Do-It-Yourself Vegetable Broth

A secret to truly great soup (and many other dishes) is homemade vegetable broth. Making your own from scratch is an easy project for the height of summer when the garden is bursting with vegetables, as well as in the winter months when soups are more regularly on the menu and heating up the kitchen isn't a concern.

Homemade broth is a perfect way to make flavorful and good-for-you veggie broth using food that would normally go in the compost or (gasp!) the trash. It’s like vegetable recycling!  

 
DIY Vegan Soup Broth
By Allison Rivers

Ingredients
1 whole onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic
10 crimini mushrooms (5 if using shiitake)
2 ribs of celery cut into three large pieces
2 large carrots cut into three large pieces
Ends and peels of any veggies you normally cook, like:
clean onion ends and skins, potato peels, celery and carrot tops, kale, chard or collard stems, mushroom stems, etc. (see Pro-tips below)
Water to cover veggies

Directions
1. Fill a large pot within 4 inches of the top with veggies and cover with water.

2. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for about 2 hours.

3. Strain and use right away or transfer to freezer-safe containers like muffin tins and loaf pans to freeze.

Pro-tips 

• I gather the ends and peels from my vegetables for a week or two prior to making broth and store them in a zip bag or container in the fridge or freezer. In addition to the veggies mentioned above, I also use zucchini ends, mushroom stems, bok choy ends, and, in the summer, tomatoes that are split or too mushy to eat. You can basically use any part of the veggies you don’t typically eat, but don’t use veggies you wouldn’t normally cook like lettuce or cucumber. Also, if you use beets, your broth will be pink.
• I like to start my broth in the morning and turn it off in the late afternoon. Freezing it in muffin tins or even ice cube trays makes it easier to use later since you only need to melt the amount you need for a particular recipe.
• Stock vs. Broth: They’re basically synonyms, but the word “stock” is more often used for soup liquid made with flesh and bones from animals, while “broth” is more often used for soup liquid made with vegetables.
• Make this extra quickly by using an Instant Pot and pressure cooking for just 20 minutes. So delish!

© Recipe by Allison Rivers, MSW Coach, award-winning vegan chef, author of Quick + Easy DIY Salad Bar, The Dairy-Freedom Cookbook, Comfortably Yum, and Co-Founder of The Dairy Detox.