Ultimate vegetable broth recipe for all of your soup, sauce, and stew needs. Don't be afraid to mix it up, make your own substitutions, and use whatever seasonal, local ingredients you have on hand.
1tbsporganic olive oilor other cooking fat such as grass finished tallow, lard, ghee, suet, or virgin cold pressed coconut oil
2medium organic yellow onions, roughly diced with skins left onremove outer layer if necessary
2medium organic carrots, chopped
1organic parsnip or parsley root, chopped
2ribs organic celery, chopped
1large organic leek, split down the middle lengthwise, rinsed and chopped
3-4 cloves organic garlic, cut in half with skins left on and lightly crushed
6sprigs fresh organic thyme
3-4fresh organic parsley stems, leaves removed
2organic bay leaves
8-10organic black peppercorns
1inchpiece of organic ginger, minced optional
2-3whole organic clovesoptional
1handful of organic vegetable stems of your choice, such as broccoli, kale, or caulifloweroptional
9cupsfiltered or spring water
Instructions
In a large soup pot, heat up the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until deeply browned, about 7-8 minutes. Add the carrots and parsnip, then sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the edges are a bit softer. Add the celery and stir.
Add the chopped leek and garlic to the pot. Stir until fragrant and leeks are bright green and soft, about 4 minutes. Add the thyme, parsley stems, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and ginger, cloves, and vegetable stems, if using. Give it a few stirs to coat it all in the oil. Add a splash of water to the pot and stir to scrape up any brown bits at the bottom with a wooden spoon.
Slowly pour the rest of the filtered water over the vegetables. Raise the heat to medium-high, cover the pot with a lid, and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, remove the lid and let the broth simmer on low flame for about 45 minutes to an hour.
Let the broth cool slightly before straining and storing in glass jars, or making broth cubes. Use as a base in all of your favourite recipes that call for vegetable broth!
Notes
The most important thing here is to get the onions super sautéed for a long time until they're brown on the edges as this really sets the tone for the flavour profile.
Always use properly filtered or spring water, and plenty of seasonal, organic vegetables. If you use organic/biodynamic veggies, the scraps and garbage bits would actually be gold. Store the vegetable scraps in the freezer from when you make other recipes, and whip them out to make this broth!
Use the cooking fat you resonate with the most. Authentic olive oil, grass finished tallow, lard, grass fed ghee, suet, meat drippings, or coconut oil are all fair game.
Store broth cubes in the freezer for several months. Store liquid broth in a sealed glass jar in the fridge for up to a week.
Other herbs you could add include fennel, juniper, astragalus, turmeric, burdock, medicinal mushrooms, or really anything that works for you!
Ginger and cloves are optional. They brighten up the flavour, but if you're looking to make the stock as a plain and simple tasting base for other recipes, omit.
If drinking this broth on its own, add sea salt to taste. Otherwise the salt used in other recipes with this broth will suffice.
Feel free to use more water if your pot can handle it! 8-12 cups should be enough to keep the flavour strong.