Learning how to make vegetable stock is as easy as sauteing vegetable scraps, adding water to cover, and simmering—look, you're already a pro. With complex homemade stock, you're hitting two birds with one stone—you get an excellent base for soup and risotto, and you get to use up the odds and ends left over from your week of cooking.
Here's how to make a vegetable stock that puts the store-bought stuff to shame.
Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
1. Choose your vegetables
One or two onions, plus a few stalks of celery and a couple carrots are a great foundation—feel free to add some leek greens or a few shallots, parsnips, mushrooms, or tomatoes if you have them lying around (especially if they're looking a bit wilted).
Avoid using starchy vegetables like potatoes or winter squash, along with overpowering cruciferous veg like cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Bitter greens and beets should also be skipped. You want the flavor to be well-rounded and complex, but not overwhelming or heavy in any one flavor.
2. Prep the vegetables
Since you're using these vegetables to make broth, there's no need to spend a lot of time chopping them—or even peeling them! Just give them a good rinse and cut them into 1-inch pieces.
3. Add subtle seasonings (if you want)
You should definitely skip the salt—that way, you can use the broth in any dish and adjust the seasoning level as needed. But a small bunch of parsley, a few peppercorns, and a few sprigs of thyme work brilliantly to enhance the vegetable flavor.
4. Saute until softened
In a large stockpot, sauté your vegetables in oil until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. You're not trying to fully cook the vegetables here—just give them bits of browning that will help build the flavor in the broth.
5. Add water and simmer
To the stockpot, add 4 quarts of cold water (enough to cover the vegetables plus a bit more), crank the heat up, and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the stock mixture comes to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and cook until the amount of liquid has reduced by about half, about 1 1/2 hours.
6. Strain the stock
Now that the vegetables have infused the broth, strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discarding the solids. And don't worry about feeling wasteful, because the vegetables are rendered pretty much useless now that they've released all of their flavors into the liquid.
You'll probably want to drink this stock with a straw, but you can also use it in these vegetarian soup recipes.
