This tutorial will teach you how to make vegetable stock in your slow cooker using veggie scraps you already have on hand. It’s a two-part process that will help eliminate food waste and save money at the grocery store!
I’ve shared how to make bone broth in both the Instant Pot and slow cooker. Since then, so many of you have made your own broth and discovered how simple it is! I figured it was time to share how to make vegetable stock because a) it’s the easiest recipe ever and b) it’s perfect for plant-based recipes!
There are definitely some decent vegetable stocks on the market but the best ones (without added preservatives and artificial color) can get quite pricey. Turns out, you can make vegetable stock without having to pay a single penny! How? Save your veggie scraps!
How to Save Vegetable Scraps
I’ll be honest, you have to have a system in place or everything goes out the window during dinnertime. I keep a silicone bag or glass container in my freezer with food scraps so when I’m prepping a meal and have stalks or scraps, I’ll just throw the extras in the container!
What Vegetable Scraps to Use
Basically any other than seeded vegetables (like bell pepper). Here are some examples:
- Green onion bulbs or stalks
- Celery stalks
- Broccoli stems
- Onion scraps – I always recommend including at least a little onion in every batch for flavor! Throw the peels in too!
- Kale stems
- Carrot scraps
- Beet scraps
- Garlic scraps
The options are endless! The color of the vegetable impacts the color of the broth so the more greens you use, the greener it will be. The longer you cook it, the more pigmented it will be as well. Have fun experimenting!
How to Make Vegetable Stock in Your Slow Cooker
STEP 1: Place your vegetable scraps in the slow cooker and top with water until the vegetables are covered with ½ inch of water. Stir in sea salt.
STEP 2: Cook on low for 12-24 hours. When finished, strain the veggies into a bowl and reserve the liquid in mason jars or airtight containers.
STEP 3: Discard the vegetables and store the broth for use!
How to Store Vegetable Broth
If you’ll be using the broth the week you made it, you can store it in the refrigerator. If you need to store for longer, I recommend adding to an airtight container (leaving a bit of room at the top for expansion) and freezing for up to 3 months.
PrintHow To Make Vegetable Stock in Your Slow Cooker
This tutorial will teach you how to make vegetable stock in your slow cooker using veggie scraps you already have on hand. It’s a two-part process that will help eliminate food waste and save money at the grocery store!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 hours
- Total Time: 12 hours
- Yield: 6 cups 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cook
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 4–6 cups of mixed vegetables*
- Water
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Place veggies in a slow cooker and top with water until covered with a 1/2 inch of water.
- Stir in sea salt.
- Cook on low for 12-24 hours.
- Strain veggies into a bowl and reserve liquid in mason jars or airtight containers.
- Discard veggies (they will be too mushy to eat anyway!)
- Freeze for later use or use within one week.
*I keep my veggie scraps in a ziploc bag in the freezer and just dump these into the slow cooker. Ensure that you have at least a bit of onion in there for flavor and feel free to include the peels. Avoid using any scraps with seeds (i.e. bell peppers) but otherwise any veggie scrap is totally fine. The more greens you include (I love adding kale stalks!) and the longer you cook it for, the darker the stock.
Keywords: vegetable stock, homemade vegetable stock, slow cooker vegetable stock, veggie stock, homemade veggie stock
Like this post? Here are some recipes that use vegetable broth:
- Detox Vegetable Soup
- Spring Vegetable Soup
- Healthy Vegetarian Pho
- Tuscan White Bean Soup
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
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17 Comments
Pam S
February 12, 2022 at 12:00 pmWhy should we avoid seeded vegetables?
Davida Lederle
February 12, 2022 at 4:26 pmThey’re pretty difficult to strain out but you’re welcome to use them!
Christine
November 10, 2021 at 10:12 amThank you, Davida.
Christine
November 9, 2021 at 10:06 amWhat size slow cooker are you using for this amount of vegetables?
Davida Lederle
November 9, 2021 at 5:34 pmThis should fit in anything bigger than a 5qt slow cooker!
Carolynn Valbuena
February 3, 2019 at 5:36 amA wonderful idea! Could you please be a bit more specific about the vegetables you use? I cook from every cuisine and wonder whether this will suit Asian, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Latin, and European cooking?
Sam @ Hygge Wellness
February 13, 2017 at 8:27 pmThis is great! I can’t wait to make it. Thanks for sharing Davida : )
Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets
February 13, 2017 at 4:08 pmThis is my tried and true method for making veggie stock too, although I use pepper scraps as well. I also toss in some Bay leaves and a great rind of Parmesan if I’ve got one. Heaven.
Kaitlyn Tornow
February 12, 2017 at 7:16 pmI’ve been saving veggie scraps for a while in the freezer, with no plan of what to do with them, and this morning I decided to finally figure it out. Reading my blogs is part of my daily getting into alignment routine (from Jess Lively 🙂 ), so I didn’t have to look at all really. Thank you!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
February 13, 2017 at 10:28 amLove it!!! I’ve been loving the direction Jess has been going in on her show. I need to get into the practice of getting into alignment!
Lynn
February 12, 2017 at 4:58 pmI love slow cookers so much – they’re magic!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
February 13, 2017 at 10:27 amSeriously!!! Also loved listening to Jess on your podcast! Such a great episode xoxo
JOSIE
February 12, 2017 at 2:38 pmHi Davida . This looks great & I’d like to start saving up somz veggie scraps to ret it. Just one question – if I use frozen veggie scaps, will I be able to freeze the stock anyway? Thanks for all the recipes.
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
February 12, 2017 at 2:47 pmYes! You can use frozen veggie scraps, make the stock and then freeze any leftover stock. It’s totally fine 🙂 Enjoy!
Caitlin
February 12, 2017 at 2:00 pmThis is awesome! So instead of composing a lot of my scraps, I can save them for stock. Can’t wait to try it!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
February 12, 2017 at 2:47 pmExactly!!!
Jody
February 13, 2017 at 5:29 pmThat looks easy! I’m ashamed to admit I usually buy vegetable stock. I’ll definitely give this a try.