Instant Pot Vegetable Stock
Instant Pot Vegetable Stock takes a fraction of the time of the stovetop method and costs a fraction of the price of store-bought stock. Plus, it works great with scraps leftover from other meals!
Ever since I started making vegetable broth in the pressure cooker, I’ve never gone back to the stovetop method or to store-bought broth!
Try this easy recipe with carrots, onions, celery and any other vegetable scraps you have, and I think you’ll agree that it’s the best way to make homemade broth.
Update: It’s soup season again, so we’re in the middle of updating our pressure cooker stock recipes, including our chicken broth, turkey stock, mushroom stock, and this vegetable stock. Enjoy!
How to Make Instant Pot Vegetable Broth
This vegetable stock recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Making broth in the pressure cooker means that there’s no need to babysit a big pot of boiling water on the stove. No fear of bubbling over, and it has just a 15 minute cook time!
This classic recipe is made with a mirepoix of carrots, onions, and celery, but it’s easy to mix and match the flavorings with whatever you have on hand.
Do I Have to Peel the Vegetables?
No! As long as your produce is washed well, you can use it in your broth. You can also use vegetable scraps for delicious broth, including peels and trimmed tops and bottoms of various veggies.
I like to keep a freezer bag in the freezer set aside for these veggie scraps. Once I have enough scraps, I’ll whip up a batch of vegetable broth.
Tip: If you like a richer, darker colored broth, leave your onion skins on. If you prefer a more pale broth, remove the skins. The flavor will remain identical.
Flavoring Ideas for Homemade Veggie Broth
You can easily change up the seasonings in this recipe to suit your family’s tastes. Try adding some of these aromatics and seasonings into your cooking pot for more flavor:
- Herbs like thyme, rosemary, and parsley stems
- Hot chile peppers
- Crushed garlic cloves
- Lemongrass
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Other vegetables, such as parsnips, sweet potato, and radishes
Vegetable Stock vs. Broth
What’s the difference between vegetable stock and broth? Really, the two terms can be used interchangeably. But technically speaking:
Stock is the unseasoned ingredient that you’re making in this recipe. It has no salt or pepper and is used as a component of another dish, such as a soup, stew or sauce.
Broth, on the other hand, is seasoned enough to be served on its own. You turn your stock into broth when you season it for chicken noodle or tortellini soup, for example.
How to Store Homemade Broth
You can freeze the broth or store it in the fridge if you’re planning to use it right away. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days in the fridge, and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
One great tip for freezing the stock from The Everything Healthy Pressure Cooker Cookbook is to pour the cooled stock into disposable plastic cups in 1 or 2 cup portions. Cover each cup with plastic wrap and freeze. When you need it, simply peel off the cup and toss the “stock-cicle” into your dish!
Instant Pot Soup Recipes for Homemade Vegetable Broth
Now that you have a big batch of homemade vegetable broth, put it to use with these pressure cooker soup recipes:
- Instant Pot Garden Fresh Minestrone Soup is full of fresh summer and fall vegetables with small pasta.
- Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Weight Loss Vegetable Soup is light, refreshing, and loaded with colorful vegetables.
- Pressure Cooker Mushroom Marsala Soup is made with fresh rosemary and thyme and is mildly sweet from dry sherry.
- Blender Tomato-Basil Soup from Barbara Bakes might not be an Instant Pot recipe, but it’s just as easy to make, thanks to a high-speed blender.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Instant Pot Vegetable Stock
Flavor-packed Instant Pot Vegetable Stock is easier than making it on the stovetop and cheaper than store-bought cans. It’s healthy and fresh-tasting, thanks to onions, carrots, celery, and classic seasonings.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, bottom cut away and halved (skins can be left off or on)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 3 stalks celery, cut in half
- 10 peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pressure cooking pot. Add the peppercorns, bay leaf, and water to completely cover the vegetables. Close and lock the lid.
- Select High Pressure and 15 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker. Allow the pressure to release naturally. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer. Store in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Slightly adapted from The Everything Healthy Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Laura D.A. Pazzaglia.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 28Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 34mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
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Thanks for sharing this. I’ve started a bag for veggie scraps in my freezer. I freeze my homemade stock in Souper Cubes. They are silicone containers that hold either 1C or 1/2C amounts that you freeze and then store in a baggie in the freezer. They work perfectly.
Great tips – thanks for sharing Cheryl!
I like to use a mesh basket in my pressure cooker when I make any stock because I can just lift it out and remove the scraps/bones easily.
Nice tip – thanks for sharing Sandy!
Hi
May I know what u use to store ur broth? Many people recommended Ball Wide Mouth Quart Mason Jar.
Hi Lynda – I usually freeze in Ziploc Freezer bags.
I love freezing stock in plastic disposable cups (like red solo cups), and just thawing what I need. I think it’s easier than ice cube trays because I make my soup in fairly large batches. If I think they will be in the freezer longer than a month or so I put them in freezer bags.
I think that’s a great idea Corena – thanks for sharing!
I agree, veggie stock is a must-have-on-hand. Jill Nussinow (The Veggie Queen) also has a nice video about vegetable stock. She recommends saving and freezing any non-cruciferous veggie for stock using a 1-quart freezer bag. When the bag is full, make stock. You can save things like herb stems, potato peelings, carrot peelings and tops, celery leaves and trimmed ends, onion and garlic skins, corn cobs, all sorts of trimmings, including leftover lettuce. She avoids cruciferous vegetables because they can make a broth “stinky.”
Here’s a link to a list of cruciferous vegetables: http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cruciferous-vegetables.htm
What do you do with the vegetables afterward? Are they usable for anything?
Hi Mark – I just discard them.
Thanks!
Ok, that is seriously so easy. One more reason to own a pressure cooker. Maybe next Christmas’ wish list.
So amazing these pressure cookers. Saves so much time and meals in minutes!!
Aren’t they great 🙂
I always forget & bring my scraps out to my compost bin 🙂
SUPER! I’ve never done vegetable stock either-but I will now! Thank you Barbara. 🙂
Carol
I love this! I frequently make chicken stock, but have never done vegetable stock. It will definitely be on my “to do soon” list. Thank you!