Homemade Vegetable Broth
this will be your go-to as the weather cools down and warm dishes make their way back into daily life! super easy, I hope this helps you reduce waste, save money, and feel good!
bonus tip: double your efforts and save time…. casually throw your broth items together in the pot as you are already cooking your main dinner. let it simmer while you eat, then just strain and store after. easy peasy!
Homemade Vegetable Broth
makes: about 4 cups
time: 5-10 mins prep / 60 mins simmer
30 Day Approved
Ingredients
Leftover Produce
NOTE: What I’m giving you here are ESTIMATES of quantities based on using 4 cups of water. If you don’t have everything, that’s okay. If you swap ingredients, that’s okay. I’m giving you a baseline for 4 cups of liquid, so you can half it, double it, triple it in a bigger pot… as long as you have a variety of veggies and spices, it WILL taste good!
Pick FOUR of the below items for 4 cups of water, add more water later if using more produce:
1 top of onion (skins and ends included,) - chop/include whatever meat of it is left, too, skin on
2-3 garlic cloves (skins and tops included) - roughly chopped (optional)
1 sweet potato ends (or include the potato itself, chopped w/ skins on)
1 handful leafy, sturdy greens (stems included - i.e. kale, collard, chard, beet, turnip, mustard)
1 top of tomato (stem included - or include rest of tomato itself, chopped)
1 top/end of bell pepper (or include pepper itself, chopped, stem included)
1/2 cup carrots (or however much you have, tops included) - chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms (or however much you have, stems included) - chopped
2-3 stalks celery and tops (or however much you have, full leafy tops included) - chopped
hard rind of parmesan or any hard cheese (whole piece), optional
Other
1 tbsp olive or avocado oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1-2 tbsp tomato paste or sauce or diced tomato
1 handful herbs, fresh and/or dried (rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, etc)
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
filtered water
Directions
Heat large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add oil (or water), onion, garlic, carrots, and celery (or any similar veggie you have like these). Add 1/4 tsp each sea salt and black pepper (amount as recipe is written - adjust if altering batch size) and stir to coat. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until softened and slightly browned, stirring frequently.
Add water, greens, herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, etc), cheese rind*, and another 1/4 tsp sea salt and black pepper (amount as recipe is written - adjust if altering batch size). Increase heat to medium high until the mixture comes to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and add nutritional yeast and tomato paste (add less of both for less intense flavor, or more for bigger more robust flavor). Stir to combine and loosely cover (with the lid cracked).
Continue cooking for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour. The flavor will increase the longer it simmers.
Near the end of cooking, taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more herbs for herby/earthy flavor, salt for saltiness, pepper for a little spice, or tomato paste or nutritional yeast for deeper flavor.
Let cool slightly. Pour over a strainer into another pot. Then divide between storage containers (best to glass, whether mason jars or glass tupperware). Let cool completely before sealing.
Store in the refrigerator up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 1 month.
Perfect for use in soups, chili, gravy, any recipe that calls for broth/stock… or make up your own soup by adding in some meat, beans, pasta, and/or veggies (pre-cook the other protein and veggies and then combine and warm together). Enjoy all autumn long!
*PS: You can use the hard rind of Parmesan in ANY soup, broth, or stew to add a deeper flavor boost!
Discard the leftover veggies after simmering and straining. Your final product will be a tomato-tinted liquid!
