Making Vegetable Broth that is versatile

I am wondering what, besides onion, carrots, celery and mushroom people use. BUT, I intend to reduce the resulting broth so that I can freeze the concentrate to use in, for instance, making chicken broth, turkey broth, or adding to beef or vegetable /lentil soup recipes. So, I want to avoid using sweet peppers (due to the strong taste). Some people seem to use broccoli stems in their recipes. If you have tried this, do they also impart a strong taste element? Not sure that I want eventual soups and broths to have the taste of how steamed broccoli smells when cooking it alone, for instance. I will use some herbs, but probably not salt because each future use may need different levels.

So, veggie broth veterans, please share your perspectives on achieving a great broth concentrate that is versatile enough to earn space in my small freezer.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2020 02:10PM by walesmaven.

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I love bay leaf and sometimes some cabbage is good in veggie soup.

Heather, remember, this broth will be used for several types of soups, so maybe cabbage in that soup, but not, I think, in the broth used as a base.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I love adding tomato (some people prefer paste) for Umami flavor and sturdy greens like kale or collards.

For the broth base, in addition to what you mentioned, garlic, parsnip, turnip, any soft herb like parley or dill. Only do a couple of these at a time as all of them together will muddy the flavors.

I have some dried shiitake mushrooms that can provide that Umami punch. I re hydrate some, then run them through my small food processor and let long, slow simmering do the rest of the job.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I use a lot of vegetable broth. It's $3 a quart for organic and $1.22 for "regular" at Wal-Mart. Aldi sells it as well. No way, I'm making it. No veggies go to waste at my house. The the funky ones all go into soups or stir frys. We just never make broth. We use a lot of Better than Bouillon concentrate as well.

wales, I add any fruit, vegetable and herb scraps that I have from cooking except for bell peppers. I use mushroom stems, potato peels, lime guts, you name it!

My stock comes out a little different each time, but never bad. The only time it was bad was when I used bell peppers. It was so bitter, I had to toss the entire dish and I never made that mistake again.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I do the same thing, and get four salsa jars of broth from a full bag of scraps. If the bag fills up before the stock is gone I will thaw it and add it into the pot, which makes the resulting stock more robust.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

wales, I add any fruit, vegetable and herb scraps that I have from cooking except for bell peppers. I use mushroom stems, potato peels, lime guts, you name it!

My stock comes out a little different each time, but never bad. The only time it was bad was when I used bell peppers. It was so bitter, I had to toss the entire dish and I never made that mistake again.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

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Making Vegetable Broth that is versatile

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