This recipe for homemade vegetable broth is a great alternative to supermarket-bought instant mixes, who often contain close to no vegetables. The recipe is easy and additive-free and you get to decide what ingredients go in your soup.
You, too, probably have a jar of powdered vegetable stock sitting on a shelf in your kitchen – it’s practical and easy. However, the percentage of vegetable contents found in supermarket-bought instant mixes can be as low as one percent. Organic broths tend to contain more vegetables and lower amounts of questionable additives, such as aromas, sugar and palm oils. Nonetheless, these often still have various types of sugars and yeast extract added as flavor enhancers.
The alternative: Make vegetable broth yourself. Some vegetable stock recipes may sound daunting, but in reality, they are quite simple and provide a fresh alternative to store-bought instant broths. Adding salt to your own homemade vegetable broths adds to the flavor and shelf life of the stock.
In theory, you could also make your own instant powdered vegetable broth. However, this requires drying the vegetable mix in the oven for lengthy periods of time, something we see as an excessive waste of energy. This is why we want to show you a recipe for your own homemade vegetable broth – one just as flavorful that will stay fresh for just as long as the store-bought instant alternative.
Homemade Vegetable Broth – The Recipe
The individual ingredients you add to the vegetable broth can be adjusted to your own personal taste. The only thing to keep in mind is that vegetables with high water content (e.g. tomatoes) aren’t the best pick as they make the vegetable paste vulnerable to molding.
In addition to the following ingredients for the vegetable broth recipe, you’ll also need either a blender or sauce mixer as well as some clean screw top or mason jars (at best cleaned thoroughly beforehand).
For two 12½ fl. oz. (or 1½ cup) jars (e.g. of corn, pickles or sauces) homemade vegetable broth you’ll need:
- ½ celery stalk
- 1 leek
- 1½ large carrots
- 2 onions
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Herbs (e.g. ½ bunch of parsley, ½ bunch of chives, ½ small box of garden cress)
- 5 leveled tablespoons of salt (see below!)
1. Roughly chop the vegetables into sizeable pieces.
Wash and/or peel the vegetables and chop these into roughly-sized chunks. The same thing goes for the herbs: wash and chop roughly.
2. Mince the vegetables, herbs and garlic together and lightly salt.
Using a blender or saucer, briefly mix together the vegetables, herbs and garlic.
Now it’s time for some spice: Sprinkle in some salt and blend together once more. Then let the homemade vegetable broth mixture sit for a few minutes.
3. Purée the vegetables and herb mix into a fine paste.
Continue processing the mixture until it reaches the consistency of a fine paste.
4. Final Step of the Homemade Vegetable Broth Recipe
Finish up by filling up the screw top jars with your finished herbs and vegetable mix, top them off and that’s it – you’re done!
How to use your homemade vegetable broth like a pro.
You can use your finished product for just any dish which would otherwise call for a powdered vegetable broth instant-mix. Simple add one teaspoon for every two cups of water for a flavorful veggie mix.
Stored in the refrigerator, your instant vegetable broth will stay fresh up to a year.
By the way: Homemade vegetable broth mixes make for great gifts on the fly or light presents for your host.
Kitchen Tips: Vegetable stock or broth – what’s the difference?
You may have been wondering: Is this a homemade vegetable broth or vegetable stock recipe? The average American grocery store doesn’t differentiate between the two product terms which can lead to confusion on the consumer end. The terms are also used rather interchangeably for both vegetable broth and stock recipes in everyday cooking.
The difference boils down to this: Broth has salt, stock does not. If the end product is a soup (or similar dish) where the liquid is the key element at the end of preparation, then you’re making a broth. If you intend to turn the mix into a sauce or more elaborate soup, call it stock. In essence: It depends on what you’re cooking.
Should I make a vegetable stock or broth? Altering the recipe
Are you not yet sure whether you will use your base mixture as a stock (e.g. as a vegetable base for a sauce) or as a homemade vegetable broth (liquid base for soup)? Don’t worry – you can use the recipe for both. Simply add salt and stronger spices such as garlic to your vegetable sauce base.
Read more:
- Homemade Pesto: Healthy, Easy-to-make Recipe in just 5 Steps
- Take a Break: 6 Tips for a Healthier Lunch
- Cracking the Secret to the Perfect Hard- or Soft-boiled Egg
This text was translated from German into English by Evan Binford. You can view the original here: Gemüsebrühe selber machen: ganz einfach aus frischen Zutaten
** Links to retailers marked with ** or underlined orange are partially partner links: If you buy here, you actively support Utopia.org, because we will receive a small part of the sales proceeds. More info.Do you like this post?