How to Make Vegetable Broth: 3 Recipes + 3 Uses
Anna Köhler
(Senior Editor)
Vegetable broth is always used in the kitchen and refines many a dish. We show you how to make vegetable stock quickly and easily yourself and explain when you can use it.
Vegetable broth forms the base of many dishes. In particular, it is used over and over again in soups. But it also provides quick relief for colds or a hangover.
If you don’t always want to use store-bought stock cubes, make your own vegetable stock quickly and easily. So you know exactly what is in it and take no additives to you.
Homemade Vegetable Broth: This Is What You Need
How to Make your own Vegetable Broth
If you just want to prepare something quickly in the kitchen, you certainly resort to purchased vegetable broth in powder or cube form once or twice. However, this contains many unhealthy additives, which a vegetable broth basically does not need.
If you want to cook with really healthy vegetable broth in the future, it’s best to make it yourself. You do not use any flavor enhancers or other superfluous ingredients.
Your homemade vegetable broth you cook in stock and freeze it. That way, you’ll always have it on hand when you need it. You’ll need the following ingredients and materials to make homemade vegetable broth.
Start with Soup Greens
Start with Greens
Soup greens are one of the most important components of a healthy vegetable broth. Specifically, it is a vegetable packet that includes carrots, celeriac and leeks. Either buy these vegetables individually or look around the supermarket for a ready-packed package.
The carrots contained in greens are rich in vitamins. First and foremost, they impress with vitamin C, the provitamin beta-carotene and several B vitamins.
The celeriac is also rich in vitamins and contains important fiber to boot. Essential oils make the vegetable easy to digest and a food that is easy on the stomach. Leeks contain the healthy fiber inulin, which stimulates your intestinal activity by nourishing gut bacteria. Every now and then, you’ll also find a stalk of parsley in a ready-made package of greens.
If you buy pre-packaged greens, you should look for organic quality. In addition, it is often packaged in plastic in the supermarket. This creates unnecessary waste. So, in any case, it is a good idea to assemble the greens yourself.
Add Water
Another main ingredient of vegetable broth is, of course, water. It is quite enough if you use pipe water in the preparation. You don’t need any special water for the preparation.
Do Not Forget The Seasonings
Spices come into play as the third main ingredient. They give your broth a special flavor and spice it up. Which spices you use is basically up to you. You should definitely use salt and pepper to make your broth taste delicious. With other spices you experiment at your whim until it suits your taste.
Vegetable Broth Recipes
Vegetable Broth Recipes
Not all vegetable broth is the same. There are many different recipes you can try. Basically, there are no limits to your imagination.
We’ve picked out a few simple recipes for you to try quickly and easily. Included is a basic recipe for vegetable broth and a few variations. You’ll master the following recipes quickly and easily.
How to Make Clear Vegetable Broth
A homemade vegetable broth tastes intense and without flavor enhancers. It is perfect for making soups or sauces. The basic recipe does not contain any unusual spices or other gimmicks. So you know exactly where you stand.
You’ll need:
- a bunch of greens
- one tomato
- two onions
- one clove of garlic
With these ingredients, you’ll make a liter and a half of vegetable broth. That’s perfect for one meal, and you’ll have some left over to freeze. Here’s how you cook the vegetable broth:
- Wash the vegetables thoroughly and cut them into coarse pieces. If you want, you can peel the vegetables. But this is not a must, as long as you clean it thoroughly. Withered parts you remove.
- Halve the onion without peeling it.
- Press the garlic flat.
- Halve the tomato.
- Place the vegetables in a saucepan with two liters of water and bring to a boil.
- Then turn down the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for an hour. If you like the broth extra strong, let it simmer for an hour and a half.
- Pour the vegetable broth through a sieve. So you filter out the vegetables and the liquid remains.
How to Make Vegetable Broth Powder
Do it Yourself: Vegetable Broth Powder
If you prefer to make broth powder, it is also very easy. Not only fresh vegetables are suitable for this, but also residues. These arise during cooking again and again. For example, peels of carrots or other things that would otherwise go into the organic waste come into question.
