Instant Pot Vegetable Stock (Stove Top Option)

Learn how to make your very own homemade vegetable stock from scratch using your instant pot. Veggie stock is the quintessential foundation to enhance your soup, stews and other delicious cuisines.

Making your own homemade vegetable stock is super easy and not to mention fun.

It's a simple one pot recipe, all you need are some vegetables (whole or scraps) and either a stove top or instant pot to get you going!

Have you ever made or tasted a recipe that was so mind blowing that you just needed to know precisely what made it taste so good?

I've been met with this situation several times, sometimes it was at a restaurant, while other times it was at a friends house.

Also while experimenting with my own home grown recipes, I've tweaked a basic recipe and turned it into a 5 star gourmet dish (not to sound arrogant, based on feedback from others).

Anyway, the clue lies in the stock and broth, both hold the key to a good recipe. Of course the right amount of seasoning is essential too but stock/broth are what yields that rich, depth in flavour.

It's a bit like building a house from scratch, you need a good solid foundation to build your house on which is parity to what stock/broth will do to your recipe.

You can use stock in any recipe, most popular are soup, stews, rice dishes, sauces just to name a few ! I promise once you start making your own stock from scratch, you will never go back to buying the store bought kind again.

Vegetable stock vs broth

Contrary to popular belief stock and broth are not the same thing, thus not being interchangeable.

Broth: A liquid that has been simmered with meat and sometimes vegetables

Stock: A liquid that has been simmered with bones with vegetables been optional.

As you can see from the above definition, this post clearly represents broth more so than it does stock. To which, you are probably wondering why I entitled the post as "stock"?

For the sake of search terms, more people will look for "stock" rather than vegetable broth". It's much earlier for people to discover and relate to the recipe it is titled as "stock".

Different types of stock/broth

Depending on what your specific needs are, you can pretty much make stock/broth from anything and include what you feel.

You can mix both meat and vegetables or simply use vegetables if you are vegetarian or vegan.

The most common stock/broth I have some across include

• Chicken
• Beef
• Fish
• Lamb
• Vegetable

Why make your own stock from scratch

• Sodium levels: you can keep the amount of salt added to a minimum which is great if you have any dietary needs.
• It's fun: you can include so many different herbs, vegetables and spices. The world is your oyster so you can add whatever you want to your stock, own it and make it unique to your tastebuds.
• The flavour is unreal: This links into my previous point, of owning your stock, because you made it, it's going to taste better than store bought.
• It's accessible: That's right no more running out to the store in the middle of preparing your recipe because you don't have stock to hand. If you freeze it in batches, even better, you will have stock on rotation!
• Cheap and cheerful! That's right you can make stock with whole vegetables or simply collect a boat load of scraps so save all your carrot shavings and turnip tops for some homemade stock!

Stove top VS instant pot

As you can see there are two options to make this recipe. When I first posted this recipe I made it using my stove top. but nowadays, I make my stock using my instant pot instead.

The main difference between the two is time. The instant pot is a pressure cooker so it cooks things a lot quicker. I can have my stock ready to use within 45 minutes, in contrast to the stove top method where it needs to simmer away for over an hour minimum.

One thing I love about the instant pot is that you don't need to baby sit the unit, once you select the start button, it's ready to work its magic.

Some people simply dump and start their stock but even with an instant pot I recommend sauteing the ingredients to release the full flavour of the raw vegetables before adding your water..

How to make instant pot vegetable stock

• Switch your unit on, add the oil and select the "saute" button
• Proceed to add the onion, garlic then saute until soft and translucent (don't allow to burn)
• Select cancel so you are using only the residual heat.
• Then add the tomato paste (if using) and begin to stir and combine with the onion and garlic.
• Add the rest of the ingredients (excluding the water) and stir for a few minutes.
• Switch the unit back on and add the water.
• select "pressure cook" adjust the +/- to 25 minutes and adjust the knob to "sealing"
• Once cooked leave the pressure cooker to do a natural release (should take 10 minutes).
• Allow to completely cool before using a fine mesh strainer to drain off the stock.
• Pour into a container of your choice and refrigerate or freeze down.

Stove top version

• Now it's time to preheat the stock pot with the olive oil on medium heat.
• Once heated add your onion and garlic to saute until lightly browned. Once tanned, add the tomato paste and continue to saute on low heat for another 2 minutes.
• Incorporate the outstanding vegetables, herbs and spices while stirring all the while. 
• Finally add the water, add enough so that the veggies are completely saturated in water. Feel free to add more if required.
• Leave the pot to simmer under low heat for 1 hr 30 minutes
• Once cool, pour the mixture into a cheesecloth or mesh strainer. If using a cheesecloth use your hands to strain out the excess liquid.
• Store in a container of your choice
• Refrigerate or freeze and discard the vegetable pulp.

Storage

This recipe makes about 3 mason jars worth of stock. Unless you plan on using that amount of stock within 5 days I would recommend freezing down any access stock in your freezer. It lasts for 6 up months when frozen

• Zip lock bags: you can pour the stock in a bag and then lay them down flat on a tray, ready to freeze!
• Mason Jars: Fill your glass jars about an inch away from the rim so there is room for expansion and screw the lid loosely (not loose enough to cause spillage). This prevents the glass from cracking"
• Plastic container: This is my preferred and recommended method, grab some freezer friendly containers and freeze down!
• Ice cubes: Freeze the stock in the form of ice tubes, how handy is that!

What is one ice cube the equivalent to?

One ice cube is going to constituent roughly two tablespoons of vegetable stock.

Can you leave the stock to simmer longer then 2 hours on the stove top?

In terms of simmering the stock on the stove, do this between 1 and 30 minutes to 2 hours maximum.

Anything longer will ironically cause the flavour to diminish, so do be mindful of the beginning and ending stage.

How much vegetable stock does the recipe make?

The homemade vegetable stock recipe creates roughly three jars of stock.

How to store homemade vegetable stock and how long does it last?

Vegetable stock should last for 4-5 days maximum in the fridge. If you have no plans to use the stock within the first few days then I highly advise you to freeze it immediately once you have made it.

How do you make the stock with scraps?

I would leave it until you have collected enough scraps, (about 3-4 cups worth will do).

Grab a freezer friendly zip lock bag and every time you cut your veggies, just keep adding to it throughout the week.

Hopefully by the weekend you should have enough scraps to make a big pot of stock.

You can keep the bag in the freezer until you gather enough and add some random amounts of peppercorn, bay leaves and garlic too.

Should you add sodium to the stock?

Well, if this a matter of preference, if you plan to add salt, you going to need to adjust your sodium content for your recipes. What you could do is label your stock container/jars so you know if salt is already added.

What can you do with the leftover pulp from making the stock?

Good question! If you are into gardening you can use it for compost.

Notes and tips 

• Have a play around with herbs, spices and vegetables. Everyone has at least one or two that are sentimental to them. You can replicate my recipe or switch things up to suit
• Adding salt/sodium is up to the individual, if you do you'll want to make a note of this so create labels and stick them on your stock.
• Label up stock if you are freezing it down so you have a general idea of how long the stock has been living in the freezer for.
• Don't forget to save your scraps if you want to make your stock using scraps.
• Don't skip sauteing the ingredients, it really helps to enhance the flavour of your stock especially the tomato paste, so rustic and rich!
• Frozen stock yields longevity, it lasts for up to 6 months, compared to refrigerated stock which lasts up to 5 days.
• Leave the stock to thaw out overnight on the counter top or in your fridge, you only need it to thaw out enough to be removed from the container.

Recipes to use vegetable stock with

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