Easy Vegetable Broth Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make homemade vegetable broth taste better? ›

Roasting onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and garlic until nicely brown intensifies the broth's flavor and adds color. The roasted vegetables add a rich, satisfying quality to the broth. Second, add tomatoes. Tomatoes add sweetness, color, and umami.

Most store-bought vegetable broth contains some combination of onion, celery, carrots, and salt – it's also common for tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and/or other seasonings to be present. That's all fine and dandy, but store-bought broths also have a lot of other preservatives, such as: Vegetable Oils.

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

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.

Add bright, fresh flavor to vegetable broth

To brighten any soup, stock, or broth, a splash of lemon juice or vinegar is always a good idea. A splash of white wine is never a bad thing either, but stay away from anything too oak-y, and simmer the broth for a few minutes to give the wine a chance to get comfortable.

Beet roots and onion skins should also be avoided, unless you don't mind your stock turning red or brown. Spoiled vegetables: Although stock is a great way to use veggies that are wilted or slightly past their prime, be sure not to use produce that is rotten or moldy.

Chicken stock can be simmered for as little as 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Most often, you'll see recipes call for somewhere in between, about 3 to 4 hours. The longer the stock simmers, the more concentrated its flavor.

Is it worth it to make your own broth? ›

Not only can you build your own flavor with homemade stock, you also have control over how much salt is added. Store bought stocks are often very high in sodium. While the reduced sodium varieties are a better option if you're watching your salt intake, even those can still have a lot of sodium.

Making vegetable stock costs virtually nothing.

No need to let the vegetable scraps thaw, just toss them in a stockpot, add water, and let them home-cooked aromas fill your home.

Those of us who make homemade stock always gush about how much better it is than store-bought. And it's true, both in terms of flavor and quality of ingredients, with less salt and no preservatives.

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.

A squeeze of citrus, a dollop of yogurt or a drizzle of cream, a dusting of cheese or a good chile powder, a sprinkling of some herbs or croutons — all can take a perfectly fine soup into the realm of the delectable. Even a spiral of good olive oil to finish and some coarse sea salt can do wonders.