I started getting serious about cooking my own soups a few years ago. In law school, I realized that cooking was a soothing outlet for my stress (and I was frequently stressed). So I got really into cooking soups, but I noticed that the end result always seemed to lack a depth of flavor.

The reason? The broth!

My first lesson was that there are many ways to enhance a store-bought broth. One of the first great soups I made was a simple white bean soup. The trick was searing bacon in the pot before adding the broth. That little addition to a store-bought broth made a huge difference. Adding fresh herbs and spices can also make a huge difference. For my Thai Coconut Soup, the addition of freshly grated ginger and lemongrass really brings the broth to a new dimension.

But the purpose of this blog is to rave about homemade broth, which is so much easier to make than people think. I started using an Instant Pot in 2018 (thanks Mom!) and it has upped my soup game to the next level. I now constantly make broth and have it stored in the freezer, so I rarely have to buy it at the grocery store. The flavor is incredible and it’s also environmentally-friendly to reuse food scraps. Win-win!

I have pages dedicated to classic chicken broth (instant pot and stove top) and scraps vegetable broth (instant pot only). I know there are tons of other ways to make vegetable broth. One day I will experiment more and share them with you. But for now, the Instant Pot method is just so easy and low-maintenance, it’s hard to motivate myself to try another way.

Okay, I’ll stop raving about this device until they endorse my blog.