Homemade Bouillon Recipe

You can absolutely make homemade bouillon. Use it in all sorts of soups, stews, and noodle bowls. It's so much better than any canned broth I've tasted.

Homemade Bouillon

You can absolutely make homemade bouillon. And I know you can thanks to Pam Corbin. Pam wrote the lovely River Cottage Preserves Handbook.* In the very back of this exquisite little book, long past the rhubarb relish, and well beyond the piccalilli and winter fruit compote, she proposes a simple idea: make your own bouillon. I'm not sure why this never occurred to me, but until I reached page 207, it hadn't. She outlines a list of ingredients that are pureed into a concentrated paste of vegetables and herbs, preserved with salt. I've been cooking with a version of it all week, and it is infinitely better than any canned vegetable stock I've tasted. And the best part about it? You can build on the general idea and tweak it based on what is in season and my own personal preferences - which is what I did.
Homemade Bouillon

What is Bouillon?

Technically, a bouillon cube is a dehydrated cube or powder used to create an instant vegetable stock. Pam calls her version "souper mix"....but you use it in a way similar to bouillon cubes. It is used to make quick, flavorful broth. For example, when cooking soups, risottos, curries, whatever really. Homemade Bouillon

A Few Tips

The main thing? Keep in mind bouillon is quite salty and very concentrated. I mention in the recipe I've been using 1 teaspoon per 1 cup of water/liquid to start. You can adjust from there based on what you're making and personal preference. And as far as variations go, this first batch was made primarily with ingredients from my refrigerator, but I'm really excited to try other versions using different herbs and ratios of the base ingredients. In fact, if you have any suggestions or ideas give a shout in the comments - I'd love to hear them!

More Bouillon Variations

A number of your variations caught my attention, so I thought I'd highlight a couple here. Love these!

  • Karen "tried a variation with local ingredients: carrot, long onion (like a leek), daikon radish, japanese wild parsley, salt, and 7 pepper blend. added a bit of soy sauce for more salt and flavor, too. then i used it to make red lentil soup. WOW! the soup never tasted so good!!!"
  • Dominican Foodie liked the texture of the version she made noting, "I made a couple of changes to your recipe. I doubled the ingredients (except salt and tomatoes) Added extra garlic and white onions, juiced the first half (set aside), tossed the second half in olive oil and roasted for two hours, then tossed everything into a large deep pot, added bay leaves and simmered until liquid was reduced by half. Took out bay leaves, stuck an immersion blender in the pot and smoothed everything out into a paste. Perfection!"

*The U.S. edition of the River Cottage Preserves Handbook is now available.

There is a whole directory of great soup recipes where you can put your bouillon to use!

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Homemade Bouillon

4.35 from 20 votes

This recipe requires a food processor. I have a 8-cup / 2 liter / 2 quart model, and needed every cubic inch of it. I found the best approach if you are tight for space in your food processor is to add a few of the ingredients, then pulse a few times. The ingredients collapse and free up more space for the next few ingredients. If you don't find yourself using much bouillon, I will suggest making a half batch of this. And for those of you wanting to do a version with no salt, freeze the pureed vegetables in small amounts - say, ice cube trays, just after pureeing them. Introduce salt in whatever amount you like later in the cooking process.

Ingredients
  • 5 ounces / 150 g leeks, sliced and well-washed
  • 7 ounces / 200g fennel bulb, chopped
  • 7 ounces / 200g carrot, well scrubbed and chopped
  • 3.5 ounces / 100 g celery
  • 3.5 ounces / 100g celery root (celeriac), peeled and chopped
  • 1 ounce / 30g sun-dried tomatoes
  • 3.5 ounces / 100g shallots, peeled
  • 3 medium garlic cloves
  • 9 ounces / 250g fine grain sea salt
  • 1.5 ounces / 40 g flat-leaf parsley, loosely chopped
  • 2 ounces / 60g cilantro (coriander), loosely chopped
Instructions
  1. Place the first four ingredients in your food processor and pulse about twenty times. Add the next four ingredients, and pulse again. Add the salt, pulse some more. Then add the parsley and cilantro. You may need to scoop some of the chopped vegetables on top of the herbs, so they get chopped. Mine tended to want to stay on top of everything else, initially escaping the blades.
  2. You should end up with a moist, loose paste of sorts. Keep 1/4th of it in a jar in the refrigerator for easy access in the coming days, and freeze the remaining 3/4 for use in the next month. Because of all the salt it barely solidifies making it easy to spoon directly from the freezer into the pot before boiling.
  3. Start by using 1 teaspoon of bouillon per 1 cup (250 ml), and adjust from there based on your personal preference.
Notes

Makes roughly 3 1/2 cups.

