homemade vegetable broth powder

when you make a lot of soup, the cost for healthy bouillon cubes can get expensive. the cartons of vegetable stock are even pricier, and i noticed that the powder sold in bulk at the health food store contains some questionable ingredients. (corn syrup solids and autolyzed yeast extract?)

so i decided to make my own broth powder. there are several methods for making homemade stock, but i was sold on the dehydration method. adding more veggies to vegetable soup? i like it! plus we already had all the vegetables, herbs and the dehydrator.

not going to lie though, slicing all those veggies as thin as i could get them (so they would dry more quickly) was a bit of work for one cup of powder. but the broth is so wholesome and clean! plus my mandolin slicer made the work a little easier, and dare i say sort of fun?

the bell pepper, yellow squash and red onion were from the csa. the zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs grew in our garden. i used green and purple basil, oregano and thyme, and later added rosemary and parsley. also, i used some store-bought organic produce, because what's veggie broth without carrots and celery?

the recipe i loosely followed suggested adding a good amount of arrowroot starch. that would really bulk up the powder, but would also thicken our soups, which i don't always want, so i left it out. i also didn't add salt because i like to season as i go to avoid adding too much.

the dried veggies were stored in an air-tight bag a few days until i was ready to process them in the vitamix. they smelled sooo good, i kept opening the bag for a little sniff!

all in all, i say the dehydrated vegetable broth powder is delicious and worth the effort. it'll feel good to know i'm adding local organic nutrition to our soups in the dead of winter, if i can make it last that long. maybe i should make another batch...anyone want to come help me slice veggies?=)

xoxoxo