How to Make Vegetable Stock with Kitchen Scraps
Making your own vegetable stock at home from leftover kitchen scraps is as simple as boiling vegetable peelings with water. This blog post has the lowdown on how to become a veggie stock sav!
What’s the one item you have in your pantry (other than peanut butter) that always seems to come to the rescue when you’re rolling up your sleeves to get cooking. For me, the answer is vegetable stock. I use it to sauté onions, flavor up grains, bring umami to soups and stews, even cook beans. The best thing about vegetable stock is that its dead simple to make at home from leftover kitchen scraps you were probably going to toss anyway. Making flavorful vegetable stock from kitchen scraps doesn’t take a lot of time but it does take a little bit of planning. Here’s the lowdown on how to become a veggie stock sav!
Why I love this super simple pantry staple:
Dead simple to make, just boil veggie scraps and water!
Waste Free
Economical
So much better than store-bought
Customizable, create unique flavors depending on what scraps you have.
For a handy PDF guide on Homemade Vegetable Stock, click here.
1. What is vegetable stock?
Vegetable stock is a flavorful liquid made from simmering unseasoned vegetables in water and then straining out the cooked vegetables. It is used as a base, in place of water, in many dishes. If you’re curious about the difference between vegetable stock and vegetable broth, click here.
2. What vegetables are used in vegetable stock?
The three main vegetables are onions, carrots, and celery. This is based on the “holy trinity” of flavors known as mirepoix in French cooking. You want to have a balance of these flavors. The ratio of ingredients in mirepoix is 2 parts onion to 1 part carrot and 1 part celery. Since we are using kitchen scraps, this ratio is flexible. You just want some of each. You can also use scraps other than these, depending on what’s in your kitchen. For example, I often have onions and carrots but not celery, so I will use kale and broccoli stems instead. The kitchen scraps I use most often are onions skins and peelings, leek tops, carrot peelings and tips, celery leaves, broccoli and cauliflower stems, kale stems and parsley leaves and stems.
3. What vegetables should not be used in vegetable stock?
Because stock is a base, we want a neutral flavor and golden color that will enhance any dish. Therefore, skip beet peelings and red cabbage which can turn the stock red. Save garlic and strong herbs, like rosemary, which can overpower the other flavors, for the compost. And leave out bitter and starchy scraps like brussels sprouts and potato peelings. The other thing you don’t want in your stock is dirt, so give the veggies a scrub before peeling. Fresh vegetables make for a nice clean flavor. Overly mature vegetables can taste kinda moldy.
4. Where do I get vegetable scraps?
This is the easy part! When you are preparing a dish, simply save the scraps. I store mine in a plastic bag in the refrigerator where they stay fresh for about 2 weeks. If you make stock less often, store them in the freezer. They will happily wait for you there until you’re ready. If you don’t have any scraps but want to make vegetable stock, use onions, carrots and celery with 2 parts onion to 1 part carrot and 1 part celery. Adding a leek top and a handful of fresh parsley will add flavor as well.
5. How do I make vegetable stock from scraps?
This is the other easy part. Take all your vegetable scraps and put them in a stockpot. Pour water, enough to cover, over the scraps. This is typically the same ratio of water to scraps. If I have 6 cups of scraps, I use 6 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Simmer for 1-2 hours and then turn off the heat. Let the stock cool completely. (I usually let mine cool overnight to let the flavors intensify.) Pour the stock through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl and compost the cooked scraps. Transfer the stock to jars and store in the fridge for a week or the freezer for up to 6 months.
How to Make Vegetable Stock With Kitchen Scraps
Ingredients for making vegetable stock with kitchen scraps
Ingredients:
You will need 6 cups of vegetable scraps in total
o 1 yellow onion, skin on, and rough chopped
o 1 leek top, rough chopped
o 2 carrots, peeled or rough chopped
o 2 celery ribs with leaves, rough chopped
o A handful of parsley stems and leaves
o 6 cups (1,420 ml) of water or enough to cover the vegetable scraps
Makes 6 cups of vegetable stock
How to make vegetable stock with kitchen scraps
Step 1:
1. Gather six cups of vegetable scraps or chopped veggies. You can use frozen scraps straight from the freezer.
Step 2:
2. Add the scraps to a pot with 6 cups of water, or enough water to just cover the veggies.
Steps 3-4:
3. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and continue to simmer for 1-2 hours.
4. Turn off the heat and let cool completely. (I usually let mine cool overnight to let the flavors intensify.)
Step 5:
5. Pour the stock mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing all the delicious flavor out of the cooked scraps.
Step 6:
6. Funnel into clean jars and store in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
There are so many uses for homemade vegetable stock. Here are just a few recipes to try!
How to Make Vegetable Stock with Kitchen Scraps
Ingredients
Instructions
- Gather six cups of vegetable scraps or chopped veggies. You can use frozen scraps straight from the freezer.
- Add the scraps to a pot with 6 cups of water, or enough water to just cover the veggies.
- Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and continue to simmer for 1-2 hours.
- Turn off the heat and let cool completely. (I usually let mine cool overnight to let the flavors intensify.)
- Pour the stock mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing all the delicious flavor out of the cooked scraps.
- Store in clean jars in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
For step-by-step instructions and photos, see blog post!
Nutrition Facts
Calories
30.50Fat (grams)
0.26Sat. Fat (grams)
0.06Carbs (grams)
9.91Fiber (grams)
1.69Net carbs
8.21Sugar (grams)
3.10Protein (grams)
1.16Sodium (milligrams)
63.61Cholesterol (grams)
0.00Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators.
