Making vegetable broth at home is easy to make in the slow cooker and costs almost nothing if you use vegetable scraps from previous meals.
Jump to RecipeIf you make any recipes with vegetable broth, then you’ll notice that it can get expensive to keep buying it. Not to mention the cans that are then wasted. Plus, there are a few questionable ingredients that I would rather not have if possible:
Swanson Vegetable Broth Ingredients: Vegetable Broth (Water And The Concentrated Juices Of Carrot, Celery, Tomato, Celeriac, Onion, Cabbage), Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Cane Sugar, Carrot Juice, Yeast Extract, Vegetables (Carrots, Onions, Celery), Natural Flavoring, Potato Flour, Dehydrated Carrots.
Why is there sugar in everything we eat? And if this is vegetable broth, shouldn’t the vegetables be all the “natural flavoring” that we need?
A few months ago, I decided to set out on making my own vegetable broth at home. Any time we cut up vegetables, I would save the scraps and put them in a ziptop bag in the freezer. This included the root sides of onions, garlic peels, pepper stems, carrot peels, celery tops, etc. The amount of each will change the flavor slightly, but you want a variety of vegetables. I would suggest not using potato peels or similar because they will make the broth very starchy.
This is a perfect way to use up the scraps from the kitchen, especially if you don’t have a compost bin. Just continue to add to the bag in the freezer until the bag is mostly full. Some weeks I added a lot to it, others I didn’t cook as much. It took me about 3 months to have enough scraps for a batch of broth.
In addition to vegetable scraps, you can also throw in the scraps or leftovers of some herbs, too. I wouldn’t use anything strong, like mint, but you can easily throw in any parsley, oregano, basil, and other similar herbs.
The vegetable broth takes about a day to make. So you want to make sure you do this at least a day before you need it in a recipe. But don’t worry, the slow cooker does all the work for you, so you aren’t cooking for an entire day.
Usually, about a pound of vegetables makes four cups of vegetable broth. When I was ready to make my first batch, I weighed the bag and had just over 2 pounds, so I made 4 cups of broth. Once it was done, I used what I needed for a recipe the next night and froze the rest since we were leaving on vacation. Just make sure you give more headroom than you think you need because I came home to a broken glass container. But luckily only the smallest amount leaked so I was able to salvage most of it.
Vegetable Broth Step by Step
Ingredients
- 2 lbs vegetable scraps
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp peppercorn (whole)
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp basil
Preparation
Preparing the broth couldn’t be any easier. Grab your bag of frozen vegetable scraps, use a kitchen scale to weigh them so you know how much water to use, and dump the vegetables in the slow cooker.
Measure out the water according to the weight of vegetables. Two pounds of vegetables need about four cups of water. Last, add in any seasoning you want, such as a bit of peppercorn, parsley, basil, or bay leaves.
Cover the slow cooker and let it cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. LEAVE IT ALONE. Don’t open the lid or you will let out all of the heat. Don’t stir it because that means you opened the lid. It will make the water cloudy as the vegetables break down. Once it has steeped for the right amount of time, open the lid and let it cool just a bit.
Use a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl to separate the broth from the vegetables. Then use a funnel to pour into
Your homemade vegetable broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to about 5 days. Or it can go in the freezer for a few months. Again, just make sure you leave enough room and remember to move it to the refrigerator to thaw the day before you need to use it.
Recipe
Originally Published On: August 2, 2018
Last Updated On: July 28, 2023
Vegetable Broth from Kitchen Scraps
Ingredients
- 2 lbs vegetable scraps
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp peppercorn (whole)
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp basil
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a slow cooker
- Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours and DO NOT open the lid until cooking time is done
- Turn off the heat and remove the lid to let the broth cool
- Use a fine mesh sieve to separate the broth from the vegetable scraps and discard scraps
- Use broth immediately or store in airtight glass jars in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freezer for up to 3 months
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
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- Homemade Vegetable Broth from Kitchen Scraps
I have been looking for a good broth recipe! I have tried a few different ones but they never seem to turn out! I will definitely be trying this!
I hope this one works for you! I’ve made it many times and it’s always worked for us.
This sounds like a great recipe for broth… will have to try this one out!
It’s so easy and great for using up scraps that would otherwise be thrown away.
Thank you for sharing. I have been wanting to make my own broth instead of buying. 🙂
It’s so much better to make from home. Less packaging, better ingredients, and you have control over the flavor!
YES!! You are a genius! Screw the crap at the store that’s filled with sugar!
It’s crazy what extra crap is added to the storebought broth. No added sugar in my recipe!
Oh, this is such a good idea! I’m not much of a cook but this seems like something even I could do!
You don’t have to be a cook for this recipe! Put it all in the slow cooker and it does the work for you!
This Vegetable Broth made in kitchen scarp looks healthy. Honestly I don’t have an idea about Vegetable Broth before HAHAHAHA! thanks for give an essential knowledge for cooking.
Vegetable broth is a great alternative to meat-based broths for those who are vegan.
That is amazing broth with incredible recipe and sweet fresh vegetable! I will use this recipe in the next time I cook somethings in the kitchen! Thanks for sharing!
I hope this has worked out for you! It’s a great way to use up scraps in the kitchen.
This looks amazing! I will definitely give it a try this weekend!
What a great idea Stephanie! Right now I save/freeze all the liquid from cooking veggies as a base for soups that start with water, because the veggie liquid gives the soup more flavor – but I never thought of making a proper vegetable broth from scraps! And the fact that the crock pot does all the work is genius!