Inspired by The River Cottage Preserves Handbook by Pam Corbin. The U.S. edition of the River Cottage Preserves Handbook will be available this summer.

Serves
200
Prep Time
30 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
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4.35 from 20 votes (17 ratings without comment)
Recipe Rating




Comments

Wow is it really 9 oz salt?! I used 6 and I can’t use it. I made the rustic cabbage soup and my entire body puckered! Maybe I used too much (3 tablespoons)?

Shayna99

    Hi Shayna – it’s definitely the strong stuff! So yeah, next time start gradually and keep adding to your liking. you might prefer the homemade bouillon powder better, you can adjust the salt level to your liking go from there in powder form.

    Heidi Swanson

I do frequently make my own stock (as we call bouillon in the UK), but it had never occurred to me to make my own stock powder. I must try this – I have all the requisite ingredients except nutritional yeast, and that is not hard to come by! I use coconut powder quite often, as, with just the two of us at home, a tin makes too much, and I have no idea how to keep half a tin (will it freeze?). A spoonful of coconut milk powder added to a curry does take things to the next level, though.5 stars

Annabel Smyth

What a great idea! I have to eat only freshly prepared foods, unless they are immediately popped in the freezer. I’ll be making some soon. I may blanch the vegetables before chopping, to allow for longer term storage.

Liz Hart

Hello! I know you have a bouillon powder, but is it possible to dehydrate, or possibly freeze dry (?), this and grind it in a spice mill to make it a powder? Thanks so much!5 stars

Amy

Hello!

Coming back to this recipe after years of making it, just to thank you and to report my experience. I make this every summer, a double batch, after reveling in the farmers’ market and finding all the lovely ingredients. I do as you suggested – put it in jars (I use the tall, straight-sided, 24 oz kind) and keep in in the freezer – it is better than any broth, anytime. It takes about 30 mins, once a year –
DO IT!
:)))

Thanks, Heidi!5 stars

Erin

After making the vegetable bouillon could you then dehydrate it to last longer?

Thanks
Dennyse

Dennyse

Hi Heidi,

I just made this last week and it was out of this world. I always find that only processing the veggies will give your meals a gritty texture. So I made a couple of changes to your recipe. I doubled the ingredients (except salt and tomatoes) Added extra garlic and white onions, juiced the first half (set aside), tossed the second half in olive oil and roasted for two hours, then tossed everything into a large deep pot, added bay leaves and simmered until liquid was reduced by half. Took out bay leaves, stuck an immersion blender in the pot and smoothed everything out into a paste. Perfection!

That night I left a bag of dry black beans soaking over night and made Habichelas negras guisadas the next day. Best beans EVER!

Dominican Foodie

this is really great recipe. thanks for sharing. i really like the idea, will definitey try.
for years i have been using Poloku mushroom season when i need to season my vegetarian dishes, it’s same idea as bouillon but a lot better. it contains sea salt and has a lot of shiitake mushroom flavor. I would recommend it to anyone, especially vegetarians/vegans!

ivan

This is great! I hate buying those prepackage dried stocks. This will aid to my soup making! Thanks.

kristin

Wow! So fabulous and frugal!
I will definitely try this!

Donna

Wow, that looks really great, will definately be trying it out!

UK Foodie

this is the greatest idea ever–homemade bouillon! awesome. thanks.

elle

Thanks so much for the recipe! I can’t wait to start making it, as I don’t like using store bought cubes. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Rolanda Connors

It never remotely occurred to me to make my own bouillon. Fantastic idea!

Cookin' Canuck

Genius!
Those quick kitchen staples are among the most rewarding things to make!
I blush that I haven’t thought of this before! :S
Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Alex

Alex

I made it yesterday, as a half batch. It made a brimming full pint (2 cups). That’s 96 teaspoons of bouillon. Even using 3 teaspoons 3 times a week, it will last more than a few months. I froze it directly and because of the salt, it truly doesn’t solidify at all. I took it out today to flavor some noodles and broth and it’s totally scoopable.
I wish I hadn’t used garlic though. Raw garlic, even in that small amount. takes over the other herbs. After looking at ingredients in my favorite brands of veg. bouillon cubes, I see they don’t have garlic.
BTW: if you are a foodie, you have to buy a scale eventually. I did conversions for years but finally broke down last year because of bread making and one French recipe in particular that was 18 pages long, 6 different recipes and lots of grams. That being said, just go in the kitchen and make this with what you have. Onions, celery, carrots and parsley are enough. I used Heidi’s version, but it’s just one version. Use the proportions that make sense to you. Use 1/2 cup salt for each 2 cups of finely blended veggies/herbs. Done.

Kristine-CA

I cannot wait to make this! Why haven’t I ever thought of this before? Thanks so much!

