Homemade Vegetable Stock
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Made with scraps! Full of flavor! Done in 45 minutes! If you’ve never made vegetable stock, you’re in for a treat. This simple vegetable stock takes no time put together, is astonishingly tasty, and freezes well, too.
With soup season here, I thought it would be nice to give the vegetable stock recipe I love its own post.
Here it is! This recipe takes 45 minutes from start to finish and will yield 2 quarts of flavorful broth to use in all of your favorite homemade soups in the months ahead.
PS: Roasted Butternut Squash & Garlic Soup
PPS: Vermont Cheddar Cheese Soup
How to Make Vegetable Stock
Gather your vegetables and herbs — no need to peel onions or carrots. Give everything a rough chop.
Place everything into a large pot and cover with 3 quarts of water.
Simmer for 45 minutes; then strain.
Transfer to storage containers. (I love these deli quart containers). Store in the fridge for 7-10 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Homemade Vegetable Stock
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 2 quarts
- Diet: Vegan
Description
I learned this recipe from my friend Darcy, who got it from Gwyneth Paltrow’s My Father’s Daughter
Use the recipe as a guide — if you don’t have leeks, onions are fine, though I don’t think leeks lend a special flavor to all stocks, so they are worth buying if you are headed to the store; if you don’t have thyme or tarragon, omit them; etc.
I love using this stock in so many recipes, this one in particular, which is a little fussy, but so good: Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion, quartered through the root
- 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 1 large leek, washed and roughly chopped, optional
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the back of your knife
- 4 sprigs fresh parsley
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 3 quarts cold water
Instructions
- Combine everything in a pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Let stock cool and strain into clean containers.
- Store stock in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks or in in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Stock
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
30 Comments on “Homemade Vegetable Stock”
I always keep a bag in the freezer into which I throw vegetable ends. Onions, celery, carrots, parsley, other herbs, etc. When it is full, I make stock. Easy Peasy!
So smart! Love this idea 🙂
I’ve heard of people simmering all day, and then this says to simmer 45 minutes. I’m using random a freezer bag full of vegetable ends, any idea how long I should simmer?
30 to 45 minutes should be just fine! With chicken and other meat stocks, a longer simmer is necessary to extract flavor, but not so with vegetable stocks.
Distinguish between stalk and rib of celery please!
Sorry for the delay here, Karla! Good question: no difference! 1 stalk = 1 rib (for me at least) Hope that helps!
Are the lids to the quart containers easy to get off and put on? Thanks for your help.
Yes! They are secure/snug but easy to get on and off.
Thank you for getting back with me. You are always so kind and generous. We love your peasant bread! my husband had it for breakfast this am! I am going to make your rolls for thanksgiving ahead of time and freeze them. Will that work? And is it ok to not sprinkle salt on the top of them?
I’m so happy to hear this, Susan! Thank you 🙂 Yes re making the rolls ahead. This bread freezes beautifully. I would thaw completely at room temperature if possible, then warm at 350 for 15 minutes or until heated through. Happy Thanksgiving!
Do you happen to know what makes a vegetable stock bitter? During this pandemic, I have been keeping the ends of onions with their peels, carrot bits, celery, etc. in the freezer. 2 times now I have tried to make stock, and it’s so bitter it unusable. Do you know why that happens? Is it the onion peel??
Always a staple to have on hand, Ali. I added some fennel fronds, not too many as I didn’t want that to overpower things.
Also, last night I made a half-recipe of your oven polenta. I didn’t want to heat up my huge oven, so I did it in my toaster oven in my smallest Pyrex bowl, and it worked beautifully. I didn’t have anything the right size that was flat-bottomed and worried that the bowl might be too deep, but it was delicious.
Peg, this is genius! I have a toaster oven but clearly haven’t explored its potential. I may have to try this this weekend for fun. Love the idea of not having to heat up the oven.
So good to have this broth on hand. It comes together so quickly. I make this all the time now.
Thank you for inspiring me to try this.
Great to hear! I find this to be so fast and delicious.
Hi Ali, Do you ever make this stock in your intant pot? If so, how long do you cook it for? I was thinking 15-20 min under pressure should be ample…any suggestions?
I have not. I think 15-20 minutes sounds about right.
Thank you so much for this recipe and the Instant Pot suggestion. I used my IP last night – 25 minutes, high pressure, broth/soup setting – and it worked out beautifully. Used the broth for Hetty McKinnon’s udon recipe. Your recipes are always so reliable and helpful!
So nice to hear this, Erica! Nothing like having homemade broth on hand, especially this time of year. I love that udon recipe. Thanks for writing!
The aroma of the house is amazing thanks to this wonderful recipe and the stock has such wonderful layers of flavor! What do you do with the vegetables after the stock is made? Do you repurpose them for any other dish or discard?
Great to hear, Akiko! Thanks for writing. Unfortunately, I discard the vegetables.
Got it! I figured since most of the nutrients are extracted. Thank you!
When combining vegetable scraps and trimmings for your veggie broth, you mentioned everything but the potatoes peelings went in the pot.I
Why not?
Great question! And the answer is that I don’t really know but when I worked in restaurants, and one in particular, the chef was adamant about not adding potato scraps — I wonder if they add an unwelcomed starchiness/cloudiness to the broth? That would be my guess. I don’t think they also offer much flavor.
Just to clarify your comment above: “Use the recipe as a guide — if you don’t have leeks, onions are fine, though I don’t think leeks lend a special flavor to all stocks”. You DON’T think leeks lend a special flavor? or you DO? I feel that I’m misreading something. (Made it with leeks and it was so simple and so tasty!)
Oh oops! I DO think leeks lend a special flavor to stocks of all kind, but I have made this stock many times without leeks, and it is very delicious. I just don’t want people to run out to get leeks if they have everything else on hand. I will edit this soon… apologies.
Delish!! Added leek greens as well. Great base for soup!
Great to hear, Rebecca!
Made this for the cabbage soup recipe – super easy and worth the effort! Was curious if there IS a store brand you like for stocks? I know you mention it’s fine to use water if nothing homemade is on hand, but wondering….
Great to hear, Fiona 🙂 Unfortunately, I do not have a brand to recommend. That doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist… I just find the ones I’ve tried to have a bit of an artificial flavor.