Help me find a vegetable broth I actually like.

January 15, 2024 10:15 AM

I try to eat mostly vegetarian, but am having a hard time giving up chicken broth for making soup. Is there a veggie broth I can buy or make that will be similar?

I've purchased a lot of different kinds of vegetable broths (mostly available via Trader Joe's and my local co-op), and my main issue is that they lack that bright, clear, simple taste of chicken broth. I don't like when they include ingredients like mushroom or tomato -- it's too umami/complex/"dark" tasting. This then lends that same flavor to my soup, and I always prefer the version I make with chicken broth.

When I eat out, I always really like the broth that comes with vegetarian pho, but I mainly tend to make non-Asian soups (e.g. minestrone) and I don't want something with distinctly Asian flavors.

Any ideas would be welcome!

posted by leftover_scrabble_rack to Food & Drink (34 answers total)

Have you tried Better than Bouillon?
posted by bq at 10:23 AM on January 15 [22 favorites]

Best answer: Have you tried making your own vegetable stock with chicken stock ingredients but no chicken (carrot, celery, onion, boquet garni, peppercorns, maybe garlic if you like that)? I feel like this makes it about 75% of the way to the flavor of chicken stock. Bonus: you can eat the carrots when you're done, at least if you aren't put off by a slightly mushy texture. I pull them out and eat them immediately with a little salt.

Also, honestly, make sure you're using enough salt, and try throwing a bit of MSG in, as long as you and the folks you're cooking for don't need to maintain a low-sodium diet.
posted by pullayup at 10:24 AM on January 15 [10 favorites]

Best answer: To elaborate on bq's answer, Better Than Bouillon has a "no chicken" base, that I like fine for this purpose
posted by the primroses were over at 10:26 AM on January 15 [23 favorites]

Best answer: I came to say Better than Bouillon No Chicken but Maggi and Knorr have similar options and i know that Whole Foods and Amazon have a bunch of No Chicken/Not Chicken broths you can try. Have you tried those in addition to vegetable broth?

My other suggestion was sauteeing a mirepoix with poultry seasoning and salt and seeing if that is a good substitute for broth for you. I have found that a heavily seasoned mirepoix with water and soup ingredients often works well without broth or boullion and it’s certainly lighter/less umami (I usually also add a little bit of seedy Dijon mustard but that may or may not work for your taste buds).
posted by eleanna at 10:29 AM on January 15 [1 favorite]

I like Knorr's vegetable bouillon cubes for just like, boring default broth. They're harder to find than they used to be but Meijer at least tends to have them.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 10:30 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I have had this thought before myself, and I think the answer might be exactly that you should make it ridiculously simple with very few ingredients - that one doesn't even have onion! No herbs to get it muddy, and I'd try it without peppercorn even - you're just getting natural sweetness. I might consider roasting or pan frying half or all of the carrots first, to get a little caramelization.

I think the biggest problem is that the industry has made "broth" and "stock" totally interchangeable words. I use BTB flavors all the time, but they're all extra-umami and they're great when you want that but they're not right for sick-day-soup or ramen or something really delicate.

One product that is pretty good to start from but needs zhuzhing is Not-Chick'n cubes, which I keep in my camping supplies for making camp ramen. There's barely anything in it - it's salt, nooch, sugar, and garlic - and you get that light brothy-broth flavor. I'd call it right for a nice clear noodle soup but you're going to want to at least saute some aromatics if you're just using it as flavor base for something heartier.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:30 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

Agreed on the no chicken better than bouillon. I'm a vegetarian who sometimes drinks it as "tea" during winter
posted by atomicstone at 10:38 AM on January 15

I am much closer to a carnivore than vegetarian, however Better than Bouillon 'not chicken' is very good, second only to homemade chicken stock.
posted by so fucking future at 10:50 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

If you want to go over the top with homemade stock, roast some of the veggies before you boil them. Personally I just save trimming scraps from cooking in a freezer bag, then make stock with it when it's full. It's good bc it has the flavors and ratios I've been using, I just add salt and oil and maybe some dried herbs or MSG depending on my mood. Just remember to skip the brassicas.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:08 AM on January 15

Well coincidentally I went to a cooking class last week where we made 6 vegan soups -- more like "this is a great soup that happens to be vegan" thing rather than forcefully vegan-first -- and the #1 thing I learned was that wow everything takes a lot more salt than I would have guessed. And once there was enough salt, they didn't taste salty but they tasted great and right and loaded with all the flavors that were already in there.

