You know how every superhero has their “secret weapon” or their “super power” that they use to beat the bad guy or to swoop-in and save the day? Well, one of my secret weapons, that adds a supercharged, savory flavor to any recipe that it’s added to, is my homemade Instant Pot Veggie Stock. The best part about it is that you don’t need to go out and buy much (if anything) extra from what you’re already using in your everyday cooking!
I’ve made many of my recipes both with and without this stock, and while they’re all awesome, this Veggie Stock really packs a punch in adding a fresh, flavorful, elevated level of depth to every dish.
You make this supercharged savor-izer with the scraps you’ve saved from dishes you’ve prepared in the past!
How awesome is that!?
Here’s what you need
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Ingredients
4 Cups of Veggie Scraps, Ends & Peels (Onions, Carrots, Celery, etc)
1 Tablespoon of Refined Coconut Oil* (I love Nutiva)
10 Cups of Filtered Water
1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt
1 Tablespoon of Turmeric
1 Tablespoon of dried Basil
1 Tablespoon of Garlic Powder (optional, for good measure, & only if you really love Garlic) Spoiler Alert, I really love Garlic.
*I absolutely love using unrefined Coconut Oil when baking and in instances when I’m looking for a coconutty flavor. I literally buy it by the gallon! However, this is not a moment when I’m looking to taste the coconutty-ness, and instead, I opt for the refined which doesn’t add a coconut flavor.
Cook time: 60 minutes
Cool time: 30ish minutes
Total Time: Around 90 minutes
Note: Personally, I prefer using a very simple “four season method” of Sea Salt, Turmeric, Basil and Garlic, to truly allow the fresh flavors of the veggies to shine, but this is completely customizable to you and your tastes.
Here’s what you do
Step one: As you prepare your plants to be used in your delicious dishes, save the scraps that you would ordinarily throw away.
(I’m talking about all the ends, skins & peels.)
The Veggies that I commonly use are: Celery ends, Carrot ends, Onion ends & peels, Asparagus ends, Broccoli Stems, Bok Choy bottoms, etc.
While you can use almost any combination of veggies that you like, you need to make sure you have a minimum of: Celery, Carrots and Onions (known as Mirepoix in the cooking world) in order to have an adequate base for your broth. You also want to make sure that you have a mix of multiple types of veggie scraps saved.
You don’t want an entire bag of Onions or an entire bag of Carrots.
Try to have an adequate mix.
Note: I would try to avoid adding Tomatoes to your stock, unless you know with certainty that you’re going to be using it in a Tomato-based dish. Tomatoes are very acidic, and they’ll make your stock take on the tomato flavor. I avoid using Tomatoes when making my stock. But, more power to you if that’s your jam! 🙂 Speaking of Jam, yes, I know Tomatoes are technically a fruit. I just wanted to cover my bases. 😉
Step two: Put these “scraps” into a gallon sized ziploc bag & then place them in the freezer.
Note: A Gallon sized bag is not necessary, it’s just easier for me to use the gallon sized bag to judge when we’re ready to make more stock. Feel free to use whatever size and whatever style of storage devices you have on hand. 🙂
As the days pass and you continue to cook & make meals, keep filling the bag with your scraps. Once your bag is full, you’re ready to make your stock! (This usually takes me anywhere from 1 ½ to 2 ½ weeks, depending upon our Veggie consumption. You will want to wait until you have roughly 4 cups of Veggies to stock.)
Step three: Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot and close the lid.
Step four: Turn the Instant Pot on, manually set the timer to 60 minutes and then set the pressure to “High.”
(Press pressure, and make sure that “High Pressure” lights up.)
*Make sure that you have the pressure release set to the “sealing position.” (Shown Below)
Step five: After 60 minutes when the timer beeps, turn the Instant Pot off & allow the stock to cool completely & release the pressure naturally in the Instant Pot.* (This will take about 30ish minutes.)
*It is very important that you allow the stock to cool completely and that you allow the pressure to release naturally. This way, you aren’t allowing any of the nutrients or flavor to escape via the steam. When the float valve drops, the pressure has released naturally and you will be able to open the lid safely.
Do not force the lid open.
Step six: Strain the stock & transfer it to large glass jars for storage.
I like to wrap the Veggie parts in a cheese cloth and drain all the excess stock into the jars, for good measure. I don’t want an ounce of this savor-izing stock to go to waste!
The stock will be golden / brown depending on the variety of Veggies you use and it will have a small amount of pulp even after straining.
Important: Be sure to leave extra space in the top of the jars to allow for expanding in the freezer.
Once, we missed this step and there was a “stock explosion” in our freezer!
Step Seven: Freeze the jars for future use.
There’s no need to freeze them if you’re going to use it all right away, but 10 cups can be a lot all at once. I usually set a jar or two aside in the fridge for immediate use*, and freeze the rest.
*Be sure to only store the fresh stock in the fridge for up to seven days. If you’re not going to use it by day seven, stick it in the freezer so the stock doesn’t spoil and you don’t get sick!
When you’re ready to use the stock, simply put it in the fridge to thaw for 24 hours or you can run the jars under cool water to thaw them faster in a pinch.
*Make sure to use cool water, as hot water may cause the jar to crack. Once thawed, use the stock within 24 hours.
The above recipe is for 10 cups of ultra concentrated, fantastically flavorful, nutrient infused, Veggie stock.
However, if you’re looking to make a smaller amount of a “quick stock” for immediate use…
Here’s what you do
Add one cup each of Celery, Carrots and Onions to the Instant Pot with a quarter cup of fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, 1 ½ teaspoons of Sea Salt, 1 tablespoon of Refined Coconut Oil and five cups of Filtered Water. Manually set the Instant Pot to 15 minutes. When the timer beeps, turn the Instant Pot off & allow the stock to cool and the pressure to release naturally.
If you’re really in a rush, you can release the pressure manually, before it’s cooled, but you will lose some of the flavor and some of the nutrients in the steam.
However, in this recipe, you’ve added a little extra of each ingredient that will compensate for what may be lost in a manual release. 🙂
Why do I use the Instant Pot?
There are many advantages to pressure cooking, but both less time and less loss of nutrients tie for number one in my book!
The Instant Pot makes things in a fraction of the time as on the stove. The amount of concentration that happens in the hour that this recipe takes to make in the Instant Pot would take 4-6 hours on the stove, and you would go from 10 cups to 6 cups of liquid. In the Instant Pot, there is no loss of liquid, so none of the nutrients that would have been lost through the evaporation that happens while stocking on the stove happens while stocking in the Instant Pot.
Isn’t that incredibly awesome?!
Interested in owning an Instant Pot of your own?
Click here to check it out on Amazon!
I hope you enjoy my magical, fantastical, flavorful, Veggie Stock!
Let me know in the comments below if you like it, love it, and / or what you make magical with it!
Be sure to tag @crunchyveggiemama in your photos on Facebook & Instagram so I can see who & what you’re serving!
If you or someone you know would find this recipe irresistible, please be sure to share it!
Sharing is caring and caring is love. <3
Peas, Love, and Pressure Cookers,
~Stephanie
I love it! I spend a small fortune on organic vegetable broth! This would save me from buying 4 quarts every week!
Thanks so much for this easy recipe. I just got an instant pot and I am learning how to use it. This is so helpful!
What a great way to use every part of a vegetable. I never thought about freezing my scarps. Thanks
Yay! I just got my Instant Pot and I’m looking forward to using it. This recipe for vegetable stock will be perfect for some soups this fall. Thanks!