Christina

Just the other day I was lamenting how hard it is to find a good msg-free bouillon source.
This is a brilliant idea–I’m excited to try it! Thanks for posting it. Lovely.

Anna

Ok, I’ve been following your blog and have made many of the recipes (and have loved them all!)
This one is the first one that prompted me to actually write a comment. I saw this at work yesterday, printed it off and knew there was a reason for that ugly celery root sitting on my counter. I actually had every single ingredient. And now I have a whole whack of boullion. I probably spend $30 a month on store bought organic boullion, but no more!
Not sure what all the fuss is with the measurements, they are perfect to me! Thanks for a most fantastic idea!

Anita

So much easier than making my own veggie broth! Any idea how long this will keep in the fridge and freezer? When I give things like this as gifts I always like to let people know the expiration date.

RH

I generally make my veg stock once a week, but sometimes we get busy or I get lazy and I don’t get to make any before I run out. And the stock at the store is so danged expensive! Therefore, I need to make this stat! I wonder if I can convince my hubby that it is cost effective to buy a large processor for this instead of having to do multiple go-throughs with my baby one. 🙂

Katie

Veggie scraps are history. Thank you so much!

Cindy

I long ago quit using boullion cubes and powder ’cause nothing that is going inside you should be that color or smell like that ( unless it’s fish sauce). This is a remarkable, dare I say transformational, idea. I can’t wait to try it. I, too, will be looking for Pam the jam’s book! Thanks, Heidi, for another great idea!

pat

Thanks for bringing this recipe from The River Cottage Jam Handbook to light, it is an epiphany.
I am delighted that the recipe uses accurate weight measures rather than less precise cups or number of items. A scale is the fastest way to great results.

Patricia

Thanks for sharing this! This is something new for me. I never thought of this recipe! I will try this as soon as I get the ingredients!

hope chest

That is such a great idea. I would have never thought that you could make your own bouillon!

Teri @ Make A Whisk

What a fantastic idea! 🙂 I’m super excited about this and can’t wait to try it. 🙂

Krista

Thanks so much .I will definately try this. Great Idea

Ravinder

count me among those who said, “wow! why didn’t i think of that?”
tried a variation with local ingredients: carrot, long onion (like a leek), daikon radish, japanese wild parsley, salt, and 7 pepper blend. added a bit of soy sauce for more salt and flavor, too. then i used it to make red lentil soup. WOW! the soup never tasted so good!!! looking forward to trying other variations.
to roula: i still started the soup by sweating onions and carrots (used a bit of garlic olive oil i made). then i stirred in the beans until they were coated. added the bouillon concentrate and water after that. hope that helps!

~karen

I have never thought to make my own bouillon. Genius! Thanks for sharing!

Diana (girlfeedsboy)

This recipe is a great idea!
My only question is the grams vs ounces when using vegetables. How do I convert ounces to …cups or 1 leek?

Wendy

What a wonderful idea. I tend to use stock or buillion daily throughout the winter and this is such a great way to add depth & flavor that is quick &homemade.

Suzi

Fabulous, can’t wait to try this and share with my family of creative chefs. Thanks so much.

Pat

Made this tonight and then risotto. Wonderful! One caveat: I only added 2 T of salt, and I thought it was a bit much at that. I think 9 oz is way over the amount needed. I would have added just a touch more of the bouillon, but the salt was too much. I will skip it or go lightly next time, and then freeze in cubes. But don’t let the salt detract…it is yummy and perfect for making a quick meal without having to make stock first.

Jacqueline

This sounds like a perfect bouillon recipe. I was looking for one actually. Lucky to find one here. I’ll try this!
Magda

my little expat kitchen

Thanks, this looks like a great idea for surplus from kitchen gardens, and i can use a hand blender i suppose!

jin

Great idea, like some others have mentioned, I’m really looking forward to making some unique local versions of this when summer roles around.

Neal

This looks fantastic. I’m hoping to try it soon. Thanks for sharing it!
By the way, I just came across your site a couple of months ago and I absolutely love it. 🙂 Your photography is fantastic and always manages to make me hungry!

BethL

Wow… I never thought of this either! I think it’s the perfect thing for busy working wives/moms/ladies/cooks :-). Whenever I want soup/broth, I can just dump in a table spoon or so and cook up some broth for whatever. Definitely making this. Great that the ingredients can be played around with. Thanks Heidi!

Jayne

I’m also wondering (like Lentil Breakdown) whether cooking the vegetables first would make for a better or worse bouillon. Almost all of my soups start with sweating garlic and onion, and often celery and carrots too. So would sweating, or perhaps roasting, the vegs before chopping enhance the soup more (as opposed to not doing so which essentially is like boiling raw minced vegs in a soup without sweating first)?

roula

I always make my own stocks and freeze them in portions…this is interesting. I’m excited about the cilantro in the recipe 🙂

Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home

Thrilled! You know it is a good idea when everyone is saying, “Duh, why didn’t I think of that!” Thanks for passing along this knowledge!

