Alright, this is going to make me sound like a complete rookie in the kitchen. I have to come clean though because I can’t be the only one.
Do you know how some recipes call for adding vegetable stock to the cooking liquid when making things like couscous, rice
Enter me learning how to stockpile veggie scraps and make homemade vegetable stock. Literal game changer guys! Since we have an overabundance of scraps and stock always in the freezer I started using it to cook previously mentioned grains. Let me tell you I was missing out. This is one of the multiple reasons we always make our own vegetable stock.
Again, buying your own broth isn’t expensive. But when you cut down on a bunch of the little things they start to add up. Since we’re just using vegetables that we would buy anyway it’s practically free. You’re also getting double the value from your vegetables and herbs!
Because we are making this ourselves we know exactly what’s going into it. You can control both the flavor and salt content. Homemade Vegetable Stock is so much more delicious and sustainable than its store-bought counterpart.
From A Sustainable Standpoint
Let’s talk about waste. We haven’t bought stock in about two years. So by
Save Your Scraps
This starts with your scrap veggies. I’m talking ends of onions, the ends/stems/cores of bell peppers, celery leaves and ends, carrot shavings and ends, garlic peels, parsnips, the list goes on! Whenever you’re chopping your veggies for meals, instead of tossing the scraps in the garbage or compost bin store them in the freezer. We use gallon size plastic freezer bags left over from our pre-anti-plastic days. We just fill them up over and over, so they may be plastic but at least we’re getting lots of use out of them. You could also use any large freezer-safe container.
When adding scraps to your container keep in mind that your broth is going to be the base of your dishes. We try and steer clear of veggies and herbs that have strong, distinct flavors or that don’t freeze well. We generally DON’T add ginger, lemongrass, spicy peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and cabbage.
Once the gallon bag is full and I have a
Make Your Stock
Toss the scraps directly from the bag into a large stockpot and fill with water. I use an 8-quart pot, which the gallon bag fill up perfectly. At this
Making stock is one of my husband’s favorite kitchen tasks BUT, it’s also where we disagree. He likes to toss in fresh veggies, I don’t really think it’s necessary. He also likes throwing a few tomatoes in his stock and I’m not super into it. That being said, he does make a tasty veggie broth. So I think on this one, I’ll call it a draw and recommend that you just play around with your veggies and see what your own preferences are. Once all your goodies are in the pot and covered with water, bring to a boil and then let it simmer for a few hours.
Once your stock has simmered for a while, we usually let it go for at least two hours, and is tasting delicious take it off the heat and let it cool down. Then strain through a fine sieve and let cool completely. I’m lazy and by this point in my stock making adventure it’s usually pretty late, so I normally let my broth cool in a large bowl in the fridge overnight.
Then the next day portion it out and freeze it up. I use freezer-safe mason jars, with the contents and date written in dry erase marker on the top. The broth will last in the freezer for quite some time.
If you make this recipe snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #mealsbythemountain or tag me! I love seeing your personal takes on my recipes!
Homemade Vegetable Stock
Ingredients
- 1 Gallon Bag Vegetable scraps from your freeezer
- Salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp Whole Peppercorns or to taste
- A few sprigs Fresh Herbs such as Rosemay or Thyme
Instructions
- Fill an 8Qt stockpot with vegetable scraps
- Cover with water
- Season with salt, pepper and fresh herbs
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
- Simmer for about two hours tasting as you go and adjusting seasoning to your liking
- Take off the heat and allow to cool until handleable
- Pour stock through a sieve into a large bowl
- Cool completely
- Portion into containers, label and freeze
[…] Our family tries to do our part by tossing veggies that are about to spoil in our freezer to make Homemade Vegetable Stock. We also compost and my husband loves whipping up fridge clearing soups and breakfast hashes. These […]