How to make Vegetable Stock (step by step)

Stock is liquid gold in cooking! It adds  depth of flavour to your dishes.

In my opinion, which guides my approach, homemade stock is by far much better than shop bought stock cubes.

This is by no means to say stock cubes aren’t any good; but hey homemade stock is just a notch higher when it comes to flavour. Not only that, you also have that additional advantage of controlling what you put in your stock when you make it at home.

So go ahead and prepare this simple vegetable stock and add amazing flavours to your dishes. Use it to prepare rice in place of water, use it in your stews, as well as any dish that would require water. In place of water simply put your homemade stock as I will show you below.

Do This

1. Get your ingredients together. Chop the vegetables into rough chunks.
2. Put oil in pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery. *Sweat* for about 5 minutes or until they onions are translucent.
3.  Add the spring onion, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and whole peppercorns.
4. Gently simmer uncovered for 45- 60 min. After which, remove the vegetables using a slotted spoon (one that has holes under). Pour the stock through a sieve to remove any tiny particles.
5. Allow stock to cool then refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. If freezing, don’t fill up the container to the bream. Leave room for the expansion of the stock as it freezes.

Step 1

Get your ingredients together. This step is important because you don’t want to find out that you left something out half way through the cooking or when you’re done even!

Step 2

Chop the vegetables into rough chunks. Put oil in pot. (don’t heat it, this is because we want the vegetables to slowly release their flavours as we start off!)  Add the onion, carrots and celery. *Sweat* for about 5 minutes or until they onions are translucent.

P.S -To sweat the vegetables is when you allow them to be cooked on medium-low heat, stirring frequently ensuring that any liquid released by the vegetables will evaporate. The end result of this is tender and sometime translucent pieces in the case of vegetables like onions.

Step 3

Add the spring onion, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and whole peppercorns.

Step 4

Add enough cold water to just cover the vegetables by 2.5 – 5 cm. Gently simmer uncovered for 45- 60 min. After which, remove the vegetables using a slotted spoon (one that has holes under). Pour the stock through a sieve to remove any tiny particles.

Allow stock to cool then refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. If freezing, don’t fill up the container to the bream. Leave room for the expansion of the stock as it freezes. Also ensure you use a freezer-safe jar/container