Enchanted Fig

Please disregard my first comment about the Tomatoes, I misread the recipe quantity. Comments on the salt level stand. It is really tasty, and I can see making it again.

skeip

love, love, love this idea. way easier than throwing the random veggies into the pot, simmering for an hour, and waiting to cool before freezing. i’ll probably still go the traditional route with my parmaggiano rinds, but add this to the freezer too – thanks for sharing!

jessica

I will just add my expression of joy and excitement to this long list. What an amazing find this is! Thank you, Heidi!

Patrice

I just made this and felt compelled to write. I measured everything to the gram on the kitchen scale, used sundried tomatoes that were not packed in oil because the recipe was not clear. I only used 85 grams of tomatoes, and it is more tomatoey than what is pictured. It is not a bad flavor, just not what I expected. But, 250g of salt is outrageous!! I measured out 100g, and ended up using only about 60g and it is still terribly salty. I don’t know if that is a typo, but please use much less salt and taste as you go.
HS: Hi Skeip, Just wanted to take a minute to respond to your comment. I just want to make sure you got to the part in there recipe where you use the bouillon in very small amounts – it is a concentrate. So yes, if you taste it straight from the jar it is quite salty, but you don’t need much of it, or alternately, you can use less of it in your cooking. I’d advise against scaling back the ratio of salt to other ingredients, it functions as a preservative here. An alternate approach would be to blend the ingredients to your liking, skip the salt entirely, and freeze it solid – preferably in small portions. Then you can add salt to taste later if you like. I should also point out that I used 30g of sun-dried tomatoes, not 85g, it sounds like you used nearly 3x the amount in this version of the recipe. My apologies for any confusion, but I just want to be clear, that a bouillon paste is by nature quite strong!

skeip

Wow, this is awesome! I will definitely try it!
Thanks so much for sharing with us, love your blog and book!
Ana

Ana

This caught my attention because in the past, I have bought ‘Les herbes salées du bas du fleuve’, which are from the Province of Quebec, east of Quebec City. Translated it would be approx ‘salted herbs from down the river’. I don’t even know if they’re still available, but I’ll give this a try. Thanks for the post.

Gillian

Thank-you! This looks wonderful.

Kyla

I have been using Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable Bouillon with Sea Salt and have been very pleased with the flavoring. But this! It hadn’t occurred to me either to make my own. What a great idea and a good recipe. I’ll give it a go. Thanks.

Maria G

    I like the Rapunzel bouillon as well!

    Heidi Swanson

Were the sun-dried tomatoes oil-packed or loose?
HS: Hi Maggie, they were loose.

Maggie (the other Magdalena)

Wonder if it could be dehydrated and kept like a normal cube?

Rusty

I can’t wait to make my own. I dont like using the store bought bouillon as it never get that fresh homemade taste. Now only to figure out what to use instead of shortening my life will be so much easier. Thanks for helping me provide tastier/healthier meals for my family.

Jaan

what a great bonus for weeknight cooking – no sacrificing flavor or nutrition in the name of time; usually, if I have to do that, I opt for scrambled eggs or yogurt and popcorn…

lisa

Thanks Heidi. I always make my own vegetable, chicken, turkey and beef broths which I keep in glass jars in the freezer but I also had never heard of making actual bouillon. I’ve done this for years due to MSG sensitivity — and it comes under many more names than just MSG.
I imagine one could reduce the salt and keep it in small containers so that only a small amount is taken out of the freezer at a time to be used. I could not tolerate that much salt either, and I use Himalayan.
You are precious and greatly appreciated. Love your cookbook reviews.

Gen

I’m making this tomorrow, for sure. It greatly bothered me that I was buying stock anyway, even if only bouillon in a jar, since it meant nothing was local, everything was processed somewhere else and shipped in, and the taste of it was never exactly what I wanted.
This excites me.

Sarah Beam

This is definitely going on my to-do list for next week. Such a great idea! Was that a Weck canning jar in the pic? I’m having trouble finding cute jars in my area.
HS: Hi Michelle, that particular one isn’t a Weck, I’m actually not sure what it is. I Picked it up at a flea market a few years back. I have a whole mish-mash of jars around.

Michelle

Great idea to do at home, and definitely one of those “Why didn’t someone think of that sooner!” Now it seems so logical.

OperaJoys

Wow, this makes so much more sense than making your own stock, which requires more boiling and more space in the freezer, plus defrosting. Very energy wise! Thanks!
Also, kia ora from Kiwiland hehe!

Zo

Genius! What a great idea!

