Every plant-based cook should know how to make a simple low-salt vegetable broth. And in this post, I have both an Instant Pot recipe and how to make your own vegetable broth on the stove-top, as well.
The reason vegetable broth is important is that many plant-based recipes use it. Take soup, for example, almost all include a vegetable broth.
It’s also beneficial when making grains as vegetable broth boosts flavor instead of water. You can even use plant-based broth instead of oil when sauteing onions.
How to make homemade Vegetable Broth
I know store-bought veggie broth is easy to use, but you’ll be hard pressed to find one without a lot of salt. So, do find time in your busy schedule to make some homemade low salt vegetable broth either on the stove or in your Instant Pot.
Store it in the freezer for those times when you need it most (more hints on how to do that below).
Making homemade plant-based Instant Pot vegetable broth is easy because you can use vegetable scraps that you’ve collected. I throw my scraps in a large bag and freeze them until I’m ready to make broth.
Of course, you can make it from fresh store-bought vegetables most of us have already in the kitchen such as onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, parsley or even broccoli and cauliflower.
Here’s a few tasty recipes that use vegetable broth:
- Mary’s Vegetable Soup with Farro
- Cauliflower Pasta Alfredo
- Beefless Stew
- Spring Asparagus Pea Zucchini Soup
- Cheeze Veggie Divan
It doesn’t get easier than this… basically, throw everything in a pot and cook. Using the Instant Pot will make the job a little faster, but it’s just as easy to put cook everything in a large pot on the stove.
Making your own vegetable broth offers a varying amount of options when it comes to the overall flavor, as this is such a versatile and personal base to a recipe.
Storing in the Freezer
If you want to store your homemade veggie broth, I find that the pint-size (2 cups) large-mouth glass storage containers work well. Or, the larger quart size works, too.
You don’t need to worry about the glass breaking if you use freezer-grade wide mouth containers as this reduces the likelihood that that will happen. PLUS, you need to keep the fill line a bit lower than the top and in the Ball jars, there is a line marking that (see photo).
Just be sure to let them cool before placing in the freezer. You can freeze the broth for 4-6 months.
If you need smaller quantities of vegetable broth, you can freeze in ice cube trays, then remove them and store in large freezer baggies or glass jars.
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Homemade Vegetable Broth recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Instagram page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking in your caption, and I won’t miss it!
This recipe is Plantricious Friendly because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- *Plantricious Friendly foods may include but are not limited to condiments, fermented foods, soups, sauces, beverages, dressings, marinades, etc.
How to Make Easy Plant-Based Vegetable Broth
Ingredients
- 1 large onion (you can leave the skin on which adds color)
- 5 stalks celery chopped into large chunks
- 3 large carrots you don't need to peel them
- 1/3 head broccoli or other vegetable broken into chunks
- 4 cloves garlic with skin on
- 3 cups greens rough chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped into large chunks
- 1/2 bunch parsley
- 4 oz mushrooms cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- ½ tsp salt (optional)
- 10 cups water
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions:
- Chop the vegetables into large chunks.
- Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot along with the water. Close lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Natural release for 15 minutes and then turn the venting knob to the venting position to release the remaining pressure. Open the lid carefully.
- Strain the broth through a large colander into a bowl to remove the larger pieces and then through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the last bits.
- Keep in an air-tight container(s) or for smaller quantities, freeze in ice cube trays. Allow to cool and then refrigerate.
Stove Top Directions
- Chop the vegetables into large chunks.
- In a large pot over medium high heat, sauté the onions until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add the garlic and sea salt and cook another 30 seconds.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot along with the water and bring to a boil. Gently stir to combine.
- Simmer covered on low heat for about 1 hour. The longer you simmer it, the more concentrated it will be.
- Strain the broth through a large colander to remove the larger pieces and then through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the rest.
- Keep in an air-tight container(s) or for smaller quantities, freeze in ice cube trays. Allow to cool and then refrigerate.
Hello Diane;
Thank you for encouraging homemade broths.
Can saved carrot peeling be used instead of fresh carrots?
Just wondering if peeling will produce ample flavour?
Yes, sure… carrot peels can be used, too. The more peels, the better, I suppose since they’re so much thinner than carrots. If that’s what you have, I think that’s fine. 👍
Thank you for this recipe. I will try it vs spending on it like I did last night in Trader Joes. But I don’t want to waste all those vegetables. Can I use the vegetables? And what can I do with them? Also, I liked the idea of using scraps but the scraps are usually more dirty and I don’t have that kind of time to clean them. Can I take those vegetables and add them to a different soup that already has vegetables? So that soup won’t have the benefits of the nutrients from these vegetables but they will have them from the vegetables already in the soup. Thank you.
Hi Ester, I can understand you’re not wanting to waste the cooked veggies. I don’t see why you couldn’t just use them in a soup, as you mention. Maybe there won’t be quite as many nutrients, but there’s probably some. 👍
Can I put in all in a blender for a thicker broth?
Sure, you can do that. It might depend on what you’d be using it for. A thicker broth might not work as well in some recipes or at least you’d need to add more water I would think. I’m not sure how the whole peppercorns would blend so you might want to remove those before blending. Then put the veggies in the blender, add the veggie stock and blend. I’m wondering how thick it would be, but you could add more water, if needed.
I made this broth today in the Instant Pot, and it was perfect. Thank you for the recipe. It was easy to follow.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe! 🙂