Making homemade broth is incredibly simple and seems to really impress people. It is also inexpensive, totally customizable, and so much better tasting than any canned broth or bullion cube on the market. I make homemade vegetable broth approximately once a month. I keep a gallon sized freezer bag in my freezer and throw any vegetable trimmings and ends from my food prep into it.
Store vegetable trimmings in a freezer bag to make homemade vegetable broth
When the bag gets full, I dump it out into a large pot of water and 4-5 hours later have a rich, dark amber broth that is perfect to use as a soup base. You can refrigerate the broth if you are using it that week or freeze it for later use. I like to freeze my broth in ice cube trays and use them to cool down hot soup. I use this method for cooling down my hot coffee.
Ice Cube Tray Measurements
2 cubes = 1/4 cup
4 cubes = 1/2 cup
6 cubes = 3/4 cup
8 cubes = 1 cup
Don’t discard gems like this!
This is also a great way to use up any vegetables you won’t be able to eat before they spoil. The smell that will seep throughout your house is amazing as this broth is simmering. The hardest part about making broth is waiting
Ingredients that can be used:
- Carrots (shavings, tops, trimmings)
- Parsnips (shavings, tops, trimmings)
- Radishes (trimmings)
- Celery (leaves, base, trimmings)
- Onion/Shallots (all types! skins and trimmings)
- Garlic (skins and trimmings)
- Mushrooms (whole or scraps)
- Fennel (trimmings, base, tops, scraps)
- Leeks (base, tops, trimmings)
- Turnips – I always toss a whole one into any batch of stock
- Any vegetable you have on hand!
- Herbs (rosemary, oregano, parsley, whatever you like!)
Freeze odds and ends for later
The great thing about this method is that your broth will change flavor depending on the scraps you collected in the bag. Generally, I make sure to add a few garlic cloves, an extra onion that is chopped into quarters, and a turnip. I find the turnip gives the broth a nice earthy undertone that is otherwise missing.
Homemade Vegetable Broth
Simmer for ~4 hours
Ingredients:
- 1 turnip, quartered
- 1 onion, quartered
- 3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 bag of vegetable trimmings*
- Water – The amount of water you start with will depend on the size of your pot. Generally speaking, you want the water to reduce to about 1/3 of the original amount. The more it reduces, the more concentrated your broth will be.
- Salt and pepper**
*NOTE: If you do not collect trimmings and want to make broth from scratch just use whole ingredients from the list above.
**Generally, I don’t add salt or pepper to my broth. I usually wait until I am cooking with it to add salt, pepper, herbs, etc. However, you should experiment and season according to your taste!
Directions:
- Place all items in a pot and fill with water. Leave about 1 inch from the top of the pot.
- Bring water to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for ~4 hours. Times will vary depending on the size of your pot so be sure to check periodically the first time you do this.
- When the water has reduced to about 1/3 of the amount, remove from heat and strain.
- Let the veggies cool and then squeeze them over the broth to make sure you get all the flavor you can out of them.
- Strain again to remove any big chunks of vegetables.
- Freeze in ice cube trays and store ice cubes in a large freezer bag.
