How to Make Your Own Vegetable Base for Broth

Transform vegetables into a concentrated base to use in place of store-bought broth or bouillon cubes. You’ll eat tastier broth free of additives, you’ll reduce packaging waste and you’ll ensure more of the vegetables you buy will be eaten. Sad yet perfectly edible vegetables are perfect for including in this vegetable base.

You’ll also extend the shelf life of those vegetables by freezing this base and—in the long run—save time in the kitchen because you won’t have to make broth from scratch every time you need it. Simply grab the concentrated version conveniently on hand in the freezer, ready to use.

Choose your vegetable base ingredients

I like to start off with what I’d put in a mirepoix: 2 parts onion to 1 part carrot to 1 part celery. You can either weigh these or measure them after chopping. Don’t worry about being exact. Include the leaves of the celery. If you use a leek, use the green parts (except for the toughest green-grey parts).

If desired—and depending on what you find in the crisper—include additional vegetables and herbs, such as:

• Bell pepper
• Zucchini
• Winter squash
• Mushroom
• Tomato
• Potato
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Dill
• Cilantro

Chop the vegetables quite small so they cook faster. As you prep them, freeze the little bits and pieces for making scrap vegetable broth later—and stretch your vegetables even further. (Go here for the scrap broth recipe.)

Cook the vegetable base

Sauté the vegetables low and slow along with salt in a large, wide pan until softened. I add lots of salt but once diluted with water, the resulting broth does not taste very salty and I will need to add more salt to my dish. I’d rather err on the side of a less salty vegetable base and adjust the saltiness later.

Add a bit of water partway through if the mixture looks dry, otherwise you’ll have trouble puréeing it. Juicy vegetables such as tomatoes or zucchini will render a wetter mixture than starchy vegetables such as potatoes and may not require any additional water at all. Add the herbs near the end. Finally, purée everything in a food processor or blender. That’s it! If you prefer, cook down the purée over low heat to further concentrate it.

Storage

If you made a large batch and won’t cook vats of soup or other brothy dishes within the next several days, freeze the vegetable base. Arrange tablespoon-size scoops on a cookie sheet, put the sheet in the freezer and once frozen, transfer the blobs to a container and return them to the freezer. (Go here for more info on freezing food in jars.)

Cook with the vegetable base

I use one tablespoon to two cups of hot water. My food processor, on its last legs, renders parsley bits larger than a fancy blender would. If you also have a similar senior appliance and desire a perfectly clear broth, strain out these little bits.

Use the ensuing broth to make soup and stews, gravy or sauces, to cook grains or beans or to add to any dish that calls for vegetable broth.

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Vegetable Base to Replace Broth and Bouillon Cubes

Be your own sous-chef and make a base that you can quickly transform into delicious broth whenever you need it

Servings 20 tablespoons

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 8 ounces onions or leeks (green parts are fine), diced
• 4 ounces carrots, diced
• 4 ounces celery and leaves, diced
• ½ ounce parsley, minced or other soft herbs
• 4 to 8 ounces optional additional vegetables such as bell pepper, zucchini, winter squash, mushroom, tomato, potato, garlic adjust the olive oil and salt as necessary

Instructions

• In a large sauté pan, heat the olive over moderate heat. Add the onions or leeks, carrots, celery (including leaves), any other optional vegetables and salt and sauté for about 5 minutes. Turn down the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until very soft, 30 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally. If the mixture dries out while cooking, add up to ¼ cup of water.
• Stir in the parsley and simmer for another 5 minutes, partially covered.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Purée in a food processor or blender to form a thick paste. This may take several minutes.
• Store as much as you'll use for the week in the refrigerator and freeze the rest by arranging tablespoon-size scoops on a cookie sheet, placing the sheet in the freezer and once frozen, transferring the blobs to a container and returning them to the freezer.
• To make vegetable broth, for every 1 tablespoon of vegetable base, add 2 cups of very hot water.

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