If you don’t have so many leftovers at once, just freeze them and use them when you have enough. This way you do something good for the environment and save money. Plus, the broth tastes especially good if you use many different kinds of vegetables.
You’ll need:
- 300 grams of onion
- 350 grams of greens
- 300 grams of tomatoes
- two stalks of parsley
In this recipe, you don’t cook broth but you make vegetable broth powder. Here’s how you do it:
- Wash the greens and tomatoes thoroughly.
- Chop all the ingredients as finely as possible.
- Beat a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the ingredients on it.
- Give the tray at 75 degrees convection for about six hours in the oven. Best you clamp a wooden spoon between the oven door, so that the liquid escapes. Alternatively, open the oven door from time to time. (In summer, you can save energy by placing the tray in a sunny, slightly windy place.)
- Wherever the vegetables are drying, stir them every now and then in between.
- If everything is sufficiently dried, chop the vegetables in a food processor.
- Finally, you taste the powder with salt and fill it into sealable jars.
How to Make Broth Powder from Wild Herbs
Broth Powder from Wild Herbs
If you’re in the mood for something fancy, a brew powder made from wild herbs might be the right idea. Basically, you can use all the herbs that are available to you and whose taste you like.
Depending on which herbs you add, the broth will be even healthier. In fact, some herbs like goutweed or wild garlic are very good for you and your body.
The preparation of the powder works much like that of the instant vegetable broth powder. We present one way of preparation below.
You need:
- two handfuls of wild garlic
- a handful of goutweed
- two handfuls of oregano
- some parsley
- some celery greens
- five scallions
- 40 grams of tomato powder
- pepper
- Salt
- Kitchen appliance for chopping
Since this recipe is also a powder, you do not cook the broth, but dry the vegetables and then process them into a powder. It works like this:
- Wash the wild garlic, goutweed, oregano, parsley and celery greens thoroughly.
- Free the herbs from as many drops of water as possible. This works best with a salad spinner.
- Cut the herbs small.
- Cut the scallions small.
- Spread the chopped ingredients on a baking sheet and dry them in your oven at 80 degrees. This will take up to seven hours. During the drying process, moisture keeps escaping. To prevent this from remaining in the oven, leave the oven door ajar. To do this, place a cooking spoon between the door, for example. After about two hours, loosen the ingredients on the tray by spreading them out differently on the tray.
If everything is dried, you give the herbs with the tomato powder, pepper and salt in a food processor and chop everything to fine powder. - The powder you can store in a screw-top jar for about half a year.
Nutrition Facts and Calories in Vegetable Broth
Below you will find the nutrition facts of vegetable broth and its calorie count.
| Components | 1 Cup Vegetable Broth (221 g) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 11 kcal |
| Total Fat | 0.2 g |
| Cholersterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 654.2 mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 2.1 g |
| Protein | 0.5 g |
| Vitamin C | 0.9 mg |
| Vitamin D | 0 mcg |
| Iron | 0.1 mg |
| Calcium | 6.6 mg |
| Potassium | 42 mg |
| Phosphorus | 6.6 mg |
Homemade Beef Stock Recipe
Homemade Beef Stock Recipe
If you don’t want to make a vegetable broth, but a meat stock yourself, it’s just as easy. This one is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans, of course, because you’re using meat to make it. In addition to the greens, in fact, you need beef bones.
Although it takes a bit more effort to make a beef broth, it is worth it. This tastes very delicious and is just as healthy as the meatless alternative. Just try it once and decide for yourself which variant tastes better to you.
By the way, there is a distinction between broth and stock. As soon as bones are used for the preparation, as is the case here, it is called stock.
You will need:
- two kilograms of beef bones
- three onions
- three cloves of garlic
- one teaspoon of tomato paste
- one tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- salt
- pepper
- 750 grams of greens
- four stalks of parsley
The preparation of beef broth is relatively complex and takes a long time. Namely, there are several cooking. Therefore, you cook best in stock and freeze some of the broth. Here’s how to make your own beef broth:
- Place the beef bone in a saucepan and fill it with water.
- Boil the water. When it boils to a bubble, leave the bone in it for five more minutes and then take it out.
- Wash the bone and pat it dry.
