Sho Spaeth

The shelf-stable chicken stock sold on grocery store shelves is basically like homemade stock—made from chicken parts and vegetables—but much less concentrated in flavor. <a href="https://www.eater.com/23552129/what-is-in-store-bought-chicken-stock">It’s made from chicken stock concentrate</a> and often contains flavor enhancers, like yeast extract, and coloring agents, like turmeric.

We recommend using boxed chicken stock only if you don’t have any homemade chicken stock on hand—again, homemade is vastly superior—and we recommend using only the low-sodium versions. (You can always add more salt; you can’t take it away!)

We compared four widely available boxed chicken stocks; here’s how they stacked up.

Kirkland Signature

Flavor: A little sweet, like a watered-down Campbell’s chicken soup; like stock that’s been diluted so it can be stretched out for service.

Color: Light golden amber.

Aneto

Flavor: Sweet, with odd, almost chemical, aroma and flavor.

Color: White, milky, opaque. Looks sort of like rice milk.

Pacific Foods (our favorite) 

Flavor: Mirepoix-heavy, almost like a sipping broth.

Color: Light golden amber.

Swanson

Flavor: Very diluted, light but clean chicken flavor.

Color: Light brown.

Boxed Chicken Stock

Stock, broth, bone broth ... what’s the difference?

These terms are often used interchangeably, both by producers and consumers, but they technically refer to different products.

Stock: The liquid produced after simmering meat, fish, and/or vegetables for a long time. Stock is not seasoned assertively with salt, as it’s meant to be used as a building block for soups, stews, and sauces. The long simmer yields a liquid with a relatively high concentration of gelatin. Combined with its lack of seasoning, stock is ideal for use in applications that benefit from the added body provided by gelatin, as well as any application that leverages the concentration of flavor produced by reduction, such as sauces (like <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chicken-demi-glace">demi-glace</a>) and stews.

Broth: The liquid produced after simmering meat, fish, and/or vegetables for a short time. Broth is often seasoned with salt, as it’s typically meant to be used as-is (without reducing). The short simmer means it has a relatively low concentration of gelatin, so it’s quite light in body, and it has limited utility for applications that require gelatin, like making sauces.

Bone broth: This is more of a marketing term than anything else, as (a good) stock will be made from meaty animal bones. However, nowadays, the term is often used to indicate that the liquid has been simmered for a longer period of time than a stock. It can help to think of it as a stock/broth hybrid, as bone broths are intended to be consumed as-is like broths—they are often seasoned and aromatic-forward—rather than used as a culinary building block.

It’s important to keep in mind that these terms are murky and unregulated, particularly when used as marketing copy on packaging.

Stock vs. Broth: What’s the Difference?

Chicken bouillon powder is concentrated, dehydrated chicken stock, and it typically contains flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate, disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate—the trifecta of umami seasonings. It often contains thickeners like <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-science-of-xanthan-gum">xanthan gum</a> and maltodextrin, a starch that’s also used to turn liquids into powder (like in our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/brown-butter-powder">Brown Butter Powder</a> and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sea-foam-powder">Sea Foam Powder</a>).

We use bouillon powder primarily as a seasoning, sort of like MSG with extra flavors, in <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-chow-fun-gon-chow-ngau-ho">stir-fries</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/hainanese-chicken-rice">broths</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/thanksgiving-turkey-nuggets">ground meat preparations</a>, and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/roasted-chicken-fat-mayo">sauces</a>. We also add some to our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/flour-corn-hybrid-tortilla">Leveled Up Flour Tortillas</a>!

We have recommended three brands of bouillon powders: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Totole-Granulated-Chicken-Flavor-Soup/dp/B007DMV732?tag=chefsteps02-20">Totole</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Knorr-Granulated-Chicken-Bouillon-Cholesterol/dp/B08TMBJMQ6?tag=chefsteps02-20">Knorr</a>, and <a href="https://orringtonfarms.com/product/chicken-flavored-broth-base/">Orrington Farms</a>. They are essentially interchangeable as seasoning, with the caveat that Orrington Farms bouillon powder is much saltier than the other brands. However, we call for Totole most often for Chinese cuisine, as Totole is most commonly used in Chinese homes and restaurant kitchens; we call for Knorr most often for Mexican cuisine, as it’s the brand typically used in Mexican homes and restaurant kitchens.

Here’s how they stack up against one another as stock substitutes:

Totole (our favorite)

Flavor profile: Clean-tasting, no extra herby or aromatic flavors.

Color: Blond.

Best for: As a general-purpose chicken stock substitute, and as an umami-boosting seasoning.

Prep: 1 teaspoon (3 g) per 1 cup of water (240 g); 1.25% concentration by weight.

Knorr

Flavor profile: Strong herbal flavor, salty, less chicken forward.

Color: Brown.

Best for: Chicken soups and sauces and as an umami-boosting seasoning.

Prep: 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) per 1 cup of water (240 g); 1.25% concentration by weight.

Orrington Farms 

Flavor profile: Salty, strong celery seed flavor.

Color: Mountain Dew–yellow

Best for: Only as an umami-boosting seasoning.

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Pan-seared brick chicken recipe (chicken under a brick)

Pan-Seared Brick Chicken

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Roasted Chicken Fat Mayo

Tijuana-Style Beef Birria

Chicken Bouillon Powder

One thing that almost all store-bought chicken stock products lack is the gelatin content of homemade stock, and that&#39;s because they&#39;re made from concentrates. (There are some products available now, typically found in freezer sections, that do contain gelatin than the shelf-stable products.)

Gelatin is a common <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/unlock-your-hydrocolloid-starter-pack">hydrocolloid</a> derived from collagen; <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pressure-cooked-blond-chicken-stock">homemade stock</a> contains gelatin because collagen—from connective tissue and skin—converts to gelatin during the stock-making process.

Since gelatin is essential for applications in which stock is reduced, such as sauces, braises, and stews, we recommend fortifying instant stock products with gelatin.

If using powdered gelatin: Use 2% of the weight of stock.

(For example, for every 1,000 g of stock, add 20 g of powdered gelatin.)

If using leaf gelatin (silver; 160 bloom): Use 4% of the weight of stock.

(For example, for every 1,000 g of stock, bloom 40 g leaf gelatin in cold water, then add to stock.)

NOTE: For those with dietary restrictions, keep in mind that the most commonly available form of gelatin is porcine (derived from pork). You can also find bovine gelatