Mushroom Broth

This easy and delicious homemade mushroom broth is made with roasted mushrooms and vegetables, and is easy to make ahead and freeze for later!

I've been on a soup kick lately.

Winter in Kentucky has been snow-free this year, with lots of sideways, bone-chilling rain.

To combat the cold, wet days, I've been keeping soup on hand all the time. Soups like my easy tomato soup (from canned tomatoes), vegan tortilla soup, and beer chili.

And recently, I made my (gluten-free) version of Julia Child's homemade cream of mushroom soup.

Julia used chicken broth in her version of the soup, but I wanted to do something different. I almost decided to use my vegetable broth, but I decided that the soup needed-- deserved-- an extra kick of mushroom.

And so I made a mushroom broth!

This mushroom broth is a twist on my homemade vegetable broth recipe, and uses roasted vegetables and mushrooms to make a delicious (and freezable!) homemade broth.

What Kind of Mushrooms Should I Use?

You can use whatever kind of fresh mushrooms you have on hand.

That said, this probably isn't the place for your expensive (or hard-earned) wild mushrooms. I wouldn't use morels that you spent hours foraging, or your extra-special chanterelles.

I recommend sticking with more affordable fungi (like white button mushrooms) in this mushroom broth, because you'll probably discard or compost the mushrooms after you make the broth.

How to Make Mushroom Broth

Start by roasting the mushrooms along with some vegetables.

What veggies should you use?

I used carrots, a leek, and garlic. If you prefer, you can swap the leek for an onion.

Roughly chop the veggies (leaving the mushrooms and garlic whole), and set them on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with oil and salt.

Roast the vegetables and mushrooms until they're cooked through.

It should take about 25 minutes.

Next, add the roasted veggies and mushrooms to a large soup pot. Add water, salt, some fresh herbs and a couple of bay leaves.

This is a great place to use some of those broken bay leaves from the bottom of your spice jar, because you'll be straining out all the veggies and won't have to hunt for them later.

Boil the broth for about 20 minutes, and then strain out all the solids.

At this point, you can either use the broth right away, store it in the fridge, or freeze it for later. I like to portion the broth into smaller containers and freeze it for whenever I want mushroom soup!

Want another way to use your mushroom broth? Try it in this mushroom pasta from Basil and Bubbly!