Maybe you don’t think stock recipes are as exciting as those for moist chocolate cupcakes or rich light and airy blueberry crepes. I’m going to change your mind.
Why a Good Stock is Important
Stock is foundational to cooking. Used in sauces, soups, main dishes, side dishes, the flavors in your stock permeate every part of the dish. If your stock is flavorful and balanced, it will enhance your dish. Flat and uninteresting stock adds nothing and can even take away from your final product.
This is true of all ingredients – spices, herbs, fruits, veggies, oils. Each ingredient adds something which is the very reason it’s important to use quality products in your cooking.
Once you’ve been making stock for a while, the recipe becomes ingrained in you and isn’t as necessary. You know what you like and what you don’t and modify the ingredients to fit your taste. When first starting out, though, it’s good to have a recipe. Make it once or twice as is and then modify as you see fit.
Why I Make My Own Stock
I make my own stock for several reasons.
- It’s healthier than pre-packaged stock. I know what goes in the pot, it’s fresh, and I can control the flavors. When making chicken stock, I can cook it long enough to extract nutrients from the chicken bones, too. You don’t get that with a store bought stock.
- It’s frugal. I can use every last bit of my ingredients by saving scraps and freezing them until I make stock. This way, I throw nothing away and don’t have to spend more at the store.
- I can make a pot of stock while I’m at home on Sunday afternoon or when I have a big baking day in the kitchen. It’s not any extra trouble and only requires a small bit of planning on my part.
Why not just use chicken or beef stock?
Vegetable stock produces a light, fragrant broth that compliments a fish dish or vegetarian soup instead of competing with them like a chicken or beef stock would. Of course, you can use chicken stock if that’s what you’re going for. It all depends on your intent for the dish.
Vegetable stock is simple to make as it doesn’t require skimming or fat removal. I can throw this together in 10 minutes and leave it to simmer away with virtually no maintenance.
Variations on a Theme
I’ve seen vegetable stocks with a variety of ingredients, including:
- potatoes
- tomatoes
- turnips
- parsnips
- bell pepers
- swiss chard
Roasting the vegetables before making the stock is also an option, which would yield a deeper, richer stock.
This recipe was adapted from Entertaining Light
What are your favorite ways to make and use stock?
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This is linked to Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.
Serves: 2 quarts
- 10 cups of filtered water
- 2 medium onions, quartered
- 1 leek, white and light green part only, cleaned well and sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, cut in half
- 3 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 celery ribs, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 sprigs of fresh parsley
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 black peppercorns
- salt to taste if desired
- Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for an hour. Strain and discard vegetables. Let stock cool and store in mason jars.
- This freezes well and will keep for several days refrigerated in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Thats something I should do. Although I have a great packaged brand, this looks even better!
Yes, a great stock is essential to good cooking! One thing I do is when I am cutting veggies, I save the ends that would otherwise go into the compost in a container that I just keep in the freezer – peeled carrots, peeled onions, celery, etc.
You can experiment with the vegetables that you use to some extent, I find many root veggies (like turnips) and onion relatives go well into stock. Then, when I have a full container of veggies, I just take it out of the freezer and into the pot it goes to make a great stock.
@Jenn, I do that, too, but when I don’t have lots of carrot pieces and tons of peel I throw in a carrot or two to try and balance it out. I’ve found that there is a different flavor in the peel than the meat of the carrot.
I don’t compost and am going to start. Would love to know if you have any tips or suggestions posted on your blog.
I love making veggie stock — I throw it all in the crockpot for 8-10 hours and it’s so easy!
@SnoWhite, I have seen recipes for it before but have never tried it…it would be so easy to throw it on before going to bed and wake up with a CrockPot full of fragrant stock. Thanks for adding that!
You are so right Amy! A good stock makes all the difference for good soups, and it’s so much cheaper and healthier to make your own!
I love making stock. I need to do it more often – I never make enough to last that long. I love veggie stock too, many times it’s MORE flavorful than chicken or beef.
That looks like a great recipe to use up bumper crops in the fall:-)
I couldn’t agree more about how important it is to have wonderful homemade stock! I need to make some veggie soon!
Wonderful idea! I will definitely do this. It would be great for those days at the farmers market when I bring back so much I can’t possibly consume it all.
That’s a beautiful photo. Who could resist veggie stock looking at that? Another wonderful way and reminder to use everything we have. I should post a big sign on my refrigerator that just says STOCK! I make chicken and beef stock, but rarely veggie stock. I like the idea of making it in the crockpot, too.
Thanks, Amy!
Shirley
@gfe–gluten free easily, I never make beef stock…I don’t use it much because Joe doesn’t eat red meat. When I make French Onion Soup, I buy it.
Thanks for the reminder, Amy. I was complaining the other day that commercial vegetable stocks contain tomatoes (which I can’t eat at present) but it never dawned on me to make my own! Definitely one for this weekend.
Thank you for this yummy recipe! I like the idea of using cloves, very great sounding addition:)
I love homemade stock too. I use it in many recipes but I also drink it hot and straight when I have had something I shouldn’t have. It eases my system back to normal. BEAUTIFUL PICTURE!! Karen
I made my first pot of veggie stock the other day – but didn’t want to waste all the veggies afterwards (I used fresh this time, but love the idea of freezing the peels etc). So the next day I pureed up the veggies and herbs from the stock, and have frozen it – great base to use for soups come winter :-)!
Can you not eat the vegetables? Why throw them out?
Your post is beautiful as well as tasty, Amy. I’ve linked to it in my post today about Gluten-Free Navy Bean Soup — and why dried beans aren’t always gluten-free.
I have been making my own stocks for several years now – chicken, chicken bone, beef, beef bone, vegetable, and mushroom. I can mine simply because I just don’t have that much space in my freezer for all of it. Last summer I got a really great deal on organic mushrooms so canned the mushrooms and then canned the broth from them. It is sooooo good in roasts as well as tuna casserole, chili, sauces, etc. Yes, home made broths are superior to anything you can buy store bought!
That sounds amazing!! I love mushrooms.