Vegetable Stock

Vegetable stock is a kitchen staple. Use it for soup bases, cooking pasta or rice. You can follow the recipe below or just collect all of your kitchen vegetable scraps, peels, and trimmings and store them in a gallon bag in the freezer until you are ready to make stock. Just put the veggies in a large stock pot, add any of the other vegetables in the recipe below and cover with water to begin make the stock.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients

4 quarts of water, to cover veggies

4 medium onions, unpeeled, cut in half

10 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces

4 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

8 ounces mushrooms, halved if large

1 head of garlic, halved crosswise

6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Kosher salt to taste. start with 1 teaspoon

Stove top instructions

1. Place all ingredients into a large pot.

2. Add enough water to just cover the ingredients

3. Cover and heat on high and bring to simmer.

4. Lower heat to maintain a simmer

5. Skim scum and remove

6. Cook covered on simmer for  1 – 1 ½ hours

7. Strain, cool and store in fridge or freezer

Instant Pot instructions

1. Coarsely chop vegetables

2. Add all vegetables, herbs, and water to cover.

3. Cover and seal instant pot

4. Set on HIGH for 30 minutes then cool naturally

5. When broth is done, set up a strainer in a large pot. Pour vegetables and broth into strainer to drain broth. 

6. Let broth come to room temperature - store in the refrigerator in mason jars or freeze in ziplock bags. 

Make it your own

1 cup carrot greens coarsely chopped

1 large fennel bulb, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup cilantro, great placed to use the stems

Fresh ginger 1 to 2 inch piece

Substitute 4 to 5 sprigs  fresh thyme for the dried thyme

Leeks including the green parts, coarsely chopped

Mushrooms and mushroom stems

Add one coarsely chopped parsnip

1 apple quartered

Kale stems