Making your own vegetable bouillon is a great thing to have on hand to flavor rice and soups. It makes all the difference in weeknight rice and lentil dishes. Store bought bouillon has preservatives in it, and its freshness is lost as it sits unrefrigerated on a shelf. This bouillon is made using any collection of in-season veggies. Feel free to play around with the recipe, keeping the ratio of vegetable to salt the same, however. It stores perfectly in the freezer, and due to the salt content, doesn’t freeze solid. It remains easy to scoop out. The large amount of salt in this recipe is needed to prevent the veggies from crystalizing in the freezer (I have decreased the salt and the result isn’t as good), as well as helping to preserve them. Because of this, don’t taste the bouillon on its own! When added into water, the flavors disperse, and flavors your dish, and the amount used is small. This recipe makes a large amount of vegetable bouillon, so don’t fear the amount of salt in the recipe, and it will last a long time in the freezer. If you wish to make less, simply cut the amount of ingredients in half.
This recipe must be done using a food processor or a blender. I find a food processor to be much easier to get the sizes of the veggies uniform, without pulverizing into a soup.
In this recipe, I use my own dehydrated tomatoes from the summer. They add so much flavor, and I rehydrate them before adding to the mix. If you don’t have your own, be sure to purchase without oils. Many places sell them, like Wegmans and Trader Joe’s. For a link to purchase, click here.
**One tip: If using leeks: Leeks can be quite gritty. I find that it’s best to cut them, and then place them into a salad spinner (or similar device like a strainer into a bowl), and then place that into a bowl of water. Be sure to break the pieces apart. Dirt will fall out of the leeks, into the water, and then you can lift the strainer out of the water. If they are very dirty, do this a few times.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (250 g) celery, died large
- 1 lb (454 g) celeraic ( about 1 celery root), peeled and diced
- 1/2 lb (about 232 g) fennel-about 1 bulb, diced large
- 1 lb (454 g) carrots, diced large
- 3 oz (82 g) sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil, and soaked in hot water for 10 minutes & drained. To learn how to dehydrate your own, click here
- 1 1/2 pounds (600 g) leeks, cleaned and sliced as shown above
- 4 tbsp minced garlic
- 4 oz mushrooms
- about 1 bunch/60 g parsley
- 1 1/3 (about 300 g) cups of kosher salt
Instructions:
- Place veggies into food processor in stages. The large amount is best done in 3 cup increments, to properly pulse them into small enough sizes.
- Once all veggies are processed to a fine blend, add them to a large bowl. Continue to process until all veggies are uniform in size.
- Add salt and stir into veggies. Allow the vegetables to continue to release moisture, discard any excess moisture. If desired, you can re-process the mixture.
- Package vegetable bouillon into either glass canning jars, or quart-sized plastic containers for freezing. If using glass, be sure to allow for room for expansion during freezing.
- Use 1 tsp of bouillon per cup of water in recipes like rice or as a soup base.
To make rice:
2 cups water+ 2 tsp bouillon+ 1 cup brown or black rice-pressure cook stovetop for 12 minutes
In Instapot (electric pressure cooker) 1 1/2 cups water + 2 tsp bouillon+ 1 cup rice-use rice setting to cook
- 1 cup (250 g) celery, died large
- 1 lb (454 g) celeraic ( about 1 celery root), peeled and diced
- ½ lb (about 232 g) fennel-about 1 bulb, diced large
- 1 lb (454 g) carrots, diced large
- 3 oz (82 g) sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil, and soaked in hot water for 10 minutes & drained. To learn how to dehydrate your own,
- click here
- 1½ pounds (600 g) leeks, cleaned and sliced as shown above
- 4 tbsp minced garlic
- 4 oz mushrooms
- about 1 bunch/60 g parsley
- 1⅓ (about 300 g) cups of kosher salt
- Place veggies into food processor in stages. The large amount is best done in 3 cup increments, to properly pulse them into small enough sizes.
- Once all veggies are processed to a fine blend, add them to a large bowl. Continue to process until all veggies are uniform in size.
- Add salt and stir into veggies. Allow the vegetables to continue to release moisture, discard any excess moisture. If desired, you can re-process the mixture.
- Package vegetable bouillon into either glass canning jars, or quart-sized plastic containers for freezing. If using glass, be sure to allow for room for expansion during freezing.
- Use 1 tsp of bouillon per cup of water in recipes like rice or as a soup base.
- To make rice:
- cups water+ 2 tsp bouillon+ 1 cup brown or black rice-pressure cook stovetop for 12 minutes
- In Instapot (electric pressure cooker) 1½ cups water + 2 tsp bouillon+ 1 cup rice-use rice setting to cook
