How to Make Vegetable Broth in an Instant Pot: A Quick and Flavorful Recipe

Are you looking for a convenient and delicious way to make vegetable broth? If so, you’re in the right place! In this blog post, I’ll show you how to make vegetable broth in an Instant Pot, a versatile kitchen appliance that can significantly simplify your cooking process. With just a few simple steps, you can have homemade vegetable broth that’s rich in flavor and ready to enhance your soups, stews, and other recipes. Let’s dive in and discover how easy it is to create this pantry staple.

Why Make Vegetable Broth in an Instant Pot?

Before we get into the step-by-step guide, let’s quickly explore the benefits of using an Instant Pot for making vegetable broth:

Time-Efficient: The Instant Pot’s pressure-cooking function significantly reduces the cooking time, allowing you to make flavorful broth in a fraction of the time it takes on the stovetop.

Intensified Flavor: The sealed environment of the Instant Pot locks in flavors and aromas, resulting in a more robust and concentrated vegetable broth. This is one of the benefits of cooking from scratch!

Versatility: You can use a variety of vegetable scraps and leftovers to make broth, reducing food waste.

Now, let’s move on to the recipe!

Vegetable Broth Recipe

Vegetable scraps (carrot peels, onion ends, celery leaves, etc.)
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A handful of fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, parsley)
1 bay leaf
8-10 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Gather Your Vegetable Scraps: Start collecting vegetable scraps over time. Store them in a freezer-safe bag or container until you have enough for a batch of broth. Common scraps include carrot peels, onion ends, celery leaves, and even mushroom stems. I *literally* save everything, unless it’s moldy or what have you.
Prepare Your Instant Pot: Place the Instant Pot on a clean and dry surface. Insert the stainless steel inner pot.
Add Vegetable Scraps and Ingredients: Add your collected vegetable scraps to the Instant Pot, followed by the quartered onion, chopped carrots, celery, crushed garlic, fresh herbs, and bay leaf.
Pour in Water: Add 8-10 cups of water to the Instant Pot, ensuring that the ingredients are fully covered. Be mindful not to overfill the pot; there should be some space left to prevent it from overflowing during cooking.
Season and Seal: Season the broth with salt and pepper to taste. Place the Instant Pot’s lid on top and ensure that the vent is in the sealing position.
Set the Instant Pot: Select the “Soup/Broth” function on your Instant Pot and set the cooking time to 30 minutes at high pressure. The Instant Pot will take some time to come to pressure before the actual cooking time begins.
Natural Release: Once the cooking cycle is complete, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release pressure for about 10-15 minutes. Then, carefully switch the vent to release any remaining pressure.
Strain the Broth: Carefully open the lid and use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the vegetable broth into a clean container or bowl. Press down on the vegetable solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
Cool and Store: Allow the broth to cool to room temperature before transferring it to airtight containers or freezer-safe bags. Label and date your containers for easy identification.

Congratulations! You’ve just created your own delicious and flavorful homemade vegetable broth in your Instant Pot. Store it in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for several months. You can also waterbath can your vegetable broth at home, so long as there are no meat scraps.

Time To Get Cookin’!

Learning how to make homemade vegetable broth in an Instant Pot is a game-changer for home cooks. It’s not only a time-saving method but also a sustainable way to make the most of your kitchen scraps. With this homemade vegetable broth at your disposal, you’ll be able to enhance the flavors of countless recipes while reducing food waste. So, give it a try and enjoy the convenience and taste of homemade vegetable broth today!