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Stop wasting money buying vegetable broth! Homemade Vegetable Broth comes together with minimal effort for pennies per serving!
Not only is making vegetable broth (or chicken stock) a money saver, but the flavor is far superior to anything store-bought. You can control the sodium content and the quality of ingredients in homemade broth--no yeast extract, gluten, caramel color, or MSG here! Perfect for making Instant Pot Vegetable Soup, Potato Soup, or Broccoli Rice Casserole, or any recipe calling for veggie broth.
Kristen's Key Tips
- Save Your Vegetable Scraps. While you can prepare vegetable broth with whole vegetables, the most economical thing to do is to save your carrot peels, ends of onions, wilted celery, etc. As you collect the scraps, place them in a freezer storage bag and store in the freezer, adding to it as you collect more. Use to make homemade broth for nearly free! The same is true for fresh herbs.
- Clean Your Vegetables Well. Just be sure whether using whole vegetables or scraps the veggies were well cleaned first--we don't want to make dirt broth!
- Avoid Flavorless and Cruciferous Vegetables. Avoid potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash as they don't yield much flavor. For the opposite reason, avoid broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, as they will overpower the broth and make it bitter.
- Use one of three preparations. Prepare vegetable broth in the slow cooker or Instant Pot for hands-off cooking or use the stove-top--which is especially helpful when preparing an extra large batch of veggie broth.
Options for Vegetable Broth Ingredients
- Vegetables/Vegetable Scraps: Regardless of using scraps or whole vegetables, you want to be sure you have onions, carrots, and celery.
- Herbs: A small amount of fresh (or frozen) herbs like thyme sprigs, parsley, and/or oregano will add a nice depth of flavor to the broth. Avoid cilantro, basil, and rosemary, as they can quickly overpower vegetable broth.
- Spices: To add subtle, classic flavor use a combination of dried bay leaves, garlic cloves, and whole peppercorns. Whole peppercorns are more aromatic and milder than ground pepper.
- Salt: Kosher salt it best and use more/less or omit based on your preference or dietary needs.
- Two Optional (But Encouraged) Additions: Tomato paste and dried mushrooms are not necessary, but both add incredible depth to homemade broth. Tomato paste adds a bit of sweetness and rich concentrated flavor to the broth. Dried mushrooms add earthiness and umami flavor to this broth.
How to Make Homemade Vegetable Broth
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Combine Ingredients. Place the vegetables (or scraps), herbs, salt, whole peppercorns, bay leaves, tomato paste, and dried mushrooms in a large stockpot, the base of a slow cooker, or the inner pot of an Instant Pot.
- Cover with Water. Add in cold tap or filtered water to cover the vegetables, being careful to leave room for the broth to simmer.
- Simmer. Set to pressure cook, slow cook, or bring the broth to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low, and simmer.
- Strain Off Solids. After cooking the broth, strain off the broth using a fine-mesh spider spoon, fine mesh strainer, or strainer insert for the Instant Pot. Be sure to discard the scraps in the trash, not down the disposal, as they can be too much for your garbage disposer.
- Let Cool. Let the broth cool before transfering the broth to storage containers.
How to Store Homemade Vegetable Broth
- Refrigerate: Transfer the cooled vegetable broth to storage containers or clean glass jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
- Freeze: I recommend portioning out the broth into 2 to 4-cup quantities and freezing in freezer-safe containers or souper cubes (my personal favorite), for up to 3 months in the freezer. Defrost the broth overnight in the refrigerator as needed.
Recipes that use Vegetable Broth
This Vegetable Broth is perfect for any recipe calling for vegetable broth. Some of our favorites are listed below.
If you enjoyed this recipe for Vegetable Broth, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Homemade Vegetable Broth
This easy Vegetable Broth recipe can be made using whole vegetables or vegetable scraps--and makes the most delicious homemade broth.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow onions, cut in half
- 3 stalks celery , leaves included, roughly chopped
- 4 large carrots, cut in half
- 3 cloves garlic, optional
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, more, or less to taste
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste, optional
- 1 tablespoon dried shiitake mushrooms, optional
- 8 cups cold water, + more as needed
Instructions
- Place 2 medium yellow onions, 3 stalks celery , and 4 large carrots (or 3-4 cups vegetable scraps) in base of inner pot, slow cooker, or large stockpot. Add in 3 cloves garlic, 2 dried bay leaves, 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, 3 sprigs fresh thyme, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, and 1 tablespoon dried shiitake mushrooms. Cover with 8 cups cold water.
- For Stove Top: Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat. OOnce small bubbles are forming along the sides of the pan, turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, adding up to 2 cups additional water if needed. For Instant Pot: Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Hit manual or pressure coo and use the +/- buttons to adjust the cook time to 15 minutes.For Slow Cooker: Cook on low for 8-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.
- Strain the solids from the broth and discard the solids in the trash (not garbage disposal). Let the stock cool before storing in airtight containers. Use as desired.
Notes
Use 3-4 cups vegetable scraps in place of whole onions, carrots, and celery.
Note on Vegetable Scraps: Be sure to wash your vegetables/herbs well. Then store carrot peels, ends of carrots, wilted celery, ends of onions, onion peels. etc. in a freezer-safe bag, adding to it is needed. Feel free to add a variety of vegetable/herb scraps, avoiding cruciferous vegetables, flavorless vegetables, cilantro, basil, and/or rosemary.
Dried Mushrooms: The dried mushrooms add an earthy flavor, but can easily be omitted. Or alternatively, you can also use ¼ cup fresh shiitake mushrooms or mushroom stems in place of dried mushrooms.
Storage: Transfer the cooled vegetable broth to storage containers or clean glass jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Alternatively, freeze the cooled broth in freezer-safe containers or souper cubes (my personal favorite), for up to 3 months in the freezer. Defrost the broth overnight in the refrigerator as needed.
Nutrition
Calories: 18kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 98mgPotassium: 120mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 2597IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 14mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally shared in 2017 but updated in 2025.
Hi Kristen
Can I use dried thyme. I usually use dried herbs in my recipes.
Ginger
Hi Ginger! As long as it is dried thyme leaves (not ground thyme), that will work. I would use 1-2 teaspoons. If you have ground thyme, I would skip it altogether, as it will overwhelm the recipe. I hope you enjoy!