Cooking with home made veggie broth is one of the easiest ways to add more minerals in food. I feel the difference when I cook rice in veggie broth vs plain water – I feel more satiated with little rice when cooked in broth!

I save the odds and ends of my veggies for 5-6 days in my fridge to make veggie broth. Adding some onions, garlic, ginger, sea weeds, herbs and spices makes it mineral rich.

I use celery and parsley in my breakfast smoothie along with cucumbers, parsley, ginger, and lots of fresh greens; and save tough ends of celery and thicker stems of parsley.

Save other veggies like tough ends of asparagus, woody stems of leafy greens (chard, kale, collard greens) while making lunch or dinner  – so I gather a large bag full of odds and ends of these veggies within 5 – 6 days.

I take a large stock pot or dutch oven, half fill with almost a gallon (12 – 16 cups) of filtered water and add roughly chopped veggies on hand, for example:

Onions, garlic, ginger
Root veggies – carrots, beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes
Leafy greens – kale, collard greens
Other veggies on hand – broccoli, cabbage, peppers
Dried Seaweeds – 2 tablespoons of arame, 1 tablespoon of dulse, 2 strips of kombu
Spices – black peppercorn, bay leaves, whole coriander seeds
Fresh herbs from my garden or dried herbs – rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme, parsley, basil, dill etc.

Once it starts to reach boiling point I reduce the flame to minimum and simmer for 3 – 4 hours.

Strain and store in mason jars in fridge for 5-6 days. Discard the veggies or compost it if you like.

Tip: strain the broth as soon as you turn off the heat otherwise the cooked veggies will soak up most of the broth during cooling down! Trust me on that…I made that mistake once and learned my lesson 🙂

Using broth in cooking is simple – just replace water with broth while cooking rice, lentils, beans or soups! I like drinking the broth with little salt, pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon especially during winters.

Watch this short video by Jon Gabriel, it gave me fairly good idea to begin making broths!

Once you start making the broth you will develop your own recipe.
You can also download Jon’s veggie broth recipe here

Do you make broth at home? Share your ideas and tips in comments below.