Maninas

Yay for bouillon sans MSG! Thank you, this looks like the answer to my bland homemade vegetable broth. This is the first bouillon I’ve seen WITHOUT MSG. Again, thank you.

spilled ingredients

On his TV show here in the UK, Hugh F-W affectionately calls her “Pam the Jam” — always makes me chuckle.
I’m definitely trying my hand at this!

BF

You never cease to amaze me, Heidi…this recipe looks delicious and I cannot wait to try this tomorrow night…thank you and have an enjoyable weekend.

The Healthy Apple

I wonder about adding nutritional yeast? I love this idea, and I will definitely be doing this!

Sami

This recipe takes the mystery out of that store bought, processed product that most have us have relied on at one point or another in our cooking, but never thought to make ourselves. Clearly utilizing fresh ingredients and making it from scratch allows for a much better product, more flavor and endless variations on how to customize it. This is thinking outside the box, so sure.

Molly @ mollys menu

Nice! I was looking for a resources like this earlier in the week when I made my potato and leek soup.
Funny, reading it took me on a flashback to childhood in the country village in France! Surrounded by everything made locally from scratch, I didn’t remember the homemade broth stewing in a pot at the end of each week! Thank-you for the reminder; I will also check out the River Cottage Preserves link!!

la femme artiste

This is fantastic, I never thought about making bullion! Can’t wait to make some of my own.

Jacqui @ So Good & Tasty

This is a fantastic idea! I’m just imagining all of the dishes that can be enhanced by this homemade vegetable bouillon. I wonder if you what an Asian flavored bouillon with lemongrass, garlic, kaffir lime leaves or coriander leaves. I think I’m going to have to experiment in my kitchen to find out.

Christine @ Fresh Local and Best

Yup, sofrito. I’ve got cubes of the frozen stuff stashed in my freezer and grew up with my mom making it as well. However I’ve always thought of boullion more of a meat with aromatics blend than a sofrito.

marielle

Love this! Thanks for the recipe. I’ll be using it often!

Carrie @ Deliciously Organic

Ack! The genius of this is almost too much for me. I’m definitely going to give this a try.

annie

I am going to make the recipe, and will definitely purchase this book-both sound wonderful!. The bouillion could be used as a base for many wonderful Vegan dishes, over and over if stored properly. I will pass the recipe along to our farm’s CSA (community supported agriculture) shareholders! They always want new ideas about ways to include more vegetables in their diets. Thanks for sharing!

Judy McGary(Doe Run Farm Tn.)

I’ve been saving veggie scraps in the freezer the past two months to make my own stock. Maybe I’ll give this a try too!

Christina (Dinner at Christina's)

Yes! I’m totally making this! I was just recently horrified to discover that the bouillon cubes I’ve been using have hydrogenated oils in them, so I’ve been using water instead. I’m so making this next week. Yeah!

Christine

Inspired!

Wendy

This is such a great idea–I can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!

Meghan

I like the idea of this even better than making my own stock – takes up less space!

Alta

I love this idea. I’ve also read in old cookbooks recipes for homemade chicken or beef bouillon. I am sure that this recipe would taste so much better than storebought! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂

Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet

I’ve been doing this for years (ever since I moved into a place with real garden space!), but instead of mixing all the vegetables together I make the vegetable/salt pastes separately (tomato, red and/or green pepper, carrot, etc.; have alse made a roasted garlic/salt paste that is incredible) though all always include onion and garlic. The separated pastes freeze semi-solid like your’s Heidi, and then I can mix and match as to my mood and whatever I am making. 1 tsp per cup of unsalted liquid is my rule of thumb as well.

Patrick

Heidi, this is the answer to my prayers. I’ve been bemoaning the fact that I can’t get the beloved Swiss Marigold Boullion powder in Dubai anymore and have given up on the alternatives (Kallo is everywhere but it just tastes stale to me). I was thinking about cooking up a big batch of vegetable stock to freeze – but this solution is far superior. Cooincidently bought River Cottage Everyday cook book today (to add to my 101) – the first I own from RC although I am fan of Hugh FW, his views on sustainable and seasonable food, compassionate farming and, of course, recipes. There is masses of inspiration – in fact, even though it’s 10pm, I’m on my way to the kitchen to make the dough for homemade digestive biscuits. Sorry long comment – but so inspired by this post. It’s a pleasure, always, when there is an e-mail from 101 cookbooks in my in-box. Thanks so much.

Sally

This is such a brilliant idea! It sure beats spending money on overpriced boxes of insipid veggie stock.

Kimberly

I can’t believe you’ve sent this today. I was just searching online for homemade bouillon yesterday! I’ve tried making vegetable stocks but they always lack flavor and commercial cubes are a nutritional nightmare. Thanks so much Heidi. This is just what I need.

