Tasty Tuesday … Delicious Homemade Vegetable Broth

by incahootswithmuddyboots
February 6, 2019
14 comments
Cooking, Musings, Photography, Tasty Tuesday ..., Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Cooking

Don’t you think that homemade vegetable broth beats the store bought stuff every time? I sure do. That’s why I’ve been exploring different combinations of ingredients in order to come up with a broth that would be tasty, both as a base for a soup, as well as for drinking it plain from a mug.

A while back a friend told me that many Vietnamese cooks add an apple and/or a pear to their broth. When I asked at my favorite Pho place if they use apples and/or pears in their broth, the answer was yes. The owner also mentioned that she simmers a chopped pear along with her secret blend of herbal tea, which she serves at her restaurant. The fruit gives the broth, and also the tea, a very unique sweetness. Ripe fruit is best! Ever since I’ve been adding a pear to just about every pot of broth I make. It’s really good! I hope that you’ll give it a try. I make a pot of this broth about 2 to 3 times a week. Zendog loves to have a cup or two in the morning.

Sometimes I add  flavor boosting fresh rhizomes, herbs and spices …

… like fresh lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, fresh ginger, fresh galangal,
star anise, cinnamon sticks and fresh chilis or hot pepper flakes.

Which results in some delicious vegan one-pot meals …

… like Udon Miso Soup, Vegetable Pho, and Spicy Tum Yum Gai with Potstickers.
I’m working on posting those.

My Instant Pot has made this broth process really easy! I just throw everything into the insert, fill it with water to the fill line and then cook it for about 30 to 40 minutes. If I’m not in a hurry, I let the pressure release naturally. If you don’t have a Instant Pot, you can simmer the broth on the stove top for an hour or longer. Once the broth is ready, strain it through a fine sieve without pressing on the veggies. That’s if you want a clear broth!

Basic Vegetable Broth

  • 3 to 4 carrots
  • 3 to 4 sticks of celery
  • 1 leek, including the green part or 1 sweet onion
  • a few cloves of garlic
  • 6 to 8 white mushrooms or if you use fresh shiitakes save the stems for making broth
  • 5 to 6 large leaves of white, savoy or Napa cabbage
  • 1 apple and/or 1 ripe pear
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of whole pepper corns
  • a few sprigs of fresh parsley or a parsley root
  • 8 to 10 cups of water

Cut all the vegetables into chunks and put them into your cooking vessel. Add the salt, peppercorns, parsley and water.

Follow the directions of your Instant Pot for broth and cook it for for 30 to 40 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally.

In the stovetop version, bring everything to a gentle boil and then simmer partially covered for about an hour.

When the broth has cooled a bit strain it through a fine sieve and taste to see if it needs a bit more salt.
For a more concentrated flavor simmer it a little longer.

Refrigerated, this broth keeps well for several days.

Enjoy plain from a mug or use in a soup.

Cheers!

Posted by

My passions in life are vegetarian cooking, gardening, photography, writing, good books, traveling and nature. Thanks for stopping by, Sabine

14 thoughts on “Tasty Tuesday … Delicious Homemade Vegetable Broth”

  1. insearchofitall says:

    I’m going to show this to my daughter. She is playing with her new insta pot and enjoying it. This will be right up her alley. I’m sure she will make something delicious with this recipe. Looks yummy.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Missy says:

    Hey Sabine, I totally agree. Homemade broth is superior to packaged broth. I fix broth on the stovetop or in my slow cooker. It’s prettybdarn good on a cold winter’s day!

    Liked by 2 people

      • lindasschaub says:

        Yes it is Sabine. I don’t make soup for myself since it is just me, but my mom used to make different homemade soups for us, and we’d freeze the rest of each batch so we didn’t get tired of it. By mid-Winter we had a nice selection to choose from up in the freezer. My favorite was her Sweet and Hot Italian Sausage with Spinach Tortellini soup – it mingled the sweet and spicy sausage with a lot of veggies in a spicy broth. On a cold night, that hot soup and its spicy ingredients would warm me up in a heartbeat. She made hot garlic bread or cornbread twists with it – walking into the house was just heavenly. All your soups look delicious. I just used canned soup now and there is no comparison to homemade.

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:

        Thanks Sabine – yes, she was. She was an excellent cook and baker … unfortunately, I took after my grandmother in the cooking/baking department. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  4. LuAnne Holder says:

    Your post is perfect for me. My husband forgot to pick up the organic vegetable broth at Costco yesterday so I am in need today. It’s a perfect day for soup here. I was steaming some broccoli the other day and just poured the potlikker down the drain and thought maybe I could save that for making broth. Have you ever tried that?

    Liked by 1 person

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