Vegetable Stock Recipe from Scraps
This flexible vegetable stock recipe saves you money by using scraps that you've saved from onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms to make a glorious stock. No problem if you don't have scraps, simply grab the ingredients listed below and simmer your stock for a few hours. Watch the video above for more tips & tricks. If you make it, please leave a star rating in the comments to help other readers in our community.
Ingredients
- Any leftover veggie scraps from the month from celery, carrots, and onion in the freezer, adjusting proportions below to factor in any scraps you already have
- 1-2 onions, halved
- 3-4 carrots, halved or chopped to fit
- 3-4 celery ribs, chopped to fit
- 2-4 garlic cloves, halved or smashed open
- About 10 mushroom stems (optional, more or less depending on what you have)
- A few handfuls total of fresh herbs (choose one or two types) such as thyme, rosemary, parsley, or dill (if no fresh herbs are available, swap for 1-2 teaspoons dried herbs)
- A handful of leftover tomatoes, cut in half (optional)
- 1 dried (or 2 fresh) bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons sea salt, more or less to taste
Directions
- 1
Remove any dirt or produce stickers from veggies, but no need to peel or chop anything. Just half anything that is whole to create some surface area and to fit in the stockpot.
- 2
Add all ingredients to a 5-6 quart pot. Cover with (preferably filtered) water by 2 inches, leaving an inch or two below the top of the pot so it doesn’t boil over. Cover, bring to a boil at high heat, and then reduce to a rolling simmer for 2-4 hours.
- 3
Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer and discard scraps.
- 4
Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 5 days. Or, freeze up to 5 months in freezer-safe containers.