Homemade and Hearty Veggie Broth

02 Aug Homemade and Hearty Veggie Broth

Serves about 10 cups.

Ingredients

• 1 onion with skins, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic with skins, finely chopped (or sub garlic-infused olive oil)
• 4 stalks celery , finely chopped
• 1-2 tsp each sea salt and black pepper, plus more to taste (divided)
• 9-10 cups filtered water
• 1 cup chopped sturdy greens (kale, collards, etc.)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 small handful fresh thyme (or 1 Tbsp dried)
• 1 small handful fresh rosemary (or 1 Tbsp dried)
• 2 bay leaves
• 3-4 Tbsp (9-12 g) nutritional yeast (if you don’t have it, omit)
• 4-5 Tbsp (60-75g) tomato paste
• Phase 2: 1 Tbsp. avocado or coconut oil (if avoiding oil, sub water)

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add oil (or water), onion, garlic, and celery. Add 1/2 tsp each sea salt and black pepper and stir to coat. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until softened and slightly browned, stirring frequently.
2. Add water, greens, parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and another 1/2 tsp sea salt and black pepper and increase heat to medium high until the mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and add nutritional yeast and tomato paste (add less of both for less intense flavor, or more for bigger more robust flavor!). Stir to combine and loosely cover (with the lid cracked).
3. Continue cooking for at least 30 minutes, preferably 45 minutes to 1 hour. The flavor will deepen the longer it cooks.
4. Near the end of cooking, taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more herbs for herb-y/earthy flavor, salt for saltiness, pepper for a little spice, or tomato paste or nutritional yeast for “umami” and depth of flavor. In total, I added about 2 tsp sea salt and black pepper and all of the suggested amount of nutritional yeast and tomato paste (both of which add depth of flavor and make the broth rich).
5. Let cool slightly before pouring over a strainer into another pot. Then divide between storage vessels (I prefer glass mason jars). Let cool completely before sealing. Store in the refrigerator up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 1 month (sometimes longer). Perfect for use in soups, recipes, gravy, and more!