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    Home » Soup Recipes

    Homemade Vegetable Broth

    Published: Aug 1, 2019 · Modified: Jul 3, 2023 by Jennifer Brown · This post may contain affiliate links · 5 Comments

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    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!

    Four mason jars filled with homemade vegetable broth sitting on a table.

    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!

    A white bowl filled with vegetable broth.

    A Life of Happenstance is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

    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!

    An overhead photo of four jars of broth.

    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!

    A cutting board filled with vegetable scraps.

    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).

    A photo collage chowing step-by-step how to make the broth.

    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).

    A four photo collage showing how to strain and bottle the broth.

    I store my homemade vegetable broth in mason jars or pour it into ice cube trays and freeze for future use (photo 13)! Enjoy!

    A hand holding a mason jar filled with homemade vegetable broth.

    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

    If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below! This is the best way you can help support me and my blog!

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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

    by: Jennifer Brown
    This homemade vegetable broth uses vegetable scraps to make an easy and flavorful broth. It's a perfect base for soups, stews, and sauces.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
    Course Basic, dinner, Main Course, Main Dish, Soup
    Cuisine American
    Servings 6 cups
    Calories 40 kcal

    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. 
     
     
    *The nutritional information calculated in this recipe is just an estimate and does not include the vegetable scraps. The photos and content above are copyright protected. Please do not use my photos. Please do not copy this recipe and share it on your own website or social media channels. If you wish to tell people about this recipe, you can provide a link back to my blog rather than copying the recipe. Thank you! XO, Jen

    Nutrition

    Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 230mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3506IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
    Keyword vegetable broth
    Did you make this recipe?Let me know how it was by leaving a comment and star rating below!

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Jennifer

      August 01, 2019 at 4:56 pm

      I cannot wait to try this- what a delicious and smart way to use veggie scraps!! Thank you for the recipes!!

      Reply
      • Susan Distler

        April 01, 2021 at 4:14 pm

        Do you have an idea about the net carbs?

        Reply
        • Jennifer Brown

          April 20, 2021 at 12:47 pm

          I don't but an app like MyfitnessPal might be able to calculate that for you.

          Reply
          • Sarah

            December 03, 2021 at 4:07 am

            Not sure why you would ‘advertise’ this as Keto and not work out the nutritional info, particularly net carbs

            Reply
            • Jennifer Brown

              December 06, 2021 at 8:26 pm

              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!

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