This vegetable stock takes a total of 5 minutes to prep and store, is ten times better than store-bought and is completely FREE! Which is really great for a girl who loves a bargain.
I learned this trick from my old roommate from when I lived in New Orleans. It’s made from the scraps of vegetables from meals past, kept in your freezer until you are ready to use them.
Chances are, when you cook with fresh produce, you are left with scraps that end up in the trash (or if you are a better citizen of the earth than I am, your compost pile. I’m waiting to not live in an apartment for that one).
Many of those scraps can be saved in your freezer to make stock. Almost any mild-tasting vegetable will work, but the most basic and traditional to use are onions, celery, and carrots. This is the combination of scraps I usually use for my stock:
- Onion ends (if you leave the peel on, the stock may turn a darker color than usual, but it’s still edible)
- Garlic ends and bulbs that have started to sprout
- Herb sprigs and stems (parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.)
- Bell pepper ends and seeds
- Jalapeno ends (not the seeds- they would be too spicy for plain stock)
- Carrots
- Celery
- Scallions
- Leeks
Although I have not tried it, I’ve read that you can use corn cobs, asparagus, potatoes, fennel, parsnips, squash, mushrooms, and other vegetables with a mild flavor.
If you are going to make an asian-inspired dish, you can use ginger and lemongrass as well.
Cruciferous vegetables will be too overpowering (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts) as will bitter root vegetables like turnips and rutabaga.
Save scraps in a gallon sized ziplock bag in the freezer. When the bag is just about full, you are ready to make the stock. If you haven’t washed the vegetables before freezing, give them a rinse before using.
I make my stock in the crock pot so I can be free to leave the house while it’s cooking. Add the veggies to a crock pot or large stock pot and cover with water (8-10 cups).
Usually at this point, I’ll go through my fridge to make sure I don’t have any forgotten celery or carrots, or a half-used onion I can throw in there that I know I won’t get around to using.
I also add a couple of bay leaves, about a teaspoon of salt, and about a teaspoon of whole black peppercorns. This technically makes it broth, not stock (broth is seasoned, stock is not). If you want to just make stock, leave the seasonings out.
Set the crockpot on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours, or on the stovetop, bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 hours.
This will make your kitchen smell amazing.
I store my stock in mason jars so it’s easy to arrange in the fridge or freezer. You can make 2-3 vegetable stock based soups from one batch!
Using a small mesh strainer placed over the mason jar (or container), ladle spoonfuls of the stock from the pot. Don’t fill up all the way if you are going to freeze, since it will expand.
Yum. Off I go to make tortilla soup with my homemade vegetable broth!
Scrap Vegetable Stock/Broth
Ingredients
- frozen vegetable scraps like onions, celery, and carrots
- 8-10 cups water
- 1 tsp peppercorns optional
- 1 tsp kosher salt optional
- 2 bay leaves optional
Instructions
- Add clean vegetable scraps to crock pot and cover with water. Add seasonings if desired. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
- Strain with a mesh sieve and store in containers or mason jars in refrigerator or freezer. If freezing, do not fill up all the way since it will expand.
Notes
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Linda Palmer
If you freeze in mason jar. Do you still do the hot water bath?
Elizabeth
I don’t bother canning it with a hot water bath if it’s going in the freezer! I actually have never canned this (or anything… some food blogger I am, huh?). And lately I’ve just been storing it in regular tupperware so it’s a larger portion for when I want to make soups. Hope that helps!
Rebecca
I’ve made this a few times now, and it always turns out tasty. I usually use onion ends and peels, mushroom stems, and carrot and celery tops. I like to add coarse pepper, sea salt, and sometimes a splash of soy sauce if the mushrooms don’t add nice color. Tasty on its own or for a quick soup!
Elizabeth
I love the idea of adding mushroom stems! I bet it adds a much deeper flavor.
Lyni
Hello there, you said “You can make 2-3 vegetable stock based soups from one batch!” Does these mean I can reuse the vegetables after my first batch? Just add 8-10 cups of water and do it again?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Ooo good question! Sorry that was confusing. No, don’t reuse the veggies. What I meant was one batch of the vegetable stock yields enough for 2-3 batches of soup. You can make about 8-12 cups of stock at once, and if each recipe uses 3-4 cups of stock, you have enough for lots of recipes. Hope that makes sense!
julie
Although the mention was in August I want to point out that Ball (who makes many of the jars) only recommends freezing their wised mouth, straight sided jars . . . not the ones that curve inward at the mouth of the jar. They are now the only kind I purchase so I can throw anything in the freezer in them!
Elizabeth
Ooo- thanks for the info! Good to know :-)
Sherrie
Love, love, love this vegetable stock made from veggie scraps! Found this recipe several months ago, and I have been making a batches just about every other week. Makes an awesome base for our fave veggies soup recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Elizabeth
So glad you like it, Sherrie!
Jen Smith
You can freeze Mason jars? I would expect them to crack. Interesting.
Elizabeth
Yes, you can! I was surprised when I found out, too. Just make sure to leave a small gap (about 1 inch) from the top when you are filling up, to allow for expansion during freezing. In addition, you can buy mason jars that are labeled specifically for the freezer, but I have frozen with both those and the standard ones and have not had any explosions. This is GREAT also for individual servings of soup!
JEN
Yes, it does work. If you put hot food in the jar, cool it down first. I refrigerate it first then put the lid on more snugly, them I freeze it. Also do leave headspace of about an inch as Elizabeth said. Water expands when it freezes. So any water in the food will expand.
Sometimes, I will just put one jar in the freezer as a test, to be sure I have left enough head space.
I love freezing stuff glass canning jars. The food stays better than in most plastic, in my experience.
Elizabeth
I agree that the food tastes better! It seems to last longer and get less freezer burn and ice crystals.
Elizabeth
I have made this a few times but it often comes out quite bitter. Any suggestions?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm, I have a few guesses as to why. First, are you adding any cruciferous veggies (like cauliflower, broccoli, or kale) or greens to the mix? Those may impart a bitter flavor. If not, I recommend seasoning it a bit more with salt and pepper, which might help. Stock needs quite a bit of seasoning (same with chicken stock and other kinds) otherwise it tends to taste pretty bad. You can also experiment with adding other flavors to it- you can try mushrooms, potatoes… even ginger/lemongrass for a more East Asian flavor base. Hope that helps!