Veggie Stock (2024)

FAQs

What is vegetable stock made of? ›

Place the onions, carrots, celery, leek tops, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat (If 12 cups of water won't fit in your pot, you can use 10). Reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered, for 1 hour. Strain and discard the vegetables.

A broth is a liquid made from meat or vegetables that have been simmered in water. Broth differs from its close relative, stock, in that it's made from whole ingredients, rather than bones, shells, or other trimmings.

Surprisingly, not all scraps are created equal, and some aren't the best fit for stock. Specifically, scraps from cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower have a strong flavor that can turn bitter when simmered in stock, so skip those when saving in the freezer.

Being free of meat, homemade Vegetable Stock will last at least 5 days in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer. When freezing, I typically freeze in 1 cup measures, just to make it easier to portion out (rather than defrosting an entire 1 litre batch just to use 1 cup).

While you can use a lot of vegetables in stock, you can't use all of them, because some vegetables—particularly cruciferous ones like broccoli and cauliflower—will make your stock bitter or otherwise unpalatable (read: farty).

If you don't keep stock on hand but you don't want to lose out on flavor, McKinnon suggests dissolving bouillon cubes in water. Bouillon powder (which, like cubes, is made of dehydrated veggies and seasoning) is another easy way to add flavor to your vegetarian cooking.

A vegetable base is simply a concentrated version of a vegetable stock or base where more of the water has been allowed to evaporate while simmering. Bouillon is a dehydrated broth or stock formed into a small cube.

It helps to maintain the cholesterol level inside the arteries, manage healthy blood circulation, and avoiding fat buildup inside arteries. Vegetable broth contains iron that helps to stimulate the formation of red blood cells, helping to avoid anemia, increase energy levels, and avoid tiredness.

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!

What veggies are not good for stock? ›

7 Vegetables to Avoid Adding to Vegetable Stock

Leafy green parts of carrots and celery. 2. Brassicas, including cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, collard greens, kohlrabi, and kale. 3.

3) Overcooking veggie broth can make it bitter. 45 minutes to an hour is plenty long! 4) Stop and taste test your broth after it's been simmering for about 25 to 30 minutes so you have plenty of time to make adjustments if needed.

Making vegetable stock costs virtually nothing.

You're using ingredients that you already have in the fridge, so, really, it just costs a little bit of your time to make a flavorful stock.

This includes: “Flavorless” Vegetables – like zucchini or white potatoes; these aren't going to do anything bad to the broth, but they're not going to help it either. Cruciferous Vegetables – such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and cabbage.

Tips for Flavorful Vegetable Soup

Flavor the base: We add Italian seasoning and tomato paste to the aromatics and warm them up to bring the seasonings back to life. You could use fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary, or even add a Parmesan rind for more flavor.

If you don't have any vegetable stock, you can make a substitute with common seasonings and spices. Mix together dried parsley flakes and onion powder. Add salt-free lemon pepper, celery seeds and garlic powder. Combine this with sage, thyme, marjoram, oregano, basil, pepper, dill weed and summer savory.

It helps to maintain the cholesterol level inside the arteries, manage healthy blood circulation, and avoiding fat buildup inside arteries. Vegetable broth contains iron that helps to stimulate the formation of red blood cells, helping to avoid anemia, increase energy levels, and avoid tiredness.

Vegetables to avoid: Scraps from the following vegetables are better off going into the compost bin, as their flavors can be too overpowering: cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, artichokes.

Salt, Potato Starch, Wheat Flour (with Added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Flavour Enhancers (monosodium Glutamate, Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides), Flavourings (contain Celery), Palm Oil, Dried Glucose Syrup, Yeast Extract (contains Barley), Dried Tomato, Dried Herbs (parsley, Thyme, Bay), Sugar.