Jeff

Lisa you are right. I am also want to use this recipe but i could got the measurement. I am trying to use this home made bouilon recipe.
Any one can explain this measurement in plain US English.
Thanks in advanced!
Sherry

Chauffeur Driven

Very nice idea indeed….
I’ve been making small balls of miso to take for lunch in a kind of “instant soup” after seeing it at Just Bento last year, but your instant bouillon takes “soup at work” to another level!

SallyBR

Brilliant! Please add my thanks to yours! My son has life-threatening food allergies and this will help make a limited diet oh so tastey and easy. Fast, yummy, allergy friendly, sign me up. Merci! Jenna

Jenna

Thanks!!! Love this idea!

Annette

What a great way to use up any overload of vegetables in the fridge. I can imagine so many different cultural versions!

Jessica Lee Binder

What a bouil-iant idea! What do you think about using roasted vegetables instead of raw ones, particularly red peppers (for a red pepper paste substitute)?

Lentil Breakdown

I’m curious … would this translate/adapt to make a meat-flavored version, or would it be easier to simply use this as the base with the bones to make a stock?
I love reading your recipes and they almost make me want to go vegetarian myself! This one just made me wonder, though …

Russell

I’m always looking for a junk-free bouillon and now I’ve found it. Thanks Heidi for the constant inspiration!

Jamie G. Dougherty

Wow. This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that!?” recipes. I get discouraged by store-bought bouillon, so I love the idea of being able to control exactly what goes in it. Thank you!

autumn

Thanks for this great idea!
I never really liked the cubes because of their artificial feel but I never thought making bouillon could be so easy!
My husband will love it too I am sure!

Annika

This is great…. and wonderful knowing what is in it. I no longer have to wonder what “flavors” and “spices” means! I also don’t have to worry about crazy amounts of sodium and msg. Thanks for posting this!
-Monica

The New Vegan

Ingenious. This makes the idea of bouillon make sense to me – I’ve not bought the cubes cause I didn’t see the point of it, healthfully. Laura, above, had a neat idea about dehydrating farmer’s market surplus, too . . .

Heather

P.S. This looks fantastic, Heidi!! Thanks for the post!

Erin Joy

I am ridiculously excited about this recipe. I use bouillon so much, I have having to stock up at the store. As an added bonus, I just got a new food processor so this is the perfect excuse to play with it 🙂

Alyssa

This is such a fantastic idea. I kept looking for the step that would say “cook down for hours” as if to concentrate it like a typical cube, but love that this keeps things fresh instead.

deb

Wow, what a great idea! Would love to try this soon. Thanks for the inspiration!

Grapefruit

Mmm. I wonder how this would be with mushrooms? Currently, my favorite vegetarian bouillon is Better than Bouillon’s Mushroom version. I’ll have to start experimenting on a homemade version!

VeryThorough

I’m so excited to try this idea! Thanks!

Angela

Brilliant!

carla

Thanks for posting this! I too am tired of running out of boxed stock.

Wendy

YES!
I have been so uninspired by food lately and this is going to get me back to experimenting. What a simple, perfect, idea that should be obvious yet isn’t.
Love it! I’ll need this cookbook now too.

Darla

What a fantastic idea! I rarely manage to make stock (it’s so time consuming) but always want more flavor. My shortcut way to beef up (sorry, pun) a recipe has been to sautee finely diced carrots & celery with onions and garlic. But I can’t wait to try homemade bouillon/soup starter. Sounds wonderfully flavorful.

Kathy

Pam Corbin rocks – I’ve made several of her jellies and jams over the last year. My Preserves handbook is much loved (and berry splattered!). I hadn’t even spotted this recipe so off to have a nosy now. Great post, thanks for sharing

nic @ nip it in the bud

What an awesome idea! I spend so much money on canned organic vegetable stock and I’ve never been thrilled with the results when I make my own. This sounds wonderful! Please do post about the variations you try – I have a feeling this is going to be a staple of my fridge from now on and I love the idea of different flavor profiles.

Wendi Gratz

Looks good! But I agree recipes like this in weights are so frustrating obviously a chef’s recipe not a home cooks. Why 100g of carrots and not 2 small carrots. If you are going to use all that veg though why not just make stock and freeze it?

Merrie

I have been looking around at broth recipes and this one looks really delicious! I love leeks and fennel!

christie @ honoring health

This is brilliant – what a good idea!

Suzi

how about adding a recipe box? that would be nice and very useful.

yogie

What an incredible idea! Making your own bouillon is genius! I love the fact that it can include whatever we like!
Thanks for the inspiration!