Also, I've never found a boxed broth I like, so I'd definitely nth the Better Than Boullion or simply making your own via collecting scraps (freezing them as you acquire them, if it feels like it'll take a while to collect a bunch). And then making large amounts of homemade broth and freezing it in smaller quantities so it's always there when you want it.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:14 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

If you don't mind artificial flavoring, Osem Chicken Style Instant Soup/Seasoning Mix. It's a kosher-parve version of bouillon powder. Sometimes the health-food-y broth options are underpowered.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:16 AM on January 15 [3 favorites]

Osem Consomme Soup and Seasoning Mix is very good, and better with some sautéed onion and poultry spice. Available in the kosher section of many grocery stores.
posted by corey flood at 11:17 AM on January 15 [1 favorite]

Simmer whatever you use, homemade or store bought, with a little kombu before using. It won't get that east Asian tinged flavor all on its own. Add some Marmite, but not enough to get to the dark/umami flavor you're talking about.

Or just add a sprinkle of MSG-- sold in bulk in Asian grocery stores, or as Accent in the supermarket. Probably 1/4 tsp per quart.

If you do homemade, don't use too many carrots.
posted by supercres at 11:28 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

Oh yeah, nthing salt. Holy cow my mom's vegetarian matzo ball soup wakes the heck up with some (a lot of) salt added.
posted by supercres at 11:30 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

My kids are obsessed with Osem consumme, but it's pretty much salt/msg/green bits/yellow. Delish, though. Not nearly ad good as the BTB.
posted by atomicstone at 11:38 AM on January 15

Have you tried the Imagine brand "No-Chicken Broth"? https://www.imaginefoods.com/product/vegetarian-no-chicken-broth/
posted by turtlefu at 12:13 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

I was just coming in here to recommend the Osem consommé. It's accidentally vegan, and it's my secret weapon in all sorts of recipes.
posted by essexjan at 12:15 PM on January 15

N'thing the recommendation for Better Than Boullion.

Also - I've heard that another good way to get more umami into your vegetable broth is to roast the vegetables first.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:24 PM on January 15

To clarify - roasting the vegetables would give you the degree of umami you're probably missing WITHOUT tipping into the overkill you get from adding mushrooms and tomato.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:26 PM on January 15

When I'm making "chicken" seitan or something where chicken broth is an ingredient but not the main character I make something similar to the product Lyn Never suggested.

I pour boiling water over a bunch of nutritional yeast, with a bit of garlic powder and onion powder. Maybe some salt if the use context would benefit from it. I stir it up, let it settle, then do that two more times before pouring the liquid off the sediment. It settles to usable clarity pretty wuickly.If you have time to let it sit in the fridge overnight it will settle quite a bit and become very clear.

I don't cook it though - in my experience nutritional yeast can get rather bitter when it's cooked.

It doesn't have any of the aromatics that make vegetable broth inappropriate (for me) as a chicken broth substitute. I mean I like vegetable broth just fine, but it in no way fits a chicken-shaped hole.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:58 PM on January 15

I wanted to add:

I don't have proportions for you - I usually just wing it based on how intense I want it to be for my needs at the time. You can always dilute it if it's too strong.

I don't cook it when I prepare it though - in my experience nutritional yeast can get rather bitter when it's cooked. It's not a problem cooking a recipe that includes the broth though - I think that once the solids are left behind the potential for bitterness is almost totally eliminated.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:07 PM on January 15

Response by poster: There is so much great advice in this thread! I marked a few answers as best, but thanks to all of you for the ideas. It never occurred to me to look for faux-chicken broth -- I didn't see any at Target, but I'll check Whole Foods and my co-op for that. I might also try some of the recipes y'all suggested.
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 3:20 PM on January 15

Massel makes the best fake chicken stock that I've used. It's good enough that I'll forgive them for bigging-up their ingredients list with "Sea Salt from the Great Southern Ocean".
posted by flabdablet at 4:44 PM on January 15

I dislike a lot of vegetable broths, they can taste kind of muddy. Better than Bouillon has a mushroom bouillon base that is delicious.
posted by theora55 at 5:31 PM on January 15

If you want to make your own (for instance, the recipe at Lyn Never's "ridiculously simple" link), I strongly advocate adding your preferred combination of the following ingredients to boost the umami and flavor that meat would otherwise bring to the broth:

leek
mushrooms (dried, fresh/sautéed, powdered, etc.)
tomato paste, just a tablespoon or two (double concentrated, I'm an omnivore but I go through about two 12-tube packs of it a year because it's so useful)
kombu (essentially, natural MSG)
soy sauce / hoisin / miso (choose one, these all have a lot of salt)
nutritional yeast (also a surprisingly good replacement for butter on popcorn)

My personal preference is onion, garlic, leek, mushrooms, and maybe tomato paste; but having more choices means a wider variety of flavors that you can tailor to your liking.

