Homemade Vegetable Stock is insanely better than store bought and incredibly good for you. You could use scraps leftover from other recipes but I think it’s best with fresh vegetables.

I have a nice vegetable winter soup recipe coming up that requires vegetable stock. I’ve tried so many different packaged options from the grocery store but they’re all really gross. Making vegetable stock at home is super easy so there’s really no reason not to make it from scratch.

A lot of people suggest saving your cooking scraps and storing them in the freezer to make stock. While this certainly isn’t a bad idea, I have to say I’ve always had less than stellar results. You’ll always get the best results from the freshest vegetables you can find. And you won’t risk freezer burn.

Not only does homemade vegetable stock taste better (like real food), it’s super healthy for you. This particular recipe is loaded with carrots, onions, garlic, celery, chard, mushrooms, and kombu. It’s rich with flavor and vitamins. So feel free to pour yourself a cup!

You can also find my Chick Stock recipe here.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes, Soup, Vegetarian

Servings

3

Quarts

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

4

hours 

Total time

4

hours 

20

minutes

Homemade Vegetable Stock is insanely better than store bought and incredibly good for you. You could use scraps leftover from other recipes but I think it’s best with fresh vegetables.

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Ingredients

• 2 tsp Olive Oil

• 2 Medium Yellow Onions cleaned, with skin

• 6 Cloves

• 3 Medium Carrots with tops, scrubbed

• 2 Celery Stalks with leaves

• 6 Button Mushrooms cut in half

• 3 Dried Porchini Mushrooms

• 1 Kombu

• 2 Chard Leaves

• 1 Head of Garlic

• 6 Sprigs of Parsley

• 6 Sprigs Thyme

• 2 Bay Leaves

• 1 TBS Black Peppercorns

• 5 Qt. Water

Directions

• Scrub and clean all the vegetables very thoroughly.
• Chop Onions in half. Cut carrots and celery into 1-2 inch pieces. Chop off and discard the top of a head of garlic. Chop chard into 2 inch pieces. Optionally poke the cloves into the onions.
• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot. Place Onions cut side down in the oil. Begin layering all the vegtables on top of the onions. Fill stock pot with cool water. Place a smaller ld or a plate over vegetabels to weigh them down.
• Simmer over low heat, at about 180 – 190 degrees, for 3-5 hours.
• Check on the stock every hour or so. Add more cool water if needed to account for evaporation.
• Use a fine mesh strainer to strain stock into another large container. Transfer to a smaller container with a tight fitting lid. Keep chilled in refrigerator until needed.

Notes

• Vegetable stock is very flexible. Ingredients and amounts are suggestions. 
• I used a 2×5 inch piece of Kombu. Dried porcini can be overpowering; I suggest 3-4 pieces max. Tomato paste would be a good addition and would add some color. 
• Salt should not be added to stock. 
• If you’ll be freezing your stock, chill in refrigerator first then divide stock into zip top freezer bags. Place the bags on a baking sheet to freeze flat. 

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