How to Make Vegetable Broth in 5 Easy Steps

Vegetable broth is one of those tricks that every homesteader should have up their sleeve. It’s pretty much a kitchen staple. Once you learn how to make it yourself, you’ll never buy it from the grocery store again. It tastes better than store-bought broth and it’s a great way to use up those wilting veggies in the back of your fridge. It’s also a great way to cut down on food waste. Save veggie scraps and cuttings and freeze them in baggies. Keep adding to the bags until you have enough for making broth.

What can you do with vegetable broth?

We use a lot of vegetable broth around here. We pretty much use it as a substitute for water in most recipes. It adds a little extra flavor boost. For example, you can use vegetable broth for making soups and stews. You can boil rice, quinoa, noodles, or other grains in broth instead of water. Risotto, casseroles, gravy, and stuffing are a few of the many dishes that can be made with vegetable broth.

How do you make vegetable broth?

There really aren’t exact rules when it comes to making your own vegetable broth which is what makes it so easy. The ingredients you use might differ depending on the time of year and what you happen to have in your fridge. There are so many options, however you can’t go wrong with the following recipe! 

Note: You can add meat bones or carcasses to adapt this recipe for chicken broth, bone broth, beef broth etc.

Ingredients:

• 2 Carrots
• 1 Onion
• 3 Stalks Celery
• 1 Fennel Bulb
• 1 Leek
• 1-2 Cups Sliced Mushrooms
• 5 Cloves Garlic 
• 1 Bunch Parsley
• 5 Sprigs Thyme
• 5 Sprigs Rosemary 
• 1 Bayleaf
• 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
• Salt and Pepper to taste 

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a large pot. 
2. Fill pot 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. 
3. Reduce heat and let simmer for at least 2 hours. The longer you simmer it, the richer the flavor will be. You can add more herbs, salt, and pepper towards the end to enhance the flavor to your liking.
4. Let the cool before straining broth into containers. I like to use mason jars but freezer bags work well too. Make sure you leave a little space for the liquid to expand if freezing!
5. Store the broth in the refrigerator and use within the next week. Or store in freezer and use within the next 6