How To Make Vegetable Stock

This page shows you how to make vegetable stock (or broth) for your baby.

Store-bought stocks or broths are often high in salt - making them unsuitable for use in baby food (find out more about the dangers of adding salt to baby food). This simple vegetable broth recipe is still full of flavour, but is a much healthier alternative for your little one.

We recommend preparing stock or broth for your baby in large quantities, then storing it for future use. Stock freezes well - and our tip is to freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer it to freezer bags once it's solid. This means that you'll have handy little individual portions of stock to use in your baby's recipes.

As well as using your homemade vegetable broth as a basis for your main recipes, try using it instead of water to cook bland foods such as rice for your baby - it gives them a little boost of flavour!

How to make vegetable stock

You will need

2 large carrots
2 large onions
2 celery stalks
1 turnip
10 black peppercorns
1 bulb of garlic
pinch thyme
pinch parsley
1 bay leaf

Peel all the vegetables and the garlic cloves and chop them roughly.
Put them into a large cooking pot along with the peppercorns and the herbs and cover them with water.
Bring the water to a boil over a high heat, then lower the heat until the water is simmering.
Continue to simmer for an hour, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Strain - and your veggie broth is ready to use!