Veggie Broth
Veggie broth starts primarily with veggies. You could go to the store and buy veggies specifically to make broth, but that isn’t the way I do it.
I have a heavy duty 2 gallon zip top bag in my freezer. Every time I chop a veggie, I put the off-cuts into this bag. For instance, the root and peel on onions, the woody top of asparagus, the woody end and peelings of carrots are all good broth makings. My rule of thumb is this: If I cut it off because it is ugly, tough or woody, it’s good for broth. If I take it off because it’s bitter, never into the broth! That means no seeds in the broth bag. Seeds are bitter. No citrus peel in the bag. They are bitter.
I usually keep my broth in canning jars, but sometimes if I won’t be using it right away, I will put it in zip top bags and freeze it.
Yield: 3-4 quarts of broth
Time: 6 hours
Special Equipment: Instant Pot with a steamer basket
Ingredients:
Enough contents of a broth bag to fill the steamer basket of the instant pot
4 whole Star anise
10 Whole cloves
4 whole Cinnamon Sticks
6-8 Cardamom Pods
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tbsp Whole cumin
2 tbsp Peppercorns
6 Dried Thai peppers
1 tbsp salt
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Water
Instructions:
Place the contents of the veggie bag into the steamer basket. Place it in the IP liner and fill to the fill line with water.
Add all the spices listed.
Secure the lid and hit the Soup button. This should show 240 minutes at high pressure. If it doesn’t show that you can always use manual.
When the timer goes off, allow the pressure to come all the way down, naturally. This can take as much as an hour.
Once the pressure is down open the pot and slowly lift the steamer basket, allowing it to drain as much as possible. Place it into a bowl where it can continue draining.
Taste the broth and adjust the flavor. Additional salt or vinegar might be needed to get a good flavor.
Using a strainer, pour the broth into jars or bags. Any broth you won’t use in the next 2 weeks should be frozen. Don’t forget the bowl where the spent veggies are draining. That broth should be added to a jar. Don’t forget to label and date your jars or your freezer bags.
Put the spent veggies in a trash bag and take it outside. They will get smelly pretty quickly.