all that's needed, no precise knife work here.
One of the best parts of making your own broth is that you can adjust the flavor of the broth by using any 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 a movie with my family or curl up with a good book. I also have recipes for Chicken Broth and Beef Broth - the flavor of homemade broth is just the best and so worth it.
Ingredients:
- onions - yellow or white onions are best for broth
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- leeks
- fresh mushrooms
- dry porcini mushrooms
- 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.
- fresh parsley
- thyme sprigs
- black peppercorns
- dry bay leaves
- salt, to taste
How To Make Homemade Vegetable Broth:
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.
- Prep the vegetables.
- 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, coarsely slice the carrots and celery. Cut the head of garlic in half.
- Cut off the dark green part of the leek and leave it whole. Slice the light part of the leek. Add the rest of the ingredients - fresh and dry mushrooms, parsley, thyme, black peppercorns and bay leaves.
- 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. Season with salt.
- 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 the broth in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up 3 months.
Helpful Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Save any vegetable scraps while you're cooking, so you can use them in broth.
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.
Anytime you want to make broth, add all these scraps that are still full of nutrients and flavor and add them to the pot.
I like to store broth in glass mason jars in the refrigerator for up to a week and in the freezer for up to 3 months, in twist top plastic storage containers.
More Healthy Recipes:
Homemade Vegetable Broth
The most flavorful homemade vegetable broth made with a variety of vegetables is actually really easy to make. This staple recipe is one that you can customize and use in many other recipes.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 55 mins
- Yield: 40 - 42 cups 1x
- Category: Miscellaneous
Ingredients
- 2-3 onions
- 3-5 carrots
- 3-5 celery stalks
- 1 head of garlic
- 1-2 leeks
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms
- ½ 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
- Wash the vegetables to remove grit and then cut them coarsely to place them all in the stockpot.
- 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. Coarsely slice the carrots and celery. Cut the head of garlic in half. Cut off the dark green part of the leek and leave it whole. Slice the light part of the leek. Add the rest of the ingredients - fresh and dry mushrooms, parsley, thyme, black peppercorns and bay leaves.
- 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. Season with salt.
- 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 the broth in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- I use a 16 quart stockpot, but you can definitely cut the recipe in half and use a smaller pot.
- 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.
Looks good. Want to make some. We love broth it goes fast at at my house. How much salt do u add,and about how much cups of water?
I use a 16 quart stock pot and fill it all the way to the top with water and season the broth with salt to taste. Salt is a matter of preference; add as much or as little as you want.
Thanks!! God bless you Olga.
Hi Olga. Love this recipe, never thought of a vegetable broth though. For what type of recipes can you use it? Do you have any recipe's with veg.broth? Thanks
I use broth all the time in many different ways. I use the vegetable broth as a base for a brine for roasted turkey. I also use it for soups, sauces, casseroles, stews, etc. You can use it in most recipes that call for chicken broth, beef broth, etc. I hope that helps, Olga.
Making this today. Some broth recipes say to cover the pot while it's on low simmer for 1-1,5 hours. Does the veg broth need to be covered while it simmers? What difference does it make? Thanks lots.
By covering the pot, you will need to use less heat. If you leave the pot uncovered, you will need to use a higher heat to keep it at the same simmering level. I hope that helps, Misha.
Yes, it helps. Thank you for your quick response!!
I tried this broth as a base for a simple soup, and it came out fantastic. For the soup I added sliced mushrooms, a slice of fresh ginger, crushed garlic clove, a dash of soy sauce, chili flakes would be great but I didn't have them.
That soup sounds so delicious, Misha. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Olga,
How long can the broth be frozen for?
thank you!
Up to 6 months, although it never lasts that long in our house:).
Hi Olga!
What container do you prefer to store your broth in? Do you store in the glass jar that you have pictured with the recipe? If yes, do you sterilize it? Thanks! Recipe looks awesome! Definitely going to try it.
I store in the glass jars in the refrigerator and I don't sterilize the jars as long as I'm going to use the broth quickly (less than a week). Otherwise, I store the broth in plastic take out containers in the freezer. I hope you like it, Susanna.
I love making my own broth - I know exactly what goes in there! I've never made vegetable post before, Need to try this
Anna // Happy Medley
That's exactly it. I love making things from scratch because I control what goes in it and it tastes much better too:). I hope you enjoy it, Anna.