Easy Vegetable Stock Recipe (2024)

Here is an easy, flavoursome, vegetable stock recipe for everyday cooking. It is a vegan, gluten-free, meal-prep-friendly, one-pot stock recipe.

What is a Vegetable Stock?

Vegetable stock is a flavoursome, aromatic liquid prepared by simmering various vegetables, herbs, spices and seasoning in water over low heat. It is commonly used to make soups, pasta, risotto, sauces, and gravy dishes.

It is a wholesome, nourishing ingredient that enhances the flavour of the dishes. A stock adds an excellent depth of flavour that cannot be achieved with plain water.

Homemade vs Readymade

Why make vegetable stock at home when it is readily available in supermarkets? Making your stockwill uplevel your soups and other recipes exponentially! The homemade vegetable stock is:

• easy to customize
• free of preservatives
• delicious natural flavour
• no added artificial flavour
• cheap and budget-friendly
• made with quality ingredients
• improves the nutritional quality of dishes
• an excellent way to use leftover vegetables

However, I will not deny that the packaged stock is convenient and does not require extra time and effort like the homemade one. But it may feel like an extra step at first to make your vegetable broth, but once you get the hang of it is pretty simple with very little hands-on time.

Best Vegetables For Stock

You want vegetables with neutral but savoury flavours when making basic vegetable stock. Here are a few vegetables you must include in your stock:

• garlic
• celery
• onion
• carrot
• leek

Now, apart from these, there are a few additional ingredients that are part of my vegetable stock recipe:

• herbs like coriander stalks, thyme, or parsley
• wild or button mushrooms
• ginger
• black peppercorns
• cinnamon stick
• bay leaf
• salt

Optional Taste Enhancers: You can add these vegetables and herbs to your vegetable stock.

• parsnip
• corn cob
• fennel bulb
• lemongrass
• mushroom stems
• vegetables peels like onion, carrot

Vegetables To Avoid

Avoid watery, cruciferous, and starchy vegetables for making vegetable stock, as they lend a bitter taste and cloudy and gummy texture to the broth.

• zucchini
• potatoes
• broccoli
• cabbage
• radishes
• cucumber
• green peas
• pumpkin
• eggplant
• beetroot
• cauliflower
• green beans
• okra (ladyfinger)
• summer squash
• brussels sprouts
• purple vegetables
• spinach and other green leafy vegetables

How To Make Stock

First, wash the vegetables well.You don’t want to taste dirt or sand in your stock! I prefer using farm-fresh, organic vegetables for making stock.

Next, roughly chop them.The shape isn’t important – they can be bite-sized or chunks.

Build layers of flavour by sauteeing – garlic, ginger, onion, celery, bay leaf, and mushrooms in olive oil (images 1 & 2).

Then, simmer.Add the remaining vegetables, spices, salt, and water to the saucepan.

Cover and simmer it over low heat for 30 minutes (images 5 & 6).

Finally, strain the stockthrough a fine mesh strainer to remove the vegetables and whole spices (image 8).

Vegetable Stock is ready to use or store.

Storage Suggestion

Before storing, allow the vegetable stock to cool down completely. Transfer it to a container with a tight-fitting lid. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a week.

After cooling down, transfer the broth to an ice cube tray, and freeze. Once you have frozen solid stock cubes, pop them into a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer. You can use frozen stock cubes for several months.

How To Use Vegetable Stock

You can use homemade vegetable stock in a million creative ways. The simplest way to use broth is in soups and stews.

Apart from that, it enhances the flavour of pasta sauce, baked vegetable casserole, shepherd’s pie, rice dishes, or vegetables in hot garlic sauce.

You can add vegetable stock to any vegetarian dish that calls for a broth.

Homemade Vegetable Stock has a delicious savoury flavour and is full of good nutrients; you can drink cups of it.

My Tried & True Tips

I would not recommend adding scrapes and peels of vegetables to the broth until and unless they are organic and pesticide-free.

Use room temperature water-veggies have different cooking times and flavour solubility. Cold or room temperature water allows them to release flavour slowly without breaking down.

Celery, Onion, and Carrot are the holy grail of vegetable stock. Make sure to include them in your vegetable stock recipe.

Allow the vegetable stock to simmer over low heat. Do not boil it over high heat. While simmering, there is no need to stir the stock.

Additional Ingredients like coriander seeds, star anise, dried mushrooms, Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, sage), or sundried tomatoes can elevate the flavour of your vegetable stock. It all depends on for what purpose you want to use homemade broth.

Watch Stock Video

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