When I started cooking, I didn’t like spending time making base ingredients. I was more comfortable buying them at the supermarket and focusing more on learning finished dishes. But thanks to plant-based culinary school, I tasted the difference between homemade and store-bought. And I loved that I could customize the flavor to my taste preferences.
That I started regularly making my own plant-based vegetable stock, and keeping my freezer stocked was a milestone. Now, I can quickly whip up sauces, soups, and flavorful rice dishes. And it only takes about 15 minutes of active time to reap the benefits.
I regularly modify it depending on what I have available. Or, if I have a specific meal plan in mind, I alter it to my taste. This stock is dark in color and has an earthy, deep flavor. It’s particularly well suited to winter soup and stew.
In this Recipe
Make Ahead-of-Time
An easy way to save on prep time is to store your vegetable scraps in a freezer-tight container in the freezer. When it’s full, it’s time to make your plant-based vegetable stock.
Specialty Ingredients
Earthy Plant-Based Vegetable Stock
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion peeled & chopped
- 2 carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 leek tops dark green part only chopped
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 3 sprigs: thyme, parsley
- Handful of dried shitake mushrooms
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves smashed
- 4 ½ teaspoons peppercorn
- 1 sheet kombu
- 1 tablespoon yellow miso
- 1 low-sodium vegetable bouillon cube optional
- pinch sea salt
- 3 liters water
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, sauté onions on low-medium heat with salt until they start caramelizing (about 10-15 minutes).
- Add carrot, celery, leek tops, garlic, and peppercorn. Sauté 3-5 minutes more.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat and simmer 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Allow to cool, and strain the liquid through a mesh strainer.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze until ready to use.