Making vegetable stock in your Instant Pot is as easy as can be using vegetable scraps! I’m showing you how to make your own homemade low sodium veggie broth for all your favorite recipes, in just 15 minutes of cook time.
I love, love, love my Instant Pot. It took a while to catch on in our house but now it’s something we use almost daily. From making Instant Pot Jasmine Rice to Instant Pot Yogurt, it’s always being used to cook up something great.
The Instant Pot simplifies cooking which is why we love it for things like soup and homemade vegetable stock!
Homemade vegetable stock is worth its weight in gold! It’s incredibly delicious, healthy, nourishing, and significantly cheaper than store bought options.
Making homemade stock is also an incredibly eco-friendly way to repurpose vegetable scraps that would otherwise be discarded. Homemade vegetable stock also improves the depth of flavor in homemade soups like Mexican Vegetable Soup, Pasta Fagioli, or Ham and White Bean Soup.
And when you make it in the Instant Pot you save time and energy, and the result is a rich, low sodium, and Vegan friendly vegetable stock for sipping or to use in all your favorite recipes!
🥣 Why it Works
Use vegetable stock in place of water in soups, stews, rice, and anything you’d like to have more savory depth of flavor. It’s a win-win!!
I use my vegetable stock in recipes like Jasmine Rice, Irish Vegetable Soup, and Sausage & Tortellini Soup. I even sip it by the cup for a nourishing and delicious drink, especially when I need to detox or feel under the weather.
🧅 Ingredients
- Vegetable scraps, any kind. I use carrot peels, celery bottoms, onion and garlic scraps, herb stems, and more! Fresh or frozen vegetable scraps can be used interchangeably. Customize the recipe based on what you have and the flavors you enjoy.
- Peppercorns
- Bay Leaves
- Water
Equipment: You’ll need an Instant Pot and a fine mesh strainer.
To Save Vegetable Scraps: I recommend storing vegetable scraps in freezer safe zip top bags. Keep a large bag in the freezer at all times. As you go about your cooking, transfer any vegetable scraps to the bag. Once the bag is full, it’s time to make broth!
If you haven’t been saving your scraps, use whole vegetables! You’ll just need four cups of any combination of roughly chopped vegetables.
🥕 Best Vegetables for Stock
Feel free to add just about any vegetable scraps you have to your stock. You can’t mess this recipe up… it’s incredibly forgiving! These are my personal favorites for adding lots of flavor and vitamins:
- Garlic
- Onion
- Shallots
- Carrots
- Ginger
- Mushrooms
- Celery
- Leeks
- Bell Peppers
- Ginger
- Zucchini
- Herbs: Thyme, rosemary, basil, chives, cilantro, and/or oregano.
Adding scraps from starchy and green vegetables like butternut squash, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, and legumes is totally fine- I do it all the time and I love it!
👉 However, starchy vegetables will change the clarity of the stock, giving it a bit of a cloudier look. If you’d prefer a clearer stock as shown in the pictures here, I suggest sticking to the less starchy vegetables listed above.
🧑🍳 Step by Step Instructions
The beauty of the Instant Pot is that your vegetable stock is made in just 15 minutes of cook time, and it’s almost all hands-off.
First, add the vegetables, bay leaves, and peppercorns to your Instant Pot. If you’re using frozen vegetables, they do not need to be defrosted first. Use them straight from frozen.
Pour the cold water into the pot. Close the lid and turn to High Pressure set for 15 minutes.
Once it’s done cooking, allow for a natural pressure release (NPR), which means that you do nothing and wait for the steam to naturally dissipate over time. It usually takes about 15-20 minutes.
Once the steam release valve has dropped down, all the pressure has released. Carefully open the lid. Your broth is done cooking!
Last, set a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl or measuring cup. Use a ladle to spoon the broth into the bowl, straining out all the now cooked pieces of vegetables.
If you like a super clear broth, you can repeat the straining process a second time. I usually only do it once.
The broth is all done, and it can be used for eating or cooking right away. If you’d like to store the stock for later, allow it to cool completely, then follow instructions for refrigerating and freezing it.
ℹ️ Expert Tips & FAQ
There is no salt in this recipe to keep it low in sodium and to allow the most flexibility to use it a variety of recipes. However, many people enjoy the flavor of salt in vegetable stock. Feel free to add 1 teaspoon of salt to the Instant Pot before cooking, if desired.
Allow the prepared broth to completely cool to room temperature. Transfer to a glass container, mason jar, or super cube tray, being careful to leave plenty of space at the top for expansion. Set in the freezer for 3 hours without the lid on, then put the lid on and return to the freezer. For best taste, use homemade broth within 2-3 months, per USDA.
Homemade vegetable stock can be stored safely in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, per USDA. I like to refrigerate cooked stock in large 32 oz. mason jars.
That depends on the size of your Instant Pot! This recipe has been tested using a 6 and 8 quart Instant Pot. Regardless of the size of the Instant Pot you use, never fill your Instant Pot past the u0022PC MAX 2/3u0022 line in the inner pot.
Homemade vegetable stock is incredibly low in calories! This stock contains about 51 calories per cup.
Composting the cooked vegetable scraps allows them to be used to the fullest in your kitchen, then broken down and turned into wonderful eco-friendly compost for your garden. ♻️
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Chicken & Rice Soup
- Sautéed Cabbage
- Chicken Fajitas
- Irish Lamb Stew
- Spaghetti Squash
- Cauliflower Mash
Making this recipe? I’d love to hear about your experience with it!
Please leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @cookathomemom.
Instant Pot Vegetable Stock
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable scraps, roughly chopped. Use any combination of carrot, celery, garlic, onion, and/or herb scraps.
- 64 ounces water, 8 cups
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
- Add all the vegetable scraps, peppercorns, bay leaves, and water to an Instant Pot.
- Close the lid and turn to High Pressure. Set for 15 minutes.
- Once the cook time is done, allow for a Natural Pressure Release (NPR). This usually takes about 20 minutes. Once the steam has released, carefully open the lid.
- Set a fine mesh strainer on top of a large bowl or measuring cup. Use a ladle to transfer the cooked stock to the strainer.
- Use immediately, or allow the strained broth to cool completely, then pour into large glass containers or bags for storing.
Video
Notes
- Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients (salt).
- If you don’t have vegetable scraps, use any combination of fresh carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and herbs, roughly chopped.
