Homemade Vegetable Stock

More about making stock at home

Stock versus broth. People use the words loosely, but there is a real difference. Stock is the liquid you simmer out of vegetables or bones and usually leave unseasoned, because it is a building block for other dishes. Broth tends to be seasoned and often drunk on its own. What you are making here is a versatile, unsalted stock.

Why start in cold water. Adding your vegetables to cold water and bringing everything up together draws the flavour out gradually. It also lets any scum rise slowly to the surface where you can lift it off, which is part of what gives you a clean, clear result rather than a murky one.

Why a gentle simmer, not a boil. This is the point most people get wrong. A hard, rolling boil churns the fine solids and any fat back through the liquid, so instead of settling out they stay suspended. That is what makes a stock turn cloudy, and boiling too long also pulls bitter notes out of the vegetables. A lazy simmer, with just the odd bubble breaking the surface, keeps everything gentle.

What the aromatics are doing. Bay, thyme, parsley stalks and peppercorns build a quiet background flavour that you notice more when it is missing than when it is there. Onion and garlic bring the savoury depth. You are not after any single strong taste, you are after a rounded, balanced base.

Vegetables to favour and avoid. Onion, carrot, celery, leek and mushroom are the dependable core. Avoid brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli and sprouts, plus beetroot, because they turn stock bitter and muddy. Leave out potato and squash too, as their starch clouds the liquid and can make it slightly gluey.

Umami without meat. If you want a fuller, meatier savouriness in a vegetable stock, reach for dried mushrooms, a ripe tomato or two, a scrap of seaweed, or a small spoon of miso or soy stirred in near the end. These add depth without changing the character of the stock.

The zero-waste angle. Keep a freezer bag on the go and drop in carrot tops, leek greens, celery ends, onion trimmings and parsley stalks as you cook through the week. When the bag is full you have most of a stock already, made from offcuts that would otherwise have gone in the bin.

Food safety and storage. Cool your stock as quickly as you can, ideally by standing the pan in a sink of cold water, then refrigerate it within a couple of hours. Use it within 3 to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Freezing in portions, whether ice-cube trays, muffin tins or small tubs, means you can take out just what a recipe needs. Always label with the date.

Roasting for a "brown" stock. For a deeper, richer stock, roast the vegetables (or bones, for the meat version) at 200°C fan (220°C conventional, gas 7) until browned before they go in the pan. Caramelising the surfaces first gives you a darker colour and a rounder, more roasted flavour.

The chicken or bone stock variation

The method is the same, but the timings change because bones need far longer to give up their goodness. Swap the vegetable base for around 1kg of raw chicken wings or a leftover roast carcass, and keep all the same aromatics: onion, carrot, celery, leek, garlic, bay, thyme, parsley stalks and peppercorns. Cover with about 2 litres of cold water, bring to the boil, skim off the scum, then drop to a very gentle simmer for 3 hours (a lighter stock from a leftover carcass is fine after about 1 hour in 1.2 litres of water). For a deeper flavour, roast raw bones at 200°C fan (220°C conventional, gas 7) for about 20 minutes first. The long, low simmer is what draws gelatine out of the bones, giving chicken stock its body and that lovely set-when-cold texture. Keep it in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months. Skim any set fat off the top once it is cold.