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Vegetable stock

January 13, 2014 By Food Retro

Vegetable stockOkay, I know it’s not a super exciting post. Whee, vegetable stock!

It has to be done though because t’s a building block to great things, and the honest truth is that if you peel your vegetables and throw them in the green bin, or if you tend to discard things like the dinged up outer stalks of celery and the dry papery outer part of onions…

YOU’RE WASTING A TON OF MONEY!!!

Yes, you heard me right. I mean, think about it. You’re probably paying $2 or more for every one of those 900ml boxes of broth. Maybe more if it’s organic. And if you’re not, you’re getting an inferior product with MSG, artificial colourings, flavourings, and who knows what. Not to mention, it’s in a tetra pack. I have mixed feelings about tetra packs at the best of times.

What if I told you you could make stock virtually for free*?
*Assumes you eat vegetables like a normal human being.

I’m not going to go on a diatribe about peeled “baby” carrots, but if you’re still buying them, you will save yourself somewhere in the neighbourhood of a small fortune every year by investing in a $5 peeler. Find one of these babies at a home show (the only place I’ve ever seen them physically). I have no idea what they’re called, and they don’t look like much, but they’re Swiss. They are astonishing. You can peel turnip like a hot knife through butter.

So… you’re peeling carrots for the picky pants in your family. Save them. Put them in a big bag in the freezer. Also throw those crappy dinged up pieces of celery, the leafy parts, and the trimmed ends in there. Throw your potato peels (if you actually do such a thing) in there. Throw the half bell pepper that got all old-man wrinkly in the fridge because you forgot about it in there. The pieces you cut off mushrooms. Yes, even the end trimmings and papery onion peels. You got half a large freezer bag? You got free* soup, baby. And even if you don’t like vegetable stock itself for some strange reason, you can use it to make your turkey/chicken stock. Win-win.

Vegetable scraps for stock

I don’t know about you. I use a ton of stock and broth. I make soups, I like risotto, I add it the cooking pot when making rice to give it a nice flavour, I use it to reduce cooking oil when I make stir fry. I even sub out some of the water in my bread recipes from time to time. Stock is good. And vegetable stock made by you is every bit as good and flavourful as chicken broth for a great many of these uses.

Vegetable Stock

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Vegetable Stock
Serves ~6 cups
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 40 minutes
Total time 45 minutes
Dietary Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Meal type Soup
Misc Freezable, Pre-preparable
A simple-to-make vegetable stock that will save money you're throwing away.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, coarse chopped
  • 1 bunch green onions, coarse chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 cups vegetable peels or discards (carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, etc)
  • 1 heaped tablespoon garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley (or 2 tablespoon fresh)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 4-6 whole sprigs, fresh)
  • 8 cups water (2 quarts)
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Note

I strongly recommend that you include the common soup aromatics (celery and carrots). Other good vegetable choices include potato peels, peppers, mushrooms, butt ends of asparagus, and more. Feel free to experiment, but do not use vegetable scraps from broccoli/cauliflower or other relatives of the Brassica family for vegetable stock making.

Directions

Step 1. In a large cooking pot on medium-high heat, sauté the onions, garlic, and vegetable scraps in the olive oil for about 10 minutes, or until the onions begin turning translucent and everything is fragrant.
Step 2. Add 8 cups of water, salt, and herbs. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.
Step 3. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour through a sieve to remove the vegetables and most of the herbs.
Step 4. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or portion and freeze.

Vegetable Stock

Filed Under: Homemade Pantry, Kitchen Chemistry, Meals, Preserved foods Tagged With: dairy free, egg free, gluten free, Kitchen Chemistry, no refined sugar, peanut free, soup, soy free, vegan, vegetarian

About Food Retro

Baker of deliciousness. Suburban Gardener. Neophyte Urban Homesteader. Mom.

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Comments

  1. Holly says

    January 13, 2014 at 10:20 am

    Hmm I was just wondering why you said not to use brocoli scraps? I have made all my broths from this and they turn out delish!!! 🙂

    • Food Retro says

      January 13, 2014 at 12:10 pm

      I’ve had the stalks give a funky taste to the broth. Maybe I’m using too much? Hit me with your wisdom: about how much do you use when using the stalks?

  2. Laura Watt says

    January 13, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    And never ever use beets! it is not fun, just gross. I promise.

    • Food Retro says

      January 13, 2014 at 11:13 pm

      Good call. I don’t know if I would have tried… did it turn your stock pink? 😀

  3. Rebecca says

    January 16, 2014 at 1:00 am

    Pink vegetable stock…what a hoot! Make it for Valentine’s Day! : )

  4. Tammy @ creativekkids.com says

    March 1, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    It looks delicious! I’ll have to start saving those scraps! Thanks for linking up with the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have pinned your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board!

  5. Positively Pampered Patty says

    March 19, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    I always make my own stock, super easy and so much healthier. Another great tip, you know in the grocery store sometimes they bundle the peppers and other veggies that are not the nicest but still ripe, and they are cheaper, those are perfect for stock as you will cook them right away and if you’re like me, will freeze as well. Easy on the budget, still healthy.

    • Food Retro says

      March 19, 2014 at 2:33 pm

      Great tips if you don’t have scraps saved up! Thanks 😀

  6. Lisa Thornbury says

    January 4, 2016 at 9:53 am

    Brilliant. Why haven’t I been doing this?!?!? I’m starting NOW!!!!

  7. Lisa says

    April 10, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    I made this for the first time today and it turned out SOUPER!!!!!

    Thanks for this—my family thought I was nuts for saving all our veggie scraps, but look who’s nuts now. “No soup for them! One year!” 😉

    • Food Retro says

      April 26, 2016 at 11:39 am

      😀 I’m glad you liked it.

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