We never bought ready-made stock cubes at home: my mother got creative in making this tasty and versatile homemade light vegetable stock cube without salt and without cooking to freeze and have always available.
It’s a simple recipe with only three types of vegetables – carrots, onions, and celery – and extra virgin olive oil.
Once tried, for taste and practicality, you won’t be able to do without.
The light vegetable stock cube and the light and quick vegetable broth made with its use are digestible and light bases that allow you to cook and season while limiting the use of oil during cooking.
You’ll find it as an optional ingredient in many blog recipes.
100% plant-based.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No cooking
Ingredients
It’s a simple recipe with only three types of vegetables and extra virgin olive oil.
- 4 carrots
- 2 onions
- 1 celery (stalks)
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (approximately, raw)
Suggested Tools
Making stock cubes at home has never been so simple!
To prepare it, you need a kitchen robot or a blender/mixer with strong blades.
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Ice Tray
Preparation
Clean and wash the vegetables thoroughly:
– peel the carrots and remove the ends;
– peel the onions and remove the ends;
– strip the celery of leaves and ends.
Pour the oil into the food processor bowl.
Add the chopped vegetables and blend until you get a homogeneous mixture.If the mixture is too dry, add more oil, a little at a time.
The color of the mixture varies based on the quantity of each vegetable: more orange, more yellow, more green.
Your homemade light vegetable stock cube without salt and without cooking is ready to be frozen.
The addition of oil to the preparation of the vegetable stock cube allows for preservation.
The amount of oil per cube is minimal.
To prevent it from frying, just use it along with water or other liquids.In case of brothy first courses, to avoid glycemic spikes, it is advisable to cook the pasta separately, then rinse it and add it to the brothy sauce prepared separately; in this way, the starch released by the pasta in the cooking water is removed.
Cook the pasta separately from the broth.
Drain it and rinse well under running water to remove the released starch.
Combine it with the hot broth prepared separately.This way, you reduce the glycemic load of the dish and make it more manageable and light, without giving up the comfort of pasta in broth.
The pasta in vegetable broth is a first course – a source of carbohydrates – vegetarian and easy to balance by adding a source of protein and vegetables to create a balanced meal or a single dish that helps maintain stable blood sugar levels.
The homemade light vegetable stock cube and the homemade tomato sauce without sugar or oil in cooking are my two indispensable bases for healthy and quick cooking.
Storage, Tips, and Variations
Store the light vegetable stock cube in the freezer by freezing it immediately after preparation:
– pour the mixture into ice cube molds;
or:
– pour the mixture into aluminum trays lined with parchment paper, leave to freeze, then cut into cubes;
transfer and store in freezer bags.
Keeps up to 3 months in the freezer.
One vegetable stock cube is sufficient to flavor up to 400 ml-600 ml of water according to the desired taste intensity.
Dissolve a vegetable stock cube in hot or cold water to obtain a quick and light vegetable broth.
Add a vegetable stock cube to flavor recipes based on vegetables, legumes, meat, and fish, and as a base for a light sauté without adding additional oil during cooking.
Indispensable in the preparation of risottos, soups, and stews.
FAQ
About the Carrot
Cooking modifies the glycemic index of carrots: raw food GI 30, cooked food GI 85, but the amount used in the preparation is small and is distributed among portions, so generally, the impact on blood sugar is negligible.
If you prefer, you can use a smaller amount compared to onion and celery or omit it altogether.Can I use other vegetables?
You can experiment with other vegetables, but the basic recipe with carrots, onions, and celery is the most balanced and versatile.
Information about packaged vegetable stock cubes
The percentage of vegetables contained is very minimal; it has a high salt content and also contains fats and in some cases additives such as glutamate.
To avoid or limit especially in case of hyperglycemia.
