How to Make Vegetable Stock (Easy & Flavorful) | Blue Apron (2024)

FAQs

How to Make Vegetable Stock (Easy & Flavorful) | Blue Apron? ›

The base of a good vegetable stock is carrot, celery and onion, so make sure these three ingredients are well represented, even if you have to add a few whole (chopped) vegetables to your scrap mix. Drop in all your precious scraps. Add some herbs – A few sprigs of parsley and thyme work well.

Vegetable Stock Recipe Ingredients

Onions, shallots, or leeks: Aromatic alliums add a savory depth and sweetness to stock. They provide a rich umami flavor that forms the base of the broth. Garlic: Infuses the stock with a robust and pungent flavor. Adds a hint of spiciness and earthiness, enhancing the overall taste.

Mushroom Seasoning and Beet Stems

The other add ins to make this vegan beef broth perfect is some mushroom seasoning and coco powder. The mushroom seasoning can be found at any international grocery store and works as a substitute to MSG. It help adds a meaty yet salty flavor that complements the broth.

Boost the Umami of Vegetable Broth

Soy sauce, tamari, or liquid aminos add great depth, but watch out for using too much—you'll end up making the stock only taste like super-salty soy. Start with about 2 teaspoons per quart and adjust from there. Remember, you can always add more.

Throw In Extra Aromatics

The base of most stocks are flavorful aromatics, like onion, carrot, and celery. An easy way to punch up the lackluster flavor of boxed stocks is by adding more of those basics. An onion sliced in half, plus a few chunks of carrots and celery can go a long way in flavoring store-bought stocks.

Some vegetables just don't taste great in a stock! Cruciferous vegetables will get funky tasting, and seemingly mild vegetables like zucchini, green beans, and bell peppers can get bitter if simmered for too long. Ultimately, if it doesn't add, it subtracts! This is my rule of thumb for most recipes.

Save those vegetables that may have lost their crunchy appeal for a flavorful veggie stock. Even if stored properly, celery and carrots may become floppy after some time, but don't let them go to the compost. Throw in your onion skins, potato peels, and other veggie scraps from cooking to add more flavor to the mix!

Vegetable stock likely comes unseasoned, while broth usually contains salt and other seasonings. Vegetable stock is made with untrimmed, sometimes whole vegetables, while broth is made from trimmed, roughly chopped vegetables.

How can I improve my stock Flavour? ›

Woody herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, tarragon, and marjoram release tons of flavor as they slowly simmer in stock. Give them a rinse and toss in a big handful of sprigs per quart of store-bought stock.

If it tastes bitter to you, there are a couple of ways to fix that. Consider adding one to four tablespoons of unsalted butter. Add one at a time, melt it in, cook for two minutes and taste.

There's a limit to how much flavor a given ingredient will impart—past that, extra time just turns everything to mush. Big beef or lamb bones can be cooked for up to eight hours, or overnight. Chicken bones are more like four to six. Veggies give up all their flavor in about an hour.

All you really need is nutritional yeast, which dissolves in hot water to lend its savory, nearly chicken-y flavor to the liquid (though a few other ingredients are nice too). I first learned about incorporating nutritional yeast into vegetable broth from cookbook writer Andrea Nguyen, who uses it in her vegan pho.

Soy sauce or liquid aminos

These dark brown liquids bring both saline punch and some welcome caramelized flavor to dishes, along with a good boost of umami.

Warm Spices

Cardamom pods, allspice berries, cumin, coriander, yellow mustard, fennel, and peppercorns are all fair game. Per quart of stock, toast any of those ingredients—check your pantry and pick two to four—in a dry pot until fragrant, then add the stock and simmer.

“We often add finishing touches to salads and pastas, like some grated parmesan. You can also sprinkle sesame seeds or fresh herbs, drip on garlic-infused vinegar, or spritz some lemon on your cooked veggies,” Gerber suggests.

Onion powder, garlic powder, garlic salt, Italian seasonings, Mexican seasonings (or any other cultures). Don't overcook your vegetables, either. They lose their flavor and turn to mush if cooked too long. You can also add pasta and/or use a base of broth.

Use seasonings

Seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, oregano, and chili powder can be used in different combinations to give your vegetables an extra kick of flavor without adding extra calories.