Homemade Roasted Vegetable Broth

This is a no-recipe recipe. Use whatever you have on hand, but make sure you roast the vegetables to achieve that delicious umami flavor.

This homemade vegetable broth gets an added depth of flavor from roasting the vegetables beforehand. It’s a perfect base for soups and stews and is delicious even on its own.

Seriously, this homemade veggie broth could not be easier.

You can use whatever you’ve got in your fridge and pantry, but this is the recipe I turn to time and again. The base of this recipe comes from the 1998 edition of Bon Appetit, so you know it delivers. I adapted it for my own taste and for this day and age. Fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, thyme, oregano, etc. add a freshness to the broth that I wouldn’t skip out on.

So, that recipe you made the other day called for – what was it – 2 sticks of celery? 3 carrots? Half a box of mushrooms?

I’m sure it’s rare that you find yourself in such a position. I am assuming that you, like all decent and self-respecting people, immediately use up all of the vegetables in your fridge and never, ever let celery and carrots and mushrooms wither away in the crisper drawer.

Jokes! I love them.

But really, let’s sit down and talk about this. Food waste is a problem. There isn’t an easier way to help contribute to the cause than by throwing all your veggie scraps into a big pot, covering them with water, turning on the burner and calling it a day. By the end of the hour, you’ll have successfully turned your scraps into liquid gold. This recipe yields about 5 cups of broth, which is plenty for most recipes if you’re looking to turn this little lady into a soup, stew, braise… the list goes on. It’s a great way to clean out your fridge and feel good about it.

Sure, you can just toss the raw veggies into the pot and move on with your life, but no. I am going to intentionally make this difficult. It builds character.

And it builds flavor. Roasting the vegetables first does something to the end product that no amount of love, time, or salt can. It’s savory, umami-packed, and stands up on its own where store-bought broth can fall flat. And I promise you will never buy store-bought broth again.

While I’ve mentioned before that you can what you’ve got, I probably wouldn’t make this recipe without the mushrooms or garlic. I tend to use about half of the yield in whatever recipe I’m making, and drink the other half while I’m cooking like a parched peasant child because it’s just that good. Some ideas to turn this magic substance into something even more magical:

  • Soups (chicken soup, tortilla soup, matzo ball soup, egg drop soup, miso soup…)
  • Stews (ribollita, minestrone, chili…)
  • Cooking grains and risotto (rice, quinoa, farro, couscous…) (p.s. try miso risotto!)
  • Steaming vegetables
  • Braising meats and veggies
  • Turning it into gravy
  • Drinking hot! (try it and see)

I mean, isn’t there something literally wondrous about making broth from scratch, and using that stock to create something else? I feel like a witch. A good one.

Let’s talk about what NOT to put in your homemade broth.

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and turnips shouldn’t make the cut. They can add a bitter taste and an off color to your homemade stock. Find another use for those scraps, or just compost them! Onion skins, especially red onion skins, can turn your broth a deep brown color, which doesn’t bother me, but if you’re looking for a perfectly clear and pale stock, I would avoid them.

As for what to do with the leftover vegetables, compost them! They’ve given all of their flavor to the stock – there’s really not much there for you, unless you enjoy waterlogged vegetables. To get your stock extra clear, strain it through cheesecloth, but I don’t mind a little extra flavor!

Also, just to clear this up for everyone…

Any liquid that has been simmered with bones – chicken bones, beef bones, ham hock, what have you – is a stock. Any liquid that has been simmered with meat AND/OR vegetables is a broth. And if you’re wondering what the heck bouillon even is, it’s just a fancy term to refer to either stock or broth, depending on the chef you’re talking to. Stock and broth are interchangeable in most recipes, but overall, stock tends to be more gelatinous and fatty due to the collagen released from stewing bones.

And all of this just means that keyword-heavy phrases like “bone broth” and “vegan vegetable stock” are just absolutely ridiculous. And now you know. Let’s make roasted vegetable broth.

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