Veggie Broth Recipe (rich & flavourful!)

Forget store-bought; the best vegetable broth is homemade! This homemade veggie broth is infused with tons of savoury & rich veggie flavour. It adds so much oomph to all your homemade soups, stews, sauces and more!

Hi friends!

Sharing a pretty simple recipe today that could be the base of so many delicious eats.

I use vegetable broth on the regular, so I figured ‘why not make my own?’

I’ve been wanting to sharing this broth recipe with you all forever!

This homemade veg broth, gets rich colour and flavour from tomato paste and (one of my fave ingredients for broth) dried mushrooms.

It’s seriously good … like drink a hot-cup-of-it good after coming in from a cold day. So relishing!

Veggie Broth Ingredients

• Oil, to get things going
• Veggies, like leek, onion, celery, carrot, parsnip and baby spinach
• Aromatics and fresh herbs, like garlic, bay leaves, parsley, thyme and rosemary
• Flavour boosters, like dried mushrooms, tomato paste, fresh chili pepper and black peppercorns
• Water

How to Make Vegetable Broth

Full details on how to make this vegetable broth are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

1. Heat some olive oil in a large pot. Then, add leek, onion, garlic, chili, celery, carrot, parsnip and dried mushrooms. Cook for a little.
2. Stir in tomato paste.
3. Add bay leaves, spinach, parsley, thyme, rosemary, peppercorns and water. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to a medium-ish simmer and cover with lid ajar.
4. After an hour, carefully remove cover and you have one beautiful sight!
5. Strain veggies through a fine mesh sieve, pressing down to get every last bit of goodness. I like to strain the broth twice to ensure everything is removed.
6. Allow to cool slightly and portion broth into jars. There ya have it, yummy no salt added vegetable broth!

Hungry for more? Subscribe to the Girl Heart Food Newsletter!

What’s the Difference Between Stock and Broth?

Stock and broth are very often used interchangeably.

However, there are some differences.

Stock is typically made from bones and has a more neutral flavour than broth. Because of the release of collagen/fat and longer cook time, stock has a thicker consistency than broth.

Broth, on the other hand, is usually made from veggies and/or meat and herbs. It’s seasoned and its consistency is typically thinner than stock (because of a shorter cook time).

When it comes to a veggie based broth or stock, people often use ‘vegetable broth’ and ‘vegetable stock’ reciprocally (and, of course, there are no bones in veggie broth).

To Peel or Not to Peel

Peeling the veggies is a matter of personal preference and how fresh those veggies are.

You can scrub them clean and not peel, should you wish.

For me, I often prefer to peel.

Can I Make Broth from Veggie Scraps?

Absolutely! If you’ve saved veggie scraps (peels and the like from things like carrot and parsnip), use those too. Just ensure they’re clean and free from any odd/spoiled bits (don’t use those).

How to Use Veg Broth

• Soups, like this celery root soup, vegetable rice soup
• Stews, like this veggie stew
• Gravy and sauces
• As the liquid base for cooking things like rice and quinoa
• In stuffing
• Honestly, just heat a portion of this delicious vegetable broth and drink up (like I often do!)

More Tips & Variations

Use a large pot. There’s a lot going in here. Ensure that it’s deep enough to hold all the liquid and veg.

Use organic veggies where you can.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the exact quantity of certain veggies. If you only have 2 carrots, for example, don’t sweat it!

Sub kale for the baby spinach, if you like.

A chili pepper was used and a bunch of black peppercorns. The broth does have a little spice. If you want to omit (or reduce), feel free to do so.

Tomato paste and dried mushrooms give this veg broth a rich colour. If you omit those, the colour will be less intense or clearer.

When simmering your broth, you don’t want a raging boil, a medium-low to medium simmer is best.

Hope you love this vegetable broth recipe as much as we do!

If you make this homemade vegetable broth recipe, be sure to leave a comment below. Love to hear how you enjoyed!

Let’s Be Social!
Follow Girl Heart Food on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter for all the latest delicious eats! Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!