Turn your veggie trimmings into a delicious easy to make vegetable broth in as little as 30-minutes. Much better than store-bought packaged broths.

So easy, and so delicious.

Some call it vegetable broth, and some call it vegetable stock. Either way is OK for smart, thrifty cooks who over the centuries have saved up their veggie trimmings to make delicious homemade veggie broths and stocks to use in soups and sauces.

You may have seen packaged broths and stock in the store and wondered if you could make these yourself instead. And yes, absolutely you can make your own veggie broth and make it even better too.

There’s absolutely no judgment here using packaged store-bought packaged broth. I’ve certainly used these from time to time when I’ve been in a hurry and have no homemade prepared broth on hand. But that’s extremely rare these days.

Let’s Talk Vegetable Broth from Veggie Trimmings

This age-old money-saving tradition is still used by thrifty cooks around the world. And for very good reasons too.

It’s way more healthy because you can control what goes into your veggie stock. For a start, you can avoid all the chemical additives and preservatives that store-bought stocks use to make their products last longer on the shelf.

You can control the amount of salt and sugar. (Yes some broths do add sugar - can you believe that?!)

It’s also money-saving and I calculate that I can save $10 or more every time I make my broth from veggie trimmings I would just be throwing away.

As a long-term frugalist over the 30+ years I’ve been making my own broths from veggie trimmings to use most weeks of the year, I estimate this has saved me over $12,000 instead of buying store-bought broths and stock. Ka-Ching!

Yay! That little bit of weekly thriftiness sure adds up and after a while can pay for a nice vacation to some exotic destination or whatever you fancy. I’ll take that any day. Just think of what you could do with the money saved.

When it’s so easy to make your own delicious homemade veggie broth from veggie trimmings, why would you ever bother with store-bought products when you can make even better?

What I love about this dish

What I love about making my own Vegetable Broth from Veggie Trimmings is how delicious and pure the broth is. No weird chemicals or preservatives, no added sugar. I can control exactly what goes into my homemade broth.

I love that I can make as big or as small a batch as I need. And I can use it straight away or refrigerate or freeze it. So convenient.

Plus, I’m using produce that would otherwise be thrown away, so it’s good for the planet too

FAQ - About Vegetable Broth from Veggie Trimmings

What veggies can you use?

Use veggie trimmings such as onion ends and peel, leek ends, spinach stalks and ends, parsley stalks, carrot ends and peel, pumpkin skin and seed pulp, mushroom stalks, tomato cores, parsnip ends and sparingly turnip and rutabaga AKA swede ends and peel.

How best to save and keep the veggie trimmings?

You can store the veggie trimmings in a bag in the fridge for up to a week, or keep in a bag in the freezer for up to 6 months.

What veggies should you avoid?

Avoid using Brassica or cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, and broccoli as these can overpower the broth and make the broth bitter or unpleasant to taste. For the same reason, use turnips, rutabaga, carrot, and beet leaves sparingly.

How long do you need to cook your veggie broth?

Cook broth for a minimum of 30 minutes, 45 minutes to 2 hours is ideal. If you are using a slow cooker you can have it cook slowly on low temperature for 8-10 hours overnight or all day till you’re ready to use it. Or cook on high for 4-5 hours.

What herbs can you add?

I like to add bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, and black peppercorns.

Lets Make This Veggie Broth

Step 1

Grab a big pot, and grab your bag of veggie trimmings.

Step 2

Gather your spices.

Bay Leaf, Thyme, Rosmary, Sage and Peppercorns

Step 3

Throw all the veggies into the pot, fill with enough cold water to cover the veggies, add the herbs.

Bring to a boil then simmer with lid for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer the better and deeper in flavor.

Here is the broth after 1.5 hours

Step 4

Strain through a colander over a large bowl.

Step 5

Broth ready to use, or cool it down and pour it into glass jars to refrigerate, or freeze into cubes or blocks.

Why toss all those edible and incredibly beneficial vegetable trimmings into the trash when instead you can toss all those edible ends of your veggies into a big bag and then use these to make a beautiful flavourful homemade veggie broth that’s way better than storebought broth.

When you make your own Broth from Vegetable Trimming your thrifty money-saving planet-saving cooking skills will bring you much joy.

Let’s make this Homemade Vegetable Broth with Vegetable Trimmings.

Batch prepping or batch cooking this homemade vegetable broth from veggie trimmings makes it even easier.

Here are several options
Prep and cook a big pot of this stock then store the cooked stock in the fridge in large jars ready to use in your soup or sauces.
You can pour the cooled stock into 1-2 cup blocks or small ice cube makers and freeze these to use in any sauces or soups. Super convenient.

Here is the printable recipe.

Vegetable Broth from Veggie Trimmings

Yield: 8-10 Cups

Author: Zelda Sheldon

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 3 HourInactive time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 5 H & 50 M

Turn your veggie trimmings into a delicious easy-to-make vegetable broth in as little as 30-minutes. Better than storebought broths.

Ingredients

Veggie trimmings - collect a big 2-pound bag full of your saved veggie trimmings, scraps and peels - carrot, turnip, parsnip peel and ends, pumpkin skin and seed insides, parsley stalks, onion, leek and shallot ends and tops, broccoli stems, celery tops and ends, mushroom stalks, tomatoes, spinach and garlic etc.
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried or fresh thyme
1 tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary
2 leaves of dried sage or 1 teaspoon dried
Water - enough water to cover the veggie trimmings in the pot

Instructions

Throw all the veggie scraps into a big stockpot.
Fill the pot with water to cover all the veggie trimmings.
Add the herbs.
Bring to a boil then simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes to 2 hours on a stovetop. If using a slow cooker you can cook on low setting for 8-10 hours, or on high setting for 4-5 hours.
Place a strainer or colander over a large bowl or pot. Pour the cooked vegetable trimmings through the colander to strain into a lovely broth ready to use. Either throw away or compost the cooked vegetable trimmings.
You can now add this broth to your soup or stew, or cool it down and pour it into glass jars to refrigerate, or let it cool and then pour into ice cube makers or ice blocks and freeze. YUM!

Notes

1 pound *non starchy vegetables. I like to use cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, celery, brussel sprouts, swiss chard, rainbow chard, kale, arugula, spinach, carrots, green beans, green herbs like fresh basil, holy basil or fenugreek. You can also use frozen chopped non-starchy veggies if you prefer.

For maximum weight loss do not use starchy vegetables in this dish.

Starchy Vegetables include: Corn, Sweet Potato, Yams, Potato.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

100

Fat

0.9 g

Sat. Fat

0.9 g

Carbs

20 g

Fiber

16 g

Net carbs

20 g

Sugar

1.3 g

Protein

8 g

Sodium

178.87 mg

Cholesterol

0 mg

This is an automated nutritional calculation. Without using oil we calculate the calories to closer to 100 calories per one pound serve. Non starchy vegatables have an average of 100 calories per pound. This is the lowest calorie density of any food group.

Substitutions to make it your own

Sometimes I like to dry roast or dry fry a bulb of garlic and add to the stockpot for a deeper richer flavor.
You can use fresh herbs and adjust the quantity of herbs.
It will take just 30 minutes to cook in an Instant Pot.
You can also use a slow cooker for 4-10 hours to make this broth.

Vegetable Broth from Veggie Trimmings