We make vegetable stock in the Thermomix® because we know exactly what goes into it. No flavour enhancers, no yeast extract, no colourings. Just vegetables, herbs, and 45 minutes.
The trick is the order: first chop at speed 6, then cook everything together at speed 1. The chopping releases the aromatic compounds; the gentle simmering draws them into the water. Too much heat or too vigorous stirring would make the herbs bitter.
Vegetable Stock / Soup with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1/2 bunch lovage
- 1 onion
- 200 g carrot
- 100 g celeriac
- 100 g leek
- 3 bay leaves
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 tsp salt
- 1200 g water
Instructions 0 / 3
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1
Chop the vegetables.
Wash the parsley and lovage and shake dry. Peel the onion and halve it, wash the carrots and cut into pieces, wash the celeriac and cut into pieces, wash the leek and cut into pieces. Add the herbs and vegetables to the mixing bowl and chop for 5 sec / speed 6.
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2
Cook all the ingredients.
Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 45 min / 100°C / speed 1.
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3
Strain and bottle.
Pour the vegetable stock through a fine sieve into sterilised screw-top jars and store in the fridge.
Notes:
- Your vegetable stock keeps in the fridge for a few days.
- If you use your vegetable stock instead of water, add less salt to the recipe, as the stock already contains salt.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Lovage is the key to a true pot-herb flavour
Shop-bought vegetable stock often tastes of celeriac and salt. Our stock tastes of pot herbs because we use lovage. Half a bunch is enough for 1200 g of water. More becomes too dominant. Lovage is the herb that gives the stock the depth that parsley alone cannot provide.
If you cannot find fresh lovage, use 1 tsp dried. Fresh is noticeably more aromatic, though.
Why 5 seconds at speed 6 and no longer
The vegetables are chopped at speed 6, not blended. 5 seconds produces small pieces that release their aromas during cooking without turning to mush. 10 seconds would be too long. The stock would turn cloudy instead of clear, and you would need to strain it for longer.
After chopping, add the bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, and water straight away. No stirring in between, no searing. This stock is cooked, not roasted.
45 minutes at 100°C draws out the flavours
The stock cooks at speed 1, not reverse direction. Speed 1 maintains a gentle circulation so the stock does not splatter or boil over. 45 minutes is the minimum time for the carrots, celeriac, and leek to release their flavours fully. Less time works, but the result tastes flat.
After cooking, strain the stock through a fine sieve into sterilised screw-top jars. The vegetables stay behind and the clear stock goes into the jar. It keeps in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.
Use vegetable trimmings instead of throwing them away
Carrot ends, celeriac stumps, wilted parsley, leek offcuts. Everything you would normally throw away can go into the stock. Onion skins add colour, celery leaves add savouriness. The only rule is that nothing should be mouldy or mushy.
We collect vegetable trimmings in a freezer bag. When there is enough, we make stock from them. It saves money and cuts down on waste.
As a base for soups and sauces
The stock replaces water in recipes. Use it for potato soup, Risotto, vegetable stew, or sauces. If you use stock instead of water, reduce the salt in the recipe by about half, because the stock is already seasoned.
You can also freeze the stock in ice cube trays. That gives you portion-sized flavour cubes for quick meals. Frozen, it keeps for several months.
What other recipes do differently
Goes well with: Risotto.
Many recipes rely only on soup vegetables with carrots, leek, celeriac, and parsley. We also add a handful of mushrooms to the mixing bowl because they bring a deep umami note that root vegetables alone cannot deliver. Other guides cook the stock down with 30 to 50 per cent salt as a concentrate, then blend it for 1 minute at speed 10 to make a powder. We deliberately stick to a liquid stock with a moderate salt level. In a sterilised jar it keeps for 6 months, frozen in cubes for several months, and the aroma stays fresher than the powder version from the Thermomix®.
More basic recipes: chicken stock, beef broth, vegetable broth powder.
