Homemade vegetable stock is my secret ingredient for all my soups, risotto, etc.! It's insanely easy to make, healthy, full of flavor, and basically free to make!
In a pinch, I still reach for store-bought broth. But the flavor will just never never compare to homemade!
I’ve seen lots of recipes for homemade stock that call for whole vegetables. A whole onion, several whole carrots and celery stalks, etc. There’s nothing wrong with this and I do it sometimes, but it isn't my preferred method.
So if I don’t use whole vegetables, how do I make vegetable stock? Scraps!! Onion ends and peels, carrot tops, mushroom stems, etc. Any leftover pieces from other meals goes in the scrap bucket! Depending on how often you cook, it might take a few weeks to collect enough kitchen scraps to make stock, so it’s a little difficult to make stock last minute if you haven’t been stockpiling scraps (pun intended). So in that case, whole veggies works great!
Jump to:
Ingredient Notes
You can use as many or as few different types of scraps as you want (or whole vegetables), but here are some of my favorites for a rich, flavorful broth!
- Onion ends and peels
- Garlic ends and peels
- Leek tops
- Carrot ends and peels
- Bell pepper tops
- Green onion ends
- Mushroom stems
- Corn cobs
- Celery stalk ends
- Herbs stems (thyme, parsley, sage, rosemary)
- Bay leaves
- Salt and peppercorns
Tip: Never Use Cruciferous Vegetables!
You can use a huge variety of scraps or just stick to onion, carrot, and celery. The only thing you want to avoid are cruciferous vegetables! Things like kale, broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts will leave your stock bitter and inedible.
How to Make Vegetable Stock
Throw all your frozen scraps (about 5 cups) into a large stock pot and cover with water (about 8 cups) and bring to a boil.
Then reduce to a simmer, cover, and let cook gently for about an hour.
Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the broth into a large bowl, and discard the vegetables.
Let cool to room temperature then transfer to jars and store in the fridge for up to a week!
Best Containers for Freezing Broth
This homemade veggie stock also freezes great and will last for at least 6 months! Just make sure you choose a container that is freezer safe! I personally love souper cubes because they come in different sizes so they're perfect for freezing different amounts of stock for different types of recipes!
If you love this recipe, please leave a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers.
Also be sure to add us as a trusted site on Google so that our recipes show up more in your searches!
For more delicious, scratch-made recipes you can subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on social media!
Recipe Card
How to Make Homemade Vegetable Stock
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- onion ends and peels
- garlic ends and peels
- carrot ends and peels
- mushroom stems
- bell pepper scraps
- green onion ends
- leek tops
- herbs, thyme, parsley, sage, rosemary
Instructions
- Collect leftover cooking scraps and store in an airtight container or bag in the freezer until you have about 3-5 cups of varied scraps.
- Throw all your frozen scraps (about 5 cups) into a large stock pot and cover with water (about 8 cups) and bring to a boil.
- Then reduce to a simmer, cover, and let cook gently for about an hour.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the broth into a large bowl, and discard the vegetables. Let cool to room temperature then transfer to jars and store in the fridge for up to a week!
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days and freeze the rest for up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Browse more soup recipes →
Lucas says
Homemade vegetable stock is the best, so full of flavours. Love your recipe!
Michelle Tervo says
I made your Vegetable Stock and it is amazing! It was worth saving my scraps to have this flavorful broth. Thank you for sharing.