This homemade vegetable broth uses vegetable scraps to make an easy and flavorful broth. It's a perfect base for soups, stews, and sauces. The recipe is SCD, Paleo, Whole30, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and soy free!
Vegetable broth is one of those kitchen basics that I almost always have in my freezer (along with chicken stock)!
It's incredibly simple to prepare, makes your whole house smell AMAZING, and tastes about 1,000 times better than any veggie broth purchased from the store!
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One of the things I love about this recipe is the use of kitchen scraps to make the broth!
I keep a bag in the freezer that I fill with leftover vegetables and peels. Once there's about two cups worth, I make my vegetable broth!
What's the difference between vegetable broth and vegetable stock?
The biggest difference between the two is...seasoning!
A vegetable broth is seasoned with salt, pepper and is typically bold in flavor. It can be enjoyed in a variety of dishes and can also be sipped by the mug full!
A vegetable stock does not have salt or pepper added and is lighter in flavor.
Stock is meant to add just a bit of background flavor to soups, sauces, and casseroles.
If you prefer to make a vegetable stock, simply omit salt from the recipe and stick with celery, onion, carrots, and a few sprigs of thyme!
The kitchen scraps to use for homemade vegetable broth
The base for vegetable broth is carrots, onions, and celery.
From there you can add vegetables such as mushrooms, bell peppers (not too many), leeks, shallots, and tomatoes.
Aromatics such as thyme, rosemary, and oregano are also wonderful additions to vegetable broth!
Just a couple sprigs added when there's 15 to 20 minutes of cook time left will do. If left to simmer for too long, the broth might turn bitter in flavor.
As mentioned above, instead of throwing away vegetable trimmings and peels, I keep them in a bag inside the freezer and take it out when I'm ready to make veggie broth!
It's a great way to cut down on waste!
Clean the vegetable scraps well (you don't want dirt in the broth) and cut into one or two inch pieces before storing in the freezer.
What not to put in the broth
Vegetables from the Brassica family such as collards, kale, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, turnips, etc. They will overpower the broth and leave a bitter taste.
Squashes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes are all a bit too starchy and leave the broth looking cloudy.
This should go without saying but since this is a vegetable stock, don't add meat or bones either!
How to make homemade vegetable broth using vegetable scraps
Chop two carrots, two celery stalks, one small onion, and half of a tomato into 2 inch pieces (photos 1 & 2).
Saute the veggies in a large stockpot
until soft; this will enhance the flavor of the broth (photo 3)!
Add chopped garlic and saute for one more minute before adding the kitchen scraps to the pot along with ten cups of water (photo 4, 5, & 6).
Place a bay leaf in the pot and bring the mixture to a boil before dropping the heat to low and partially covering the pot with a lid (photos 7 & 8).
Allow the broth to simmer for 45 minutes, then add in the aromatics, such as fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano, or parsley. (photo 9).
Simmer another 15 minutes before removing from the heat and straining into a large bowl or storage containers (photos 10, 11, & 12).
I store my homemade vegetable broth in mason jars
or pour it into ice cube trays and freeze for future use (photo 13)! Enjoy!
Recipes with vegetable broth
- Roasted Cauliflower Red Pepper Soup
- Seared Scallops and Parmesan Cauliflower Risotto
- Mint Pea Soup
- Easy Carrot Ginger Soup
- 10 Vegetable Soup
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NOTE: If following the SCD diet, I suggest contacting the company to verify ingredients before using any prepackaged products.
Recipe
Homemade Vegetable Broth
Equipment
- large stockpot with a lid
- cutting board
- sharp knife
- strainer
- large bowl
- ladle
- storage containers
Ingredients
- 2 large carrots chopped into 1 or 2 inch pieces
- 2 stalks of celery chopped into 1 or 2 inch pieces
- 1 small onion chopped into 2 inch pieces
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- ½ tomato chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cups vegetable scraps
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- ½ teaspoons fine sea salt (optional)
- 10 cups filtered water
- 1 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and tomato. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.
- Add the garlic and continue sauteing for 1 more minute.
- Pour the water into the pot. Add the bay leaf and vegetable scraps. Bring the mixture to a boil before dropping the heat to low and partially covering the top with a lid.
- Allow the broth to simmer for 45 minutes, then add the sprigs of thyme. Continue simmering the broth (partially covered) for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and strain into a large bowl or the storage containers of your choosing.
- Store in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Not all vegetables will work in vegetable broth, please read the post above for a breakdown of which veggies to exclude and include!
- For vegetable stock, omit the sea salt.
Jennifer
I cannot wait to try this- what a delicious and smart way to use veggie scraps!! Thank you for the recipes!!
Susan Distler
Do you have an idea about the net carbs?
Jennifer Brown
I don't but an app like MyfitnessPal might be able to calculate that for you.
Sarah
Not sure why you would ‘advertise’ this as Keto and not work out the nutritional info, particularly net carbs
Jennifer Brown
Hi Sarah! I actually removed the keto/low carb category from my website a couple years ago and I thought I removed the tag from all of them. So thank you for bringing to my attention that I missed one! The nutritional information is a newer addition to my site that I manually have to add to each recipe, with hundreds of recipes to go through it takes time. If you ever have a question about nutritional info from any website, there are numerous apps that will calculate it for you. My personal favorite is MyFitnessPal. Cheers!