Estela @ Weekly Bite

Often the hardest part about converting meat-recipes to vegetarian meals is exactly this: the stock. I think most vegetable stock recipes are a bit bland and leave the vegetarian dish flat. This is a great recipe for an indispensable cooking ingredient. Soup and sauce magic !
Thank you so much for sharing it and for making our lives tastier every week 🙂
Michaela

Michaela @ The Gardener's Eden

Love the idea. Perfect. You can scoop some into ice cube trays and pop them out into zip-lock baggies when frozen for storage in the freezer in just the right portions. Really great stuff. Thanks.

Mickie McCalll

I love this idea! I can’t have much salt, and as this is preserved by freezing, couldn’t I cut way back on the salt?

Catharine Butterfield

    yes! And season to your liking.

    Heidi Swanson

Awesome! This looks like the answer to “stock issues”. Can not wait to try it. Thanks for posting. Its always great to see what you are up to. Thanks for the inspirations.

Chris

Yum this looks great. Thanks for the link to the River Cottage preserves book- I cheated and have requested it from our the local library. We are in the midst of preserve season here in NZ and am on the hunt for some new recipes.

Jane

When I have surplus garden veggies or come home with a load of mushrooms from the farmer’s market, I chop them up, dehydrate them, run them through the coffee grinder, stick them in a canning jar and store in the freezer. I just add a tablespoon or so to a pot of soup and add salt to taste. I’ve used green beans, potatoes, zucchini, onions, herbs, mushrooms- you name it. This can also help thicken a soup (risotto) or whatever recipe you put it in. It could also be a good way to add more veggies, secretly, to a kid’s meal (mac & cheese). This also stores for a long period w/o going off.

Laura

Thank you so much for posting this. When reading the list of ingredients of soup cubes my stomach rumbles at all of the unnatural ingredients. The organic ones I have tried don’t seem to have the flavor the “normal” ones do and since flavor enhancers are not the healthiest things on earth, I would like to avoid them when possible. Since reading your blog and cooking from it my family has become much healthier. My kids no longer want boxed breakfast cereals, they would much rather eat the scones or freshly baked bread. It means more discipline on my part, but it pays off. The kids (4 and 5) cook with and learn the principals of healthy eating. Thank you.

Martha

Oh Heidi — this looks delicious! We unfortunately have WAY too much bouillion that we bought in bulk atm, but will definately keep this in mind for next time!
Also, had to forward this recipe to about 6 people. Minimum. 😛
Tegan

Tegan

I’ve always liked making my own stocks and back when we ate mostly meat, I liked making my own boullion.
This lovely sounding fresh alternative will be a wonderful addition for us now that we are eating primarily vegetarian.
I always save vegetable peels in the freezer just for broths. Now I have a fresh alternitive.
What a time saver.
Altho I must admit to having waaay over 101 cookbooks. I will be adding the River Cottage Preserves Handbook right away.

Deborah

Sounds good; will be making it soon.
What is sodium reading? I know it says 9 oz. of salt but what does that come out to?
Can you cut down on the amount of salt used?

Kedi

Funny thing is, I make my own breads, jams, stocks, etc. So why have I never considered making my own bouillon?
In the words of Shakespeare, that just ain’t right.
I’ll have to correct the situation by trying this recipe. Not to mention, I’m also tempted to check out the book.
Thank you Heidi.

Marysol

This sounds wonderful! If you save some for in the fridge how long do you suppose it lasts?

Lauren

Wow! Thank you for this wonderful idea. It seems so easy as well! Thank you for posting this!

Morgan

What a great idea. And infinitely better than trying to find a ready made product. thank you

marilynn

Heidi, this is amazing – I live in the UK and pore over everything we’ve got here and never come across it…my veggie box is screaming out for this!
Thank you so much,
Tuula

Tuula

Aaaah, such a good idea Heidi! I’ve been making my own vegetable stock more often recently and appreciate the taste benefits but we only have a small freezer and can’t have as much stock to hand as I’d like to.
Another tip to try from Pam’s wonderful book is the decadent but delicious chestnut jam. Delicious on good bread, swirled through natural yogurt or warm over ice-cream.

Sophie

OH COOL! and I have everything except the celery root; off to market I go! 🙂

vegamite

Thank you Heidi, this sounds great. Since I don’t really like celery, and also in my country you can’t buy celery root (celeriac), what can I use instead??
I’m gonna make this as soon as I can find the ingredients. Thank you very much!!!!

Luzmarina

Fantastic! Can’t wait to make it. I used to buy a paste bouillon from a German company and I can’t find it anymore. I think I will try adding nutritional yeast as well. I love the depth of flavour that it adds.

Jules

This is great. Reminds me of a more concentrated SOFRITO Latino. For those who want to try this with a “Puerto Rican accent” consider changing the short leaf coriander to long leaf coriander or “Chinese parsley”. Garlic. Add lots of garlic.

