How to Make Vegetable Broth from Scratch (and a Recipe for Rice and Pea Soup)

This Homemade Vegetable Broth, made from scratch, is so easy to make. With a big bunch of vegetables and eight cups of water, you can make this broth in 30 minutes.  

This scratch-made vegetable broth has a deep rich flavor.

You can serve the homemade vegetable broth plain, with a slice of toast, or use it as a base for a vegetable soup or even an egg drop soup. I used it to make this rice and pea soup, which was wonderful for a light lunch.

This rice and pea soup took just an additional 15 minutes.

The "meaty" flavor in this vegetable broth comes from dried porcini mushrooms. They add the elusive "umami" that makes savory dishes taste so good. If you can't find dried porcini mushrooms, you can add a tablespoon or two of soy sauce. I actually added a tablespoon of fish sauce, my favorite secret ingredient.

While I'm a veteran of making homemade turkey stock, I'd never actually made vegetable stock, and honestly, not being a vegetarian, I really didn't have much of an interest in it until now.

Fortunately, I picked up a copy of Mark Bittman's book from 2015, Kitchen Matrix: More than 700 Simple Recipes and Techniques to Mix and Match for Endless Possibilities. It's a collection of all of his Matrix themed columns from the New York Times. You can get the recipes on the NYT website, but this cookbook pulls them all together. Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is cooking her way through the book, and she has invited her friends to cook along with her. Keep an eye on her blog every Tuesday for a new post about the book.

Another option to add a dimension to this broth would be to sauté the vegetables in a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to brown them. You could also roast the vegetables in the oven before creating the broth. That's what's so cool about making your own broth. You get to experiment, and it's even better the next day.

For my favorite turkey stock recipes, check out this post for Five Spice Turkey Noodle Soup, or for this Homemade Turkey Soup.

Yield: 4 servings

Vegetable Broth from Scratch, plus a Recipe for Rice and Pea Soup

Vegetable broth from scratch, plus a recipe for rice and pea soup with a Parmesan cheese garnish.

ingredients:

For the Broth

• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 small potato, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh)
• 10 sprigs of parsley
• 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 8 cups water
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 slices of good bread, toasted

For the Rice and Pea Soup

• All of the vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup white rice
• 2 cups fresh or frozen peas
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

instructions:

For the Broth

1. Add the carrots, onions, potato, celery, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, parsley, dried porcini, water, optional fish sauce, and salt and pepper to a stock pot and cover with water. 
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then lower to a simmer. Cook, partially covered,  until the vegetables are soft, 30 minutes or longer. 
3. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer, and discard the vegetables. Add more salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Serve the broth over the toasted bread. 

For the Rice and Pea Soup

1. Bring the broth (minus the toast) to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. 
2. Add the rice and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the rice is done. 
3. Add the peas and cook for one to two minutes. Garnish the soup with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve. 

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