Cheap Healthy Food Hack: Vegetable Broth in the Instant Pot

I AM OBSESSED WITH BROTH 🍲

Broth was a staple of home cooking until about 50 years ago. Most traditional kitchens would feature a bubbling pot where all the cooking scraps would go to simmer. That broth would serve as the base of every soup, gravy, or rice. If you needed a quick snack, a cup of broth was the original fast food.

STORE BOUGHT BROTH SUCKS 🙊

I thought broth was just salty water when I used to buy it in a box. My homemade broth is nothing like the cheap boxes. It fills your mouth with rich spice. It goes down like a nourishing elixir and feels amazing in your body. If you’ve only tried commercial broth, it’s time to upgrade!

WHAT VEGETABLES WORK

ANY VEGETABLES WORK! (Basically)

I place a large bowl in my freezer to collect wilted veggies, veggie peels, and fresh vegetables. Onion skins and garlic skins go in too.

Wash everything thoroughly. If the veggie peels have dirt that you can’t get off, I throw that chunk out.

Here’s my favorite home broth ingredients to get started with…

• Half a whole Celery, rough chopped

• 2-3 large Carrots, peeled and then rough chopped (peels go in too!)

• 1 large Onion, with skin on and rough chopped

• Any wilted veggies or veggie peels

• 2-3 dried Bay leaves

• 10 whole Peppercorns

• 2 teaspoons of Salt

• fresh Ginger peels or slices

NOTE: Broccoli, Cabbage, and Cauliflower all make totally nutritious broth but their flavor will so overpower the other veggies that most broth lovers leave them out.

Watch it come together in the video below!

MAKING VEGETABLE BROTH WITHOUT WATCHING A POT BOIL (INSTANT POT)

A few times a week I’ll throw this together when I wake up and have fresh broth for breakfast. I use the leftover broth to make miso soup and/or rice that night.

1. Put all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and fill it with filtered water to the 2/3RD or Max mark.

2. Set the Instant Pot for high pressure for 1 hour (you can go shorter or longer if you want).

3. Once the Instant Pot finishes, you can quick release it. There will be LOTS of steam. Turn the Instant Pot off.

4. Strain the broth as you pour it into a soup pot. Optionally, press the boiled veggies into the strainer with a wooden spoon to get the extra juice out.

5. Once you have your broth in a pot, you will probably want to add extra salt, soy sauce, or Liquid Bragg’s to taste. I rotate through topping my broth with parsley, cilantro, or dill. I drink it right out of the pot and then put the leftovers into jars for later.