How to make vegetable stock – and why you should

Most cooks know how to make a good meat stock. But why do you need to learn how to make vegetable stock?

Vegetable stock is about 13 gajillion times better than water for making soups and sauces.

Stock is a flavorful liquid typically made by simmering animal bones, aromatic vegetables, and herbs and spices in water.

I mentioned that most stocks are made from bones. Along with the flavor, animal ingredients impart umami, that deep, savory, meaty taste related to the chemical glutamate. Most vegetables don’t have much umami.

To make up for the lack of bones, vegetable stock needs more vegetables. Almost any vegetables or their trimmings can be used. That said, though, the starch in potatoes can cloud a stock. Also, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.) are high in sulfur, which can make the stock bitter.

Tomatoes, leeks, fennel, corncobs and root vegetables all are good, and mushrooms are terrific because they contribute umami.

Cooking the vegetables before simmering can bring out more flavor and sweetness. This can be done by sauteing or roasting them. Browning the vegetables also makes the finished stock darker.

You might notice that the salt is missing. Typically, we don’t add salt to stocks because stocks are often reduced to concentrate their flavors. Add salt when you use the stock in a dish.

Here’s a recipe for about 2 quarts of stock. It looks like a lot of ingredients and a lot of chopping. Trust me, it’s totally worth it. If you don’t have all the ingredients, just make sure you use between 1 and 2 pounds of vegetables for each quart of stock.