Soups, stews, casseroles, and stuffing. There are many popular recipes this time of year that call for the use of broths and stocks. Not sure of the difference between broths and stocks? One of our blogs has the answer. While not too expensive, you probably have everything you need to make your own broth at home- you might even be throwing it away!
At home, we keep a freezer bag for storing our cooking scraps. The bottom and tops of celery, red and white onions, carrots, green onions, leftover herbs, a small piece of shriveling bell pepper that wasn’t used. When the bag becomes full, we dump it all into our pressure cooker, cover it with water, and in a short time, we have stock. This is also a wonderful time to look in the fridge and pantry for other items that might be good additions: garlic cloves, a knob of ginger, I’ve even added a softening apple to the pot.
There are hundreds of recipes online promising the perfect proportion of ingredients to make the best vegetable broth. As a sustainable alternative, here’s my method for making vegetable broth at home from things you already have. Put fresh and/or frozen vegetables and herbs into a pot, cover with water, simmer for about an hour. If you’d like to speed up the process you could use a stove or countertop pressure cooker. Once the broth is to color and flavor you like, strain, and use in your favorite recipe. While not an exact science, this method allows for simple, free, clean-out the kitchen broth.
Another benefit of storing scraps in a freezer is that it allows flexibility to use the items when it fits into your schedule. In addition to the cost-savings, convenience, and eco-friendly benefits of making broth at home, there are health benefits as well. You can control the amount of salt going into the broth, and by doing so, into the final dish. So next time you are slicing and dicing your way to a delicious meal, consider saving your scraps to give them new life!
Sources:
Christensen, E. (2020, October 24). How to make vegetable stock (it’s so easy!). Kitchn. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-vegetable-stock-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-136725.
Riley, J. (2020, January 8). Broth versus stock. Live Healthy Live Well. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://livehealthyosu.com/2020/02/03/broth-versus-stock/.
USDA. (n.d.). Recipes- Soups and Stews. MyPlate. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-kitchen/recipes?f%5B0%5D=course%3A127.
Author: Courtney Woelfl, Family and Consumer Sciences Program Specialist, Ohio State University Extension, woelfl.1@osu.edu
Reviewer: Katie Schlagheck, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator Ottawa and Sandusky Counties, Ohio State University Extension
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