This low histamine vegetable stock is so easy to make with fresh veggies, herbs and salt. It's a tomato free vegetable stock, and perfect for using to make soups, stews and other tasty dinner recipes!
Making homemade vegetable stock is very simple to do on the stovetop, and often a better option for those on a low histamine diet. Many store-bought brands contain ingredients that the SIGHI list highlights may not be well tolerated by those with MCAS or histamine intolerance such as MSG, yeast, mushrooms or tomato.
So I came up with simple low histamine vegetable stock as a fresh and flavorful alternative! We use easy to find ingredients, and all simple recipe steps. Plus, you can easily cool and freeze in portions so you have some to hand.
Jump to:
⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Simple stovetop recipe. We use easy to find affordable ingredients and have a short cook time of just 30 minutes.
Easy to freeze. Portion it up in freezer-safe containers for your next lunch or dinner recipe!
🥕 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Carrots - these give a lot of flavor and help color the stock too.
- White onion - this scores 0 on the SIGHI list, while brown onion scores a little higher.
- Herbs - I suggest to use parsley and thyme, and make sure to use fresh herbs rather than dried.
- Fennel - this gives a lovely anise flavor to the veggie stock.
📖 Swaps and variations
Leave out the fennel. It's a little divisive, so if you're not keen on the flavor, simply leave out and add more carrots and celery instead.
Leave out the garlic. It seems quite individual as to whether people tolerate garlic or not (it scores 1 on the SIGHI list), so leave out if it doesn't work for you.
Don't use certain veggies! I suggest not to use broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bell peppers or zucchini to make stock as they can give a bitter taste.
🔪 How to make low histamine vegetable stock
It's very easy to make homemade veggie stock without tomatoes, yeast or MSG and all you need are fresh veggies, herbs, garlic and salt. So grab your large pot, a ladle and bowl and let's cook it up!
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Dice vegetables
Roughly dice the carrots, celery, onion and fennel. Press the garlic with the back of a spoon or knife to 'smash' and then peel (image 1).
Step 2: Add ingredients to your pot
Add all the vegetables, herbs, garlic and salt to your pot and pour in the water (image 2). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the water is very lightly bubbling or shimmering, but not boiling. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Strain the stock
Place a fine mesh strainer / sieve over a large bowl and either pour or ladle (I use a ladle - less chance of messy splashing!) the veggie stock mixture into the sieve. The stock will run through into the bowl (image 3).
Step 4: Transfer to containers
Ladle the strained stock into containers once it has fully cooled, making sure to use freezer-safe mason jars or bags if freezing the stock (image 4).
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Make sure to use a large pot! I've had stock almost overflowing at times . . .
- Dice the veggies. This gives a larger surface area and so more flavor to the stock.
- Use heat safe and freezer safe jugs and containers as appropriate. Check your equipment is suitable for hot and cold temperatures.
❄️ Freezing advice
It's very easy to freeze this low histamine veggie stock. Simply allow to completely cool, then transfer into freezer-safe containers. If using mason jars, make sure there is at least an inch gap at the top as the stock may expand when frozen, and use straight-edged jars rather than those with shoulders.
The SIGHI guide to food storage has more information on freezing food and is worth a read.
📋 Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can definitely add black peppercorns to stock, if they work for you.
The longer you cook the stock, the more concentrated the flavor will be. I've kept the cook time to 30 minutes to help prevent any issues with histamine formation, but this may be too long for some. Please talk to your dietician about suitable cooking methods for your personal circumstances. Conversely, if it works for you, then you can cook for longer (up to 2 hours).
🥣 How to use homemade vegetable stock
There are tons of low histamine recipes here that have veggie stock as an ingredient, including reader favorites of my celery leek soup and vegetable soup without tomatoes, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Low Histamine Vegetable Stock
Equipment
- Large pot
- Jug
Ingredients
- 3 large carrots peeled, diced
- 2 celery sticks diced
- 1 white onion peeled, diced
- 1 fennel diced
- 3 garlic cloves pressed, peeled
- 6-7 thyme sprigs
- 1 small bunch parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 cups water
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables by dicing into pieces approximately an inch in size. Press the garlic with the back of a spoon and peel.
- Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, fennel, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and salt to a large pot. Pour in the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the water is very lightly shimmering or bubbling, but not boiling. Cook for 30 minutes, uncovered.
- Place a fine mesh strainer or sieve over a large bowl and use a ladle to transfer the stock mixture from the pot into the sieve. Ladle the stock from the bowl into containers, using freezer-safe jars if required.
Notes
- Dice the vegetables. This gives a larger surface area and so more flavor to the stock.
- To keep the possibility of histamine formation low, we cook the stock for 30 minutes. If this isn't a concern, you can cook for longer, up to 2 hours.
- Make sure to use freezer safe containers and leave about an inch gap at the top of mason jars.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate. The info given is per cup of stock.
- garlic, which scores 1 and has a note, 'In small amounts, usually well tolerated after cooking'.
Comments
No Comments