Homemade Vegetable Broth
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
6 hrs
Rich homemade vegetable broth is simple to make and has the absolute best flavor.
Recipe Type:
Soup
Cuisine:
American
Keyword:
vegetable broth
Makes: 4 quarts
Ingredients
- 2 large yellow onions, with peel on, halved
- 4 ribs celery, trimmed and halved
- 4 carrots, trimmed, scrubbed, and halved
- 1 bunch parsley
- 5 or 6 cloves garlic
- 3 bay leaves
- Herbs of your choice, such as thyme, sage, or tarragon
- 10-15 peppercorns
- Other whole spices such as fennel, cloves, or mustard seed
- Sea salt
Instructions
-
In your largest stockpot, warm the butter or oil over medium heat. Add all of the vegetables and spices, and just a bit of salt. Fill pot with water, making sure all ingredients are covered (some things will float to the top), and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and lightly simmer (it should look like almost nothing is happening), uncovered, for 4 - 6 hours. Throughout cooking time, stir mixture and add water if needed. Taste for salt and add more to taste. You can always add salt to the actual dish, so there's no need to make the broth really salty; you want just enough to bring out the flavor.
-
After six hours or so, turn heat off and allow broth to cool slightly. Pour broth through a mesh strainer and ladle into clean quart jars. Ingredients expand as they freeze, so be sure to leave a good 2-inches head space or the jar will crack open. Set open jars aside for a few hours to cool. Once they are only warm to the touch, seal, and place in the fridge to cool completely. After 1 day, set jars in the back of your freezer and start looking for some braising recipes.