Recipe: Organic Vegetable Broth from Scraps
These are some of the beautiful shades and ingredients of vegetable broth: carrots, celery, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and fresh herbs — seasoned to taste with salt, if desired.
Want to turn your trimmings into something tasty?
It’s easier than you might think, and it’s a great way to enjoy all the nutrients from the produce you get. Best of all, leftovers are still compostable!
Here’s what you’ll need:
A freezer-safe 1-gallon bag or container for storing scraps
A large stock pot (preferably 6 quarts at least)
A mesh strainer or colander
Jars or containers for storage
(OPTIONAL) Cheesecloth for straining broth
What to include:
In general, you’ll want to collect and freeze your leaves, peelings, stalks, stems — including mushrooms! Popular soup stock veggies include carrots, celery, garlic, onion, and potatoes, but there’s no reason to limit your broth to just those basics. In fact, you can create some flavorful variety between batches by adding in bell peppers and radishes, and other vegetables!
Another great choice is herbs that are starting to dry, particularly ginger, rosemary, and thyme. Dried herbs in your pantry can also help compliment your vegetables. In particular, bay leaf, coriander seeds, and a few whole peppercorns can imbue an intense flavor.
Feel free to experiment with different kinds of vegetables to see what you like best. Just toss your trimmings and scraps into a freezer-safe container after meal prep. When it’s full, you’re ready!
What to avoid:
Some vegetables — like beets and tomatoes — can be pretty overpowering if there’s a lot of them in the stock pot. Others, like green beans, brussels sprouts, and zucchini, can lend a bitter flavor when boiled for a long while, as broth-making requires. So, instead of saving the whole stem of cauliflower or broccoli for soup, you may want to send those bits to the compost instead.
It’s also important to avoid using herbs and veggies that are too far past their prime. Drying veggies without signs of rot may be okay, but not if it’s starting to squish. Although it may be tempting to cut off a molded part and use the rest, it’s not really possible to see how far the spores or spoilage has gone, and you don’t want to risk your broth batch.
How to make a batch:
Once you have a full container, pick a time where you have a few hours, and then:
Empty your container of veggie scraps into your stock pot, and fill to cover with water. You’ll want enough water in the pot that you can easily stir the veggies around.
Bring your pot to a boil, and then reduce the heat down to simmer for 1 hour.
Remove from heat and cool before straining. Either skim the solids off the top or place your colander on top of another pot to transfer the broth into when straining out the solids. If desired, strain through cheesecloth to remove small pieces, and compost your dregs.
If you’re not using the broth immediately, portion it out into storage jars or freezer-safe containers. Refrigerate fresh broth for up to 1 week, or freeze it for up to 3 months.