How Do You Make Soup Stock?

Reader Contribution by Staff

How do you make soup stock?

There are several ways to make soup stock, depending on what kind of soup you’re making. The important thing is that you do actually make a stock–instead of starting with water–because that’s what makes soups wonderful and complex.

The basic method is to add flavorful ingredients to cold water and bring it to a boil. You can use a wide variety of ingredients, such as veggies (roughly chopped, peels and all), herbs, spices, meat (with or without skin), bones and seafood shells. If you’re a vegetarian, don’t worry–you can make a wonderfully rich stock with no meat. Then just let it all simmer for a couple hours. Strain out the liquid and refrigerate, freeze or use immediately as the base of your next scrumptious soup. For more detailed instructions on the basics of soup-making, check out Warming Winter Soups.

–Tabitha Alterman, senior associate editor

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