Cheetah Silver

Incredible! Such a simple idea…50 years into my life and I never sought out a recipe for homemade boullion! Thank you for always shining light onto my world…
I would like to know if I could omit or drastically reduce the salt (I have high blood pressure), or would this affect the preservation?
Thanks for your help!

Kathie Swanson

Wow, I actually have almost every single ingredient for this on hand, and will be fine subbing what I don’t. Love this idea!

Stacy

Thank you Heidi and I thank your friend for the bullion. I would add some oregano, cumin and garlic to the mix. But that is just me. thanks again for a lovely site and for the friendships you have made around the world who are willing to share with all of us too. God bless.

Beverlyjane

Hi sweetie, I am 60 yrs. old, and in my country we make this concoction all the time, we call it “sofrito” and is kept in a jar by the stove, here in America I make a big batch on Mondays, put it in freezer bags, and I use my “sofrito” for 6 months. Is great Love Teshie

Teshie Cianca-Hampton

Fantastic! I’m off to the farmers market to get the ingredients right now.
Thanks for all the great food ideas, Heidi.

Barbara

Really like the recipe – I make homemade broth all the time, but is this possible to do for those on low salt diets? Perhaps freezing it in cubes and then just defrosting as needed in liquid for soup or stew, etc.??

windystar

Sara, no, you don’t have to add the salt, you can leave it out and then use Misty’s idea of putting it in ice cube trays to pop out as needed!

Kelly

I keep sharing your blog with friends, and they’re only complaint is that I didn’t share it sooner.
🙂 You’re an inspiration.

Satpreet Kahlon

I just made some stock yesterday with the full on pot o’ boiled veggies and tossed pints of them in the freezer. This would be so much easier! Can’t wait to try it next time I need stock. Thanks for sharing, Heidi!

jill

This, Heidi, is a wonderful idea. I have yet to find a brand of bouillion in Canada that I like – always too salty, too flat, too fake so I will make this and use it with gusto! It will make whipping up supper after a long work day exciting and much faster. I think I’ll try a version leaning to Indian flavors as well…

Claire Schultz

I am making this tomorrow. At first, I thought it kind of defeated the point of bouillion to make your own bouillion, but now that I see the recipe, I am amazed.

Elizabeth

Great post. Sometimes the simplest things can be a paradigm shift. Upon first read I immediately thought about my sofrito. Never conceptually thought about it as bouillon, but do see it so now. The mixture of green peppers, garlic, cilantro, onions, chiles, spices, etc. make up the essence of several Latin American dishes. You’ve inspired me to do a post on it. I also do the cube thing in the freezer especially for soups, beans, rice and sauces. Thanks!

Andrea (Fork Fingers Chopsticks)

When you mentioned the freezer I first envisioned freezing cubes of this for later use, but how great is it that it doesn’t freeze solid? I’ll definitely have to look into this. Thanks for the recipe!

Misty

Wow, I never thought of this, or thought I could make it for some reason! Thanks for sharing; this recipe looks great!

Simply Life

I use the same method for making sofriot (minus the salt) and freeze in 1/2 cup batches. I never thought of doing this for stock. I’m excited to make this, it will open up a lot of freezer & fridge space that storage of 8 pints of broth takes up!

Metta

This sounds lovely & easy, but I have one question. If you’re freezing it, does it need all the salt for preservation? I like to salt food as needed, keeping the flavoring & the salting separate…any thoughts?

Sara

THIS IS AWESOME. I can’t wait to try it and I will probably purchase the book.

Molly

The commercial equivalent of this, like Better Than Buillion, has what they call “autolyzed yeast extract” in their veggie paste too. Basically, that’s Vegemite, which is pure salt and umami. I’d be interested if anyone tried something similar to this with Vegemite as the base.

Harlan

I am going to make a quarter (half?) recipe of this in my itty bitty 3 cup processor ASAP!

Magdalena

Wow, this sounds great! And ain’t it nice knowing exactly what’s in it? I’m gonna have to get her book, too.

KIm

oh nice! i’ve been frustrated with my lack of freezer storage space for homemade stock. this could be a perfect substitute. thanks!

ann

This is so simple and brilliant!! I will give this a try today!. I use to do a similar thing with parsley. Chopp parsley on a food processor, then add a little water and then put in on the freezer on cubes. I use those for months, on almost everything. Btw, i will add basil to your idea. Best regards from Argentina!

Alcira

Homemade stock paste is very popular in Austria, my family has made this for ages (without tomatoes).

Carola

I’ve made a few of your recipes, generally liking them very much. This idea is just genious as it seems I can’t find any boullion over here in Norway that I like really and hardly ever have time to cook good old fashioned stock…
Thanks

Åshild

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