This homemade 1 pot vegetable stock utilises fresh vegetables and/or vegetable scraps to make a delicious homemade vegetable broth that is vegan, gluten-free, salt-free, dairy-free etc.
Begin by gathering all your vegetables - if you have a bag of scraps then use them. Alternatively, use the ingredient suggestions in my recipe and begin by chopping the vegetables roughly.*
In a big saucepan, heat up the oil, then add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir-fry them for about a minute, to lightly caramelise ( up to 5 minutes, for more caramelisation which will add depth of flavour to your stock).**
Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the pepper, and pour over 12 cups of filtered cold water.
Bring to boil on a high heat, stirring occasionally. Then cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Add the pepper in the last 5-10 minutes.
Remove the veggies from the vegetable broth with a slotted spoon then pour the remaining liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into another large bowl. The leftover veggies can be mashed or blended into a creamy soup.
Let the vegetable broth cool down completely before storing. Store in the fridge for up to a week or in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
For more notes and suggestions look at my TIPS and FAQ's sections on the blog post.
Note* These are just guidelines for a specific 'starter' stock to get you started and experimenting with flavours. Usually, I would use vegetable scraps from my freezer bag and suggest you do the same to make the most of your veggies and herbs, reduce food waste and save money.
I omitted salt entirely in this vegetable broth /stock as I use the stock to flavour other soups and dishes where i'll add salt. By omitting the salt here, the other dishes don't become too salty. The same goes for strong spices and flavourings like garlic, wine etc. I'll usually only add these if I have recipes in mind where these flavours will work.
* Feel free to leave the skin on the onion - I chose to remove it as I knew I would be blending the leftover vegetables into a soup. However, if you're using vegetable scraps then go ahead and use the skins too.
** When using vegetable scraps from frozen, these won't really caramelise because of the water content from the ice. You could leave them to defrost and then do this step or alternatively, use vegetable scraps that are fresh and haven't been frozen. A pressure cooker could also work to caramelize the veggies ends, from frozen ( although I haven't tried it).