How to Make Hearty, Sustainable Vegetable Stock

As someone who cooks a lot, I am very familiar with all of the waste that comes along with making a meal from scratch. On a trip to England, I was inspired by the “zero heroes” on the menu at a local farm shop restaurant, and I wanted to challenge myself to come up with ways to utilize more of the raw ingredients in our own kitchen. This vegetable stock recipe was my first attempt at a more sustainable kitchen, and it’s become a regular in our kitchen to help us fully utilize vegetables that would otherwise go unused.

With a focus on sustainability, the ingredients for this recipe are intended to be collected throughout the week with the scraps of the vegetable you’d use making other meals. I love to collect my vegetable scraps and freeze them in Stasher Bags – for this recipe, I will fill up a half gallon bag throughout the week, and when it is full I know it’s time to make some vegetable stock. See all of my kitchen favorites, including Stasher Bags, here.

This stock can be used in so many recipes. We love it as a base for a soup or stew, and I love to add it to a Sunday roast for a little extra flavor.

If you want to add extra nutrition to your stock, you can even add beef or chicken bones to create a homemade bone broth. By boiling the animal bones your broth becomes even more nutrient-dense from the marrow. The extra collagen from the bones supports healthy bones, joints, hair, and skin as it is a great source of essential amino acids.

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Homemade Vegetable Stock

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This homemade vegetable stock is a sustainable, easy recipe that can add extra flavor to soups and stews. Save your veggie scraps throughout the week and you will have everything you need to make a low-cost, high-flavor kitchen staple!

For extra flavor, try roasted your vegetables before adding them to the stock! If you are in a pinch, just add your frozen veggie scraps directly to the pot to boil.

  • Author: Alexandra McDowell
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

Units

This recipe is very loose, and any veggie scraps that you have on hand will make a delicious vegetable stock. Some of my favorite veggies scraps to use include shallot, leeks, and carrots.  

  • about 4 cups of frozen vegetable scraps, including scraps from 1-2 onions and 3-4 stalks celery
  • parsley (fresh or frozen)
  • 46 garlic cloves
  • drizzle Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp. black peppercorns
  • salt to taste
  • enough water to cover vegetables in pan

Kitchen Tools You’ll Need 

  • large pot (I recommend Le Creuset)
  • strainer
  • mason jars for storage

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to large pot.
  2. Cover the vegetable scraps with water, leaving room in the pan for water to boil without overflowing.
  3. Bring the water and vegetable scraps to a boil on the stove.
  4. Reduce heat and simmer (uncovered) for about one hour).
  5. Remove from heat and let the vegetable stock cool a bit.
  6. Strain into mason jars for storage and freeze extra portions as needed.

Notes

Depending on the size of your pot, you may require more or less water or vegetables.

Make sure you have a strainer and mason jars on hand for storage! I recommend freezing any portions that won’t be used within about a week.

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