Oh I never thought about doing that, what an awesome idea! I swear, my next house needs a deep freezer for things like this!
I pinned this because this looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I am going to try it next week on my week-long vacation.
The broth has so much flavor and tastes better than storebought since it doesn’t have all that extra crap in it. I hope it worked out well for you!
I need to keep a scrap bag in the freezer so when I get enough I can make broth. Thanks for the directions. I really need to do it.
It’s easy to keep a bag in the freezer, just grab it when you have scraps, and throw it back in there. I almost always have two bags going at a time.
Yes…this is what I do in my kitchen too. So much cheaper and better than canned broth!!!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who does this! The flavor is so much richer when the broth is fresh.
I would never have thought to make my own. I think this would be so nice purely because you could control the salt in the broth and change up the flavoring based on what you like!
This is exactly why I make it myself. I like to control what’s in there. And it will have a flavor you probably like since the veggies will be ones you use often and have scraps of.
Yum! Homemade broth is so good! I’ll have to try your recipe
I’ve only tried homemade vegetable broth so far, but it tastes so much better than storebought. I want to try other broths soon as well.
I’m definitely going to try this soon – thanks for sharing!
This does sound like a great way to deal with all of your veggie scraps when you are in the kitchen. I have done something like this once before, and then made a delicious sauce from it. I will have to try this out.
Veggie scraps are great for sauces, too! I’ve only made homemade sauce a couple of times, but I want to continue to work on that recipe. I know the broth works well, we’ve made it many times.
This sounds like a great idea. I love that you can freeze the scraps until you have enough collected and then do it. It’s so much healthier and I’m sure tastier too!!!
You’re right, healthier and much more yummy. We keep two bags in the freezer and just add to them until full!
Looks like my chickens will be deprived of their scraps so that I can try this flavorful recipe! I’m all for eliminating the garbage ingredients in the store bought varieties.
I don’t have chickens, but I wonder if you could still give them the scraps after you make the broth? They are just watered down instead of crunchy. If so, then the scraps can work double-duty for you!
I love making broth out of kitchen scraps…it’s so satisfyingly healthy isn’t it?
Yes! I love how it tastes so fresh, and I know exactly what goes into the food we eat.
This is great idea. Our compost bin is always overflowing and we always wonder how we can reduce what we’re throwing away. We’ll definitely save our vegetable scraps from now on!!
Once you make the broth, the veggies can still go in the compost bin, but they are watered down so don’t take up as much space I’ve noticed. And if you make your own broth, you don’t have packaging to throw away!
This is such a great way to use up peelings and scraps! We do food prep on Sundays every week and there are always so many peels from carrots, onions and celery that end up getting tossed. Next week I’m going to try this out and make some homemade broth. YUM!
And the great thing is, since you are putting it in the freezer, if you don’t have enough to make a batch this week you can just add to it next week!
Oh this is something I would love to make. I feel like it would be so good to try!
It’s so easy, and the broth has so much more flavor than a store-bought packaged one ever will.
I’ve been trying to figure out ways to be better with my scraps and this is a unique idea. I don’t use broth often but it does come in handy!
Since you don’t use it often, this actually works well since you can keep the scraps in the freezer until you are ready to make some broth. You can also freeze the broth after you make it, too.
I love that Idea! I’m always look for ways to get the most out of my garden without letting much go to waste!
Me too! It’s a great way to use up the scraps from vegetables. Then after I make the broth the veggies go in the compost to help the garden replenish again!
This is awesome! It looks like you have recycled parts of vegetables that usually remain unused. Sounds like zero waste kitchen 🙂 And I like this question: “Why is there sugar in everything we eat?”. Good question and yes, I absolutely agree that we all should probably start consuming less processed sugar and shift towards more natural alternatives.
Gosh, the sugar and salt contents are so crazy in processed foods. We like to try to have the most minimal kitchen we can, and this helps give those scraps one more use before they go in the compost bins.
Isn’t it so much better to make it yourself! I’ve never made broth but you make it look easy! I am going to check out your other recipes now.
I haven’t tried a meat broth yet, but veggie broth is so easy! I have a few meals that are more involved, but we try for easy recipes at our house, so I hope you find others you want to try.
This is such a great way to use vegetable scraps! I love cooking with vegetable broth. It adds so much flavor to dishes.
It does add a lot of flavor. And you know it will be a flavor you like if you are using scraps from the vegetables you already have used in your kitchen.
I have heard that a broth like this one is great to heal the gut. I need to remember to keep my chicken scraps and do something like this. It looks super healthy and perfect for winter.
I haven’t tried one with any meat leftovers yet, but I want to try it soon. I’ve heard bone broths are great, as you said, and I’d bet vegetable broth is great, too!
This is an awesome recipe because I want to try to make homemade broth. I love cooking and I will try this!
You should give it a try! The broth is so easy to make, and then adds so much flavor to other meals.
What a great idea to use the scraps! A wonderful way to minimize waste!
It’s so easy to do, we just throw the scraps in a bag in the freezer until we have enough. After I make the broth they go in the compost so none of the vegetable is wasted!
Now this is top notch. I love that this uses kitchen scraps too and is really comfort food xx
We are always trying to find ways to use all of something, so it’s been great making this broth out of the scraps that would otherwise be wasted.