Mirepoix
Printable Recipe (click to expand)
Mirepoix
Ingredients
Method
- Warm olive oil in large pre-heated skillet.
- Add onions with a little salt and sauté for about 3 minutes then add carrots and celery.
- Add salt and pepper as desired and continue to fry together for 5 minutes, the remove from heat or continue with remainder of recipe as instructed.
Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!
I’m a little embarrassed to admit this but it took me waaay too long to learn about mirepoix…usually I would just plough through a recipe, rush frying the onions and not add the carrots or celery, because I didn’t have them in my fridge (which should be staple in everyone’s fridge), or would just toss everything into a boiling pot of water when making a soup….What I ended up with was undercooked onions, recipes that were just “missing something” (gee I wonder what :P) and mushy veggies in my soup…When someone FINALY explained the importance of not skipping this essential step and I started incorporating it, the quality my cooking drastically (and dramatically) improved!
Mirepoix is a fundamental basic to cooking, and is the base for most soup, stews, curries, sauces etc… or serves as a bed for braised meats. Traditionally, mirepoix is 2:1:1 onions, carrots, and celery, sautéed in butter or olive oil; but there are other variations such as the cajun mirepoix known as the ‘Holy Trinity’ where green bell pepper substitutes for carrots (and is blasphemous to leave out of Cajun Gumbo or Ettouffée- pun intended). By lightly sautéeing your “aromatics”, you slowly release their natural flavours, and provide a much deeper flavour to your recipe.
So with all this mirepoix talk let’s jump in and make a simple minestrone soup together, and taste the first hand benefits of making mirepoix part of your regular cooking routine :)!
Step 1 – Chop Chop!
Start by chopping your onions, celery and carrots. You can chop them as finely or as coarsely as you like, but just be aware that the coarser they are the longer it’s going to take to cook them, and vice-versa. When deciding which route you want to take, keep your end recipe in mind – if you’re going to be making a veggie soup, you might want to chop them a little more coarsely, but would want to consider chopping on the finer side if you are planning on using your mirepoix for rice or risotto dish because it will allow them to more easily dissolve into the rice.
Step 2 – Lightly Fry your Veggies
Once all your veggies are chopped up, warm a sautée pan on medium-low heat with some olive oil and/or butter and let it warm up for a couple of minutes. You can use whichever you prefer, however, I prefer to use a combination of both as I find you get the best of both worlds – stick to what you have and/or what you prefer . Just make sure you start with a warmed pan as the heat will be evenly distributed by the time you add your veggies and will help prevent sticking and burning.
Once your pan is warm, add your onions, carrots, and celery, then lightly fry the veggies. You only need to fry the veggies for a couple of minutes, and once the onions are translucent, season the veggies with a with a little salt and pepper as needed.
Step 3 – Everything Else!
Once your veggies have sautéed for a couple of minutes and are slightly cooked… Congratulations! you’ve made a mirepoix and the base of a terrific meal, so go ahead, finish your creation and let me know how it turned out!
Items Featured in this Post:
Mirepoix
Ingredients
Method
- Warm olive oil in large pre-heated skillet.
- Add onions with a little salt and sauté for about 3 minutes then add carrots and celery.
- Add salt and pepper as desired and continue to fry together for 5 minutes, the remove from heat or continue with remainder of recipe as instructed.
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I have never heard of this before! I am making white rice tonight for dinner so will definitely try this.
That’s awesome, lightly frying the veggies releases the natural sweetness of the veggies and it really add a nice subtle flavor to rice dishes 😊
I now make sure I have celery in the fridge at all times because increasingly I add it to dishes. So underrated.
It’s totally underrated, but really makes such a difference when you do use it.
I’m an avid soup maker and I had no idea about mirepoix! I usually use my crock pot to make soup, Im curious if it’d be effective with that method as well!
I’m Not sure if you would be able to make the mirepoix in the slow cooker but you could probably add your mirepoix to the slow cooker and let the soup simmer.
This looks absolutely delicious! It’s definitely on my “to-try” list for the coming week. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful, enjoy 😊
Such a great lesson in cooking basics and how important a good foundation is to any dish. I use these ingredients all the time, but never knew the right ratio.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!!
Wow, this is so simple and would go great with everything I think . I love veggies and especially those dishes I can prepare quickly 🙂
I didn’t know that this had a name. Thanks for teaching me a new word. I do make a Mirepoix every time I make a soup but I have never put it in our rice. I’m excited to try it. Thanks again!
My pleasure, it really adds a nice flavour to the rice, especially when making rice pilaf!