Easy Vegetable Broth Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to vegetable broth to make it taste better? ›

Herbs add the “umami” to the soup, in my opinion. I went with fresh thyme, parsley, and rosemary and a bay leaf for good measure. And for even more depth of flavor? Tomato paste and nutritional yeast!

Most store-bought vegetable broth contains some combination of onion, celery, carrots, and salt – it's also common for tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and/or other seasonings to be present. That's all fine and dandy, but store-bought broths also have a lot of other preservatives, such as: Vegetable Oils.

If it tastes bitter to you, there are a couple of ways to fix that. Consider adding one to four tablespoons of unsalted butter. Add one at a time, melt it in, cook for two minutes and taste.

The best way to reduce or get rid of bitter flavor in broth is to add sugar and acid to offset the bitterness. Adding sugar and acid doesn't just mask the bitter flavor; it actually changes the chemistry within the broth!

Some vegetables just don't taste great in a stock! Cruciferous vegetables will get funky tasting, and seemingly mild vegetables like zucchini, green beans, and bell peppers can get bitter if simmered for too long.

Try adding salt. For my taste buds, the majority of the flavor in broth comes from the salt and the roasted bones/veggies. If it is bland it may need salt.

Add bright, fresh flavor to vegetable broth

Just warm up the broth, toss in some parsley, cilantro, tarragon, sage, thyme, or a combination, and let the broth steep like tea for several minutes before fishing the herbs out. Don't boil fresh herbs in broth, though, or they could make the stock bitter.

Chicken Broth Ingredients

Chicken pieces: You can cut up a whole chicken to make broth or use any combination of bony chicken pieces, like legs, wings, necks and/or backbones. Celery, carrots and onions: This veggie trio is known as mirepoix. It adds depth and makes up the aromatic base of broth.

Water. This simple swap should suffice in most recipes that call for broth. To give H2O more depth, you may want to compensate by adding more spices like salt, pepper and bay leaves to your recipe and a tablespoon or two of olive oil to mimic the richness of broth.

If you're thinking about buying ingredients just to make stock, then bouillon, especially dry, is definitely more cost-effective. But if you're willing to save scraps (and have someplace to keep them until you have enough), then making your own is basically free. Depends on how you value your time.

Is it cheaper to make your own vegetable broth? ›

Making vegetable stock costs virtually nothing.

Be mindful of the costs associated with adjunct flavors like salt, pepper, bay leaves, and other spices. They're all great additions, but not necessary if you don't already have them on hand.

Speaking of boxed vegetable broth… These ingredients are good, but the flavor is nowhere near a homemade version. Fresh always has the most flavor! My homemade recipe makes 10 cups, so it's more than two store-bought boxes combined!

But if you keep an eye on sodium levels, both broth and stock can be healthy. Taub-Dix notes that stock is often considered healthier than broth since it tends to be slightly higher in protein and other nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, than broth.

A squeeze of citrus, a dollop of yogurt or a drizzle of cream, a dusting of cheese or a good chile powder, a sprinkling of some herbs or croutons — all can take a perfectly fine soup into the realm of the delectable. Even a spiral of good olive oil to finish and some coarse sea salt can do wonders.

Add a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice to your soup to make it taste better. Use a high-quality broth or stock as a base for your soup. Roast or caramelize your vegetables before adding them to your soup to bring out their natural sweetness.

If you are going to sub water for stock, McKinnon suggests adding salt and herbs (like thyme, bay leaves, and rosemary) to your water to compensate for the lost flavor.