How to Make Vegetable Stock

Try making a batch of vegetable stock before you throw out those wilted vegetables when cleaning out your refrigerator. You can use it to make vegetarian soups and stews, or how about substituting beef or chicken stock?

And veggie stock freezes nicely if you don't use it right away. Just be sure to freeze it in one of those airtight plastic containers you get after ordering take-out foods.

I like to use homemade veggie broth instead of water when making rice or risotto. It adds a layer of flavor that will be manageable for any dish I'm serving the rice with.

Water dilutes flavor, which is fine for some dishes, but vegetable stock can add flavor to soups and sauces, even if it is just a subtle layer.

Is Vegetable Stock Really a Stock?

I'm going to say no. I should be calling it a broth and not a stock. A stock, by definition, is made from beef, chicken, or fish bones by slowly simmering them to extricate the collagen.

Since vegetables have no bones or collagen, it's not a stock.

But who cares? Everyone calls it vegetable stock, not vegetable broth, so I will.

And be sure to check out my delicious recipe for Vegetable Soup.

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Vegetable Stock Recipe

How to Make Vegetarian Stock for Your Favorite Vegetarian Dishes

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Sauces

Cuisine: American

Servings: 10 cups

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion roughly chopped
2 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
2 leeks cleaned and roughly chopped
2 stalks celery roughly chopped
1 turnip peeled and roughly chopped
1 parsnip peeled and roughly chopped
½ pound mushrooms sliced in half
1 Sachet d'Epices
10 cups water cold

Instructions

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed 6 quart stockpot over medium high heat.
Add the onion, carrots, leeks, celery, turnip, parsnip and mushrooms, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the Sachet d'Epices and water.
Bring to a boil and quickly reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes, skimming the top as necessary.
Strain the stock through a colander to remove the large solids. Restrain through cheesecloth to remove the fine particulates.
Cool, and store the stock as described in the introduction.