Also, a little crushed red pepper flakes or similar heat source adds a pleasant warmth and dimension, as long as you're careful not to make it hotter than you want.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:42 PM on January 15

I forgot to mention - a judicious splash of vinegar (apple cider, rice, white wine, sherry, or balsamic all work) helps brighten/enhance the other flavors in the broth.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:51 PM on January 15

Do you eat beans? If so, are they dried and then you soak them? And then cook them in a pot of water? Then you have bean broth! Eat the beans, save the liquid for your soups. Or make bean soups.

Umami flavours can be overwhelming so you might not be too fond of this but adding miso to your broth adds some depth of flavour.
posted by ashbury at 7:36 PM on January 15

Best answer: I've been following this thread because I feel similarly to you. I hope you will be happy with some of the suggestions. But I've just stopped using broth for my vegetarian soups, I just use plain water, and I really like the results. For a minestrone, I may add a half cup of wine at the beginning of cooking, before I add water. But for other soups it's just water.
posted by mumimor at 8:20 PM on January 15

Better than buillion "no-chicken base" is my vegan go to, with added kombu leaf (improves mouthfeel, adds glutmates) and one trick is using agar agar. The big thing that meat-based broths have that vegetable broth often lacks is the velvety smooth mouthfeel from the gelatin in the bones and muscles of meat. In carnivorous cooking I often cheat with this by adding gelatin to the stock. Agar agar works very similarly for vegetable stock. You want stock that turns to jelly in the fridge.
posted by dis_integration at 8:39 AM on January 16

nth-ing Better Than Bouillon. We're meat-eaters in our house but my spouse is allergic to poultry, so chicken stock is a no-go. We use their Seasoned Vegetable base for all kinds of stuff. We also keep their Sauteed Onion stock and their Roasted Garlic stock around and those are good, too.

Not only are Better Than Bouillon stocks tasty, but they taste far better than anything powdered/cubed, as good or better than anything you'd find in cartons, cost less per use than any of the above, and last as long/longer than any other option.

They're one of the grand champion products of the contemporary kitchen and as far as I know, they do not have an equal.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:20 AM on January 16

Another thing that may amp up a vegan broth and make it more like a stock is if you add a vegetarian "gelatin substitute" such as agar agar or carageenan. That will provide a richer mouthfeel and "lip smacking" quality that meat stocks get from gelatin.
posted by slkinsey at 9:38 AM on January 16 [2 favorites]

I use a lot of the tricks upthread at home and at work, here are a few more:

- seconding adding miso paste or "yondu" to your broth (Yondu is a vegetarian umami flavor booster liquid I got a sample of at a conference a while back, I'm not sure if there are generic versions, it's Korean).
- homemade veg stock ftw
- add leeks to your broth; they have a higher proportion of oligosaccharides which can slightly thicken the broth and help get the texture you're missing from a lack of collagen/gelatin. Seaweed/kombu or agar can serve a similar function.
- dried mushroom, or roasted onions (check if there's a fully veg French Onion soup mix by you, a few granules goes a long way), nutritional yeast -- these ingredients are a great way to add glutamic acid, which is that savory/umami oomph that is found in meats. Roasted onion is a key to good pho, so it might be a flavor you can experiment with to see where your threshold is. Also, MSG, a little goes a long way.

Happy experimenting!
posted by OhHaieThere at 12:24 PM on January 16 [1 favorite]

I use powdered lemon grass, add some garlic powder and more salt than I'd like to hot water. Sometimes a drop or two of oil to make it richer. It makes a light, slightly lemony faux chicken broth.
Most vegetable broths I've had in the past have cabbage in it which gives it a very different flavor than chicken broth. I think if I didn't tell someone about the lemon grass, it could pass as a light chicken broth. It's not rich like bone broth but it's really nice.
posted by stray thoughts at 5:02 PM on January 16

Many years ago, I got a quick broth recipe from a cookbook called Fast Vegetarian Feasts. The recipe was called Tamari-Bouilion Broth, and is literally just that: bouilion with a decent splosh of Tamari added (maybe a quarter to a third of a cup).

When I discovered Better Than Bouilion, my broth got even better. I wouldn't bother to mention it when you've already gotten so many good answers, except that I had at least one vegetarian ask me if I was absolutely sure I hadn't used some kind of meat stock, because the broth felt so rich.
posted by Well I never at 6:27 AM on January 20