Stop tossing your veggie scraps and turn them into broth! This No-Waste Vegetable Broth uses all of the odds and ends that would otherwise go into the trash and instead turns them into flavorful, fresh, homemade broth.
What's better than buying a container of veggie broth at the store? Making your own! It's super easy to do, tastes incredible, and actually reduces your kitchen waste making it a win-win-win. This No-Waste Vegetable Broth uses all of the veggie scraps you might otherwise toss and instead turns them into delicious, savory broth that you can use for so many other recipes.
40% of the food in the US goes uneaten and ends up in landfills. Isn't that number a little shocking?! You can read all about Why We Need to Be Talking Trash and how to reduce food waste. As someone who eats plant-based, I do know how quickly fresh ingredients need to be used before expiring, wilting, or going bad. This recipe is one of the ways I use every piece of the vegetables I buy!
What Vegetables Can I Put in Vegetable Broth?
The short answer? All of them! Pretty much any fresh herb or veggie that you're using in your kitchen can be saved and tossed into this vegetable broth recipe. Instead of throwing vegetable scraps away, set them aside in a bowl and use them for this recipe. You can even keep an airtight container in the freezer to save scraps until you're ready to use them!
- Carrot (ends and peels!)
- Celery
- Garlic (the skin!)
- Leeks, onion, or shallot
- Parsley, chives
- Beets - red or golden beet peels or ends (I love golden beets for sweetest and a gorgeous hue)
- Bell pepper cores and stems
- Radish ends
- Sweet potato parts or skin
- Parsnip ends and peels
- Butternut squash ends or skin (seeds too!)
- Kale stems
How to Make Vegetable Broth at Home
Your veggie scraps can be easily turned into vegetable broth in just a few minutes. I like to use my Instant Pot for this, but it can just as easily be done on the stovetop!
- Combine filtered water and your vegetable ends and cook them either for 10 minutes in the Instant Pot or at a simmer for 40 minutes on the stovetop.
- Pour everything through a fine mesh strainer. This may need to be done in a few batches depending on how much you made!
- Store finished veggie broth in an airtight Mason jar or container. You can keep it in the refrigerator for 5 days or freeze it for up to 6 months!
Recipes to Use Broth
Creamy Vegan Carrot Soup
Chickpea Soup for the Soul
Three Bean Chili
Vegan Split Pea Soup
Moroccan Tomato & Chickpea Soup
Vegan Pumpkin Chili
Quinoa Minestrone Soup
Vegan Thai Curry Coconut Soup
Easy Vegan Blender Pumpkin Soup
ALL MY FAVE VEGAN + GLUTEN-FREE SOUP RECIPES
No-Waste Vegetable Broth (pressure cooker or stovetop)
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Stop tossing your veggie scraps and turn them into broth! This No-Waste Vegetable Broth uses all of the odds and ends that would otherwise go into the trash and instead turns them into flavorful, fresh, homemade broth.
Ingredients
- 8 cups filtered water
- Any part of unused garlic (skin can be used)
- leek, onion and/or shallot ends, peels, scraps
- celery ends, leaves
- carrot ends, peels
- 1 cup fresh parsley stems
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
Optional
- red or golden beet peels, beet ends, leaves - any part of the beet
- bell pepper cores/stems
- radish ends
- sweet potato skin that was peeled
- parsnip ends, peels
- butternut squash ends, skin
- kale stems
Instructions
- For the Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot: Place all ingredients in the bowl of the Instant Pot. Secure lid, seal and manual cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Manual release when cooking if complete. Use oven mitts to handle the bowl since it will be hot (or if you have time allow it to cool to room temperature).
- For the stovetop, add water, veggies, herbs and seasonings to a 5.5 quart dutch oven (for even cooking). Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Simmer for 40 minutes covered.
- Position a large fine mesh strainer overtop a large bowl with a pour spout. Pour the entire contents of the bowl of the Instant Pot/dutch oven into the fine mesh strainer over the bowl. The strainer will catch all the veggies/herbs/seasonings. The liquid will strain through into the large mixing bowl with the pour spout. You may have to do this in two batches depending on how many large veggies you have. Set the solid pieces that the fine mesh strainer caught aside.
- Pour the veggie broth into large mason jars or any airtight container. Allow to cool completely before securing lids.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to five days or the freezer for up to six months. If storing in the freezer be sure to leave at least 1-inch of space at the top of the container/jar for expansion.
Notes
As you cook, save veggie and herb scraps in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer throughout the week (or. month). Once you have about 4 cups worth of scraps you can make this broth. If you don't have quite as much add in chopped/fresh versions of any ingredient you need (i.e. chopped onion, celery or carrots).
Make sure you balance out the sweeter vegetables scarps with any bitter tasting vegetable scraps. For example, don't use all kale stems without adding beet, sweet potato or carrot peels/ends.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Method: Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot
Megan feldman says
I did the stove top method and wow! It was so hard not to drink all of it immediately! So much flavor! I used kale stems, broccoli stems, onion ends, potato peels, carrot peels and all the spices listed. Plan to do this weekly now! Thanks Elaine! ❤️
Elaine Gordon says
Aw thank you, Megan! So happy to hear you loved it and are making it part of your routine. I was surprised at how simple it was too. And once you get used to saving veggie scraps it really becomes second nature!
Jen Perkins says
This is soooo good and it's such a wonderful way to infuse the flavors of my delicious organic scraps into broth that can be used in so many ways!
Elaine hit this one out of the park.....again!
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you so much, Jen! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 Best, Elaine
Aliza H says
Love it! Relieving to use celery tops/bottoms, cauliflower/cabbage stumps, limp carrots, onion/garlic skins & bases, etc! I'd tried veg broth years ago, but it made me sad buying lovely veggies just to boil & trash them.
Omitted parsley & bay b/c personal taste. Added fresh thyme & rosemary that was about to go off.
Next time I'll try the IP & a wider variety of veg (obv avoiding toxic bits like tomato stems). Thanks for a versatile, frugal, tasty recipe!
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you so much, Aliza! So happy to hear you enjoyed this one so much and made it your own based on your personal preferences.