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees convection and put the bone in as soon as the oven is hot. You roast it in there for 50 minutes.
- In the meantime, roast the onions and garlic in a saucepan and add the tomato paste shortly after.
- Take the bone out of the oven and add it to the onions, garlic and tomato paste in the pot.
- Add two liters of water and season with vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Let the whole thing boil slowly over medium heat.
- The broth is now simmering for three hours. In the process, foam is formed again and again on the surface. This you must remove in between.
- Wash now the greens, peel it if necessary and cut it into coarse pieces.
- After three hours, you give the greens and the parsley in the pot and let them boil for an hour.
- Finally, you filter the finished broth through a sieve.
Tips on How to Make Homemade Vegetable Broth
Tips on Preparing
Just try different recipes for broth and decide for yourself which one you like best. In any case, it is worth a little to experiment. So that the preparation of your personal vegetable broth is particularly easy for you, we have put together a few helpful tips for you here.
Vegetable Broth from Scraps
Again and again remain when cooking vegetable leftovers, which would still taste good, but no longer enough for a whole meal. Of course, you should not throw them away but prepare a tasty vegetable broth from these scraps. Basically, it doesn’t matter which vegetables you use. Just put everything in a pot and prepare the broth. You don’t even have to peel onions.
Make Vegetable Broth by Using Waste
Anything that would normally go into the biotbin is also great for making into a delicious vegetable broth. That goes for carrot peels, mushroom stems, and the stalk of a cauliflower or broccoli, for example.
If you have stripped basil leaves from a sprig, don’t throw them away, but use them to make a broth as well. However, be sure to wash the vegetables thoroughly if you want to use the peels.
Freeze Homemade Vegetable Broth
You Can Freeze the Broth
If you’ve made a big pot of vegetable broth, you certainly won’t use it up right away during your first cooking session. To prevent the broth from spoiling, it’s best to freeze it.
A ice cube mold is especially good for this. Pour the broth carefully into it and put the whole thing in your freezer. If you need vegetable stock next time, remove individual cubes from the mold and melt them in a saucepan. This way you won’t have to make a new stock again, but can start cooking right away.
Uses: What is Vegetable Broth Good for?
Vegetable broth is incredibly versatile and proves it in a wide variety of situations. Not only is it great for cooking, but it’s also great for when you’re not feeling well. Especially homemade vegetable broth contains a lot of valuable nutrients. Below you can find a few examples of what it is good for.
Homemade Vegetable Broth Helps against Hangover
Vegetable Broth Helps against Hangover
If you drank too much in the evening, you will certainly not feel well at all the next day. A hangover is extremely unhealthy and quite often causes nausea and severe headaches. The more alcohol you drink, the more your body is deficient in water and electrolytes. Overnight, your body clearly feels this deficiency and headaches, dizziness or nausea develop.
With vegetable broth, you can replenish your mineral stores in no time and compensate for your fluid deficit. Ideally, you’ll drink a cup of vegetable broth before you go to bed at night.
Broth is easy to digest, doesn’t overwhelm your stomach, and contains salts and vitamins. If you add some fresh vegetables and herbs to the broth, it will be even more nutritious.
Vegetable Broth Aids Colds
Vegetable Broth Aids Colds
For a cold and especially for a sore throat, a hot vegetable broth works wonders. Not only is it easy on your throat, but it strengthens your defenses and your immune system.
In addition, vegetable broth promotes gut health and provides important nutrients for bones, joints and skin. Find more home remedies for sore throats here.
In particular, warm chicken soup with vegetable broth helps to limit the movement of white blood cells during a respiratory infection. These are responsible for the inflammatory processes in your body. In addition, hot broth invigorates, strengthens and warms you during a cold. It is a hydrator and ensures that your respiratory tract is moistened.
Homemade Vegetable Broth is Well Suited for Cooking
Vegetable Broth is Good for Cooking
It is impossible to imagine cooking without vegetable broth. Do you have plans to cook a soup, you need the broth in any case. But also in different sauces and pan dishes it comes to use again and again. So it’s a good idea to always have some vegetable broth on hand if you like to cook.
Here you can learn how to cook the perfect pasta.
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