Stop wasting money buying vegetable broth! You can easily make Homemade Vegetable Broth for pennies at home that is so much more flavorful than anything you purchase!

Vegetable Broth in Clear Glass jar next to onion and celery.

Homemade Vegetable Broth has been a staple in my house for decades. Just like homemade chicken stock, you will always find vegetable broth stocked in my freezer. Whether making Instant Pot Vegetable Soup or Broccoli Rice Casserole, Vegetable Broth is a staple for endless recipes.

Why homemade?

Not only is homemade vegetable broth superior in flavor it is also much more economical than store-bought broth. Not to mention that you can control the sodium content and the quality of ingredients in homemade broth No yeast extract, gluten, caramel color, or MSG in this vegetable broth!

Notes on Ingredients

Vegetables: You can use whole vegetables or a collection of vegetable scraps to make homemade broth. Wilted celery, carrot peels, and/or bits of leftover onion all can be salvaged from the trash and used to flavor the homemade broth. As for what vegetables to use, I recommend a mixture of celery, onions, and carrots. Things like cauliflower, asparagus, or bell peppers will quickly overpower the flavor of the broth.
Spices: To add subtle, classic flavor use a combination of bay leaves, whole peppercorns, garlic cloves, and thyme leaves to flavor the vegetable broth.
Salt: Keep the salt to a minimum to result in a low-sodium vegetable broth. If you need sodium-free stock, simply omit the salt altogether.
Tomato Paste: The tomato paste adds a bit of sweetness and rich concentrated flavor to the broth.
Dried Mushrooms: This is my secret ingredient to creating the most flavorful vegetable broth. The dried mushrooms add earthiness and umami flavor to this broth. They are a pricey ingredient BUT this recipe uses very little. If you need to save money, omit them.

Methods for Making Vegetable Broth

This vegetable broth recipe can be prepared on the stove, in the slow cooker, or in the instant pot. Each method has its advantages, but the resulting flavor is the same regardless of which cooking method you use.

Stove-Top Vegetable Broth

The advantage of making vegetable stock on the stove is that you do not need any special equipment and you can make a much larger batch of vegetable broth at a time. The disadvantage of making vegetable broth on the stove is that it does take time to develop flavor and needs to be monitored so that it does not boil or simmer over.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Broth

If you want to let your vegetable broth cook all day or all night, the slow cooker is the way to go. Just place all the vegetables in the slow cooker and cover them with water, turn the crockpot on and let it do its thing.

Instant Pot Vegetable Broth

I prefer making vegetable broth in the Instant Pot because it is faster than the other methods and completely hands-off. The disadvantage to using the Instant Pot is that you can not double the recipe and you must allow the pressure release naturally! If you try to do a quick pressure release, you will be left with a mess as hot liquid will spew from your valve. This can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes.

Jars of Homemade Vegetable Broth next to Instant Pot

How to Strain Vegetable Broth

Regardless of how you prepared your vegetable broth, once cooked, you need to strain off the solids from the broth before storing the broth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a large pot and pour the broth carefully over the strainer. Be sure to discard the scraps in the trash, not down the disposal, as they can be too much for your garbage disposer.

Storage Instructions

Once your broth is strained, allow the broth to cool fully before transferring it to airtight containers. You can store vegetable broth in the fridge for up to 7 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.

I recommend portioning out your homemade broth into 2 to 4-cup quantities and freezing what you won't use within a week immediately. Freeze the broth in freezer-safe containers or storage bags, being sure to leave 1 inch of space to account for expansion. Defrost the broth overnight in the refrigerator as needed.

Broth versus Stock

You may be wondering about the difference between Vegetable Broth and Vegetable Stock. Technically stock is made from bones, and broth is made with either meat or vegetables. So vegetable broth will always be broth, not stock.

Recipes that use Vegetable Broth

This Vegetable Broth is perfect for plant-based and vegetarian recipes, like Instant Pot Minestrone, Pasta Primavera, or Potato Corn Chowder. It also is featured in the following recipes.

If you enjoyed this recipe for Vegetable Broth, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Notes on Ingredients