Make your own veggie broth
I don't know when I decided to stop buying canned vegetable broth. Probably when I paid over 50cents for a can of it. I discovered that if I saved all my veggie peelings and odds and ends, I could make about 6 to 8 quarts of veggie broth and all it would cost was a little bit of time and effort and the cost of running my Crockpot for 12+ hours once or twice a month.
I started my experiment several years ago, and here's what I discovered:
FREE Vegetable Broth
To make your own homemade vegetable broth, save all the peelings and cuttings from veggies. I save carrot peelings, pieces from celery trimming, onion skins, garlic skins and ends, bell pepper scraps, ends from trimming cabbage or Brussels' sprouts, trimmings from tomatoes. The only thing I don't save is lettuce or cucumber trimmings. I even save the skins from potatoes.
I put all the peelings in a bag and save them in the freezer. Just keep adding them to the big bag (use a gallon zip locking bag). When you have a couple of full gallon zip locking bags, take them out and dump them in your 4 to 6 quart Crockpot. Fill the Crockpot with water, cover and set on LOW for a least 12 hours (I let this simmer in the Crockpot overnight). Add a little bit of salt if you desire. I usually don't, I add salt to the recipe when I cook it.
When it is done simmering, allow to cool completely. I take a huge bowl and put a colander in it (or on it). I slowly and carefully dump out the completely cooled contents of the Crockpot into the colander. Stop if you have to and discard all the scraps in the colander, pour out the stock into another container if it fills up, then repeat until you have strained out all the scraps and broth.
Package up the broth into freezer quart zip locking bags, 2 cups per bag. Label, date & freeze flat on the bottom shelf of the freezer. When you freeze them flat they will stack better in the freezer.
Another frugal idea - freeze some of the broth in an ice cube tray. Pop out the cubes and put in a freezer bag, labeled and dated. Use these when a recipe calls for 1 to 2 Tbsp. of stock or broth.
I call this "FREE" because I make it from parts that I would normally have just tossed in the trash.
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Comments
This is an awesome article! I never even thought about doing this before. I know, that's shameful of me. I'm going to give saving my scraps a whirl!
I'm doing it! GREAT idea!
My crock pot has been a life-saver since the birth of my daughter. I cannot wait to try this. I have a bunch of celery scraps now that will be making their way into my freezer today. I should have some onion scraps, too, by the end of the day!
I was too quick to hit send, that I forgot to ask a question:
Do you throw the scraps into the crock pot still frozen? I didn't read anything about thawing, but just wanted to be sure!
Thanks!
Alison - I just throw them in frozen. Saves time and effort. Cover them all the way almost to the top with water, put a little salt in if you like. Some of the veggies will float on top. After a few hours, just take a wooden spoon or a spatula and poke them down. Do that a couple more times. I just made a big batch of broth on Sunday. I used a lot of carrot peelings and some red onion and red pepper scraps (skins on the onion), and it turned our a nice deep rich color.
Thanks, Rachael!
I think I may be making this sometime this week! I have 2 1/2 freezer bags filled with scraps. I'll be sure to let you know how it turned out!
Thanks, again!
Hi, Rachael!
I made the broth and am so pleased with myself! I have it in my freezer now, just waiting for the lucky recipe to come along to use it in! I blogged about my broth making experience along with some photos. I even mentioned you and linked back to this site.
You can take a look if you like:
my-vintage-kitchen.blogspot . com (without spaces)
Great idea! never thought of making my own
I do this too, because prepackaged broth usually has tons of unnecessary sodium in it. Good article!
I collect those same scraps to put in the compost.. but this sounds like an even better idea... I imagine I could even put the "used" scraps in the compost after I make the broth?
I was wondering this as well-- and I think it should be fine as long as I don't add any oil to the broth as I simmer?
ROAST YOUR VEGGIES!
I save scraps in the freezer to make broth, but also when I'm approaching time, I wait until I have some fresh carrot, celery, and onion. Place those on a roasting tray, put them in the broiler until they are VERY brown, add that to your stock pot. Between that and the red onion skin, your broth will have a deep, rich brown color and a flavor that rivals beef stock.
I've saved and used without problem cucumber peel/seeds, citrus fruit (mostly limes), and definitely lettuce. (Too much cabbages, including broccoli and cauliflower, or asparagus can ruin the flavor.) Also be sure to wash/scrub your veggies before peeling/cutting-- especially the roots of onions, celery, leeks, etc., where dirt tends to cling.
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