Homemade Thursday: Vegetable Broth

And why I just started making this a few months ago beats me.  I mean, why haven't I been making broth from scratch since well, whenever I started needing it in recipes.  I should have NEVER bought any form of broth in a can in the first place for a couple of reasons but mostly because of all the additives.  This couldn't be much easier, really.  You spend some time prepping your vegetables but after that there really isn't that much time involved.   Each time I've made it I throw in random veggies just for fun.  I haven't made a batch we didn't enjoy. 


I've read that you can use fresh produce, older produce and some people even save leftovers from meals (freeze them then pull them out on stock making day)  to make their broth/stock with.  While I haven't attempted the latter yet I think it is a pretty good idea.


While I'm not sure the amounts of vegetables I actually use I tend to go by the recipe below.


Vegetable Broth from VeganYumYum



Minimalist Broth
2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
1-2 Large Onions, chopped
1 lb Celery, Chopped
1 lb Carrots, washed but unpeeled, chopped
3 Whole Cloves Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
10 Whole Black Peppercorns
2 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Low Sodium Tamari
1 Gallon Water

You might also have or want to use:

Any fresh veggie scraps from other meals
Leeks
Mushrooms
Celery Root
Potatoes
Peppers
Turnips
Any Greens
Zucchini
Fennel

Directions
In a large stock pot heat olive oil.
Chop and add veggies to stock pot. 
chop and add, chop and add. 
Once you've added everything fill the pot with water. 
Now turn up the heat a little (if/when it boils, turn heat down)
After about one hour you can add salt/tamari/soy sauce and let cook another minutes for added flavor. 
Now strain your veggies.  AND if you're extra fancy strain in cheesecloth sack to really get all the yummies out!

Freeze anyway you like.  Helpful hint to freeze in ice cube trays for quick and easy access.  (Of course when they're frozen you can pop out and add to baggie). 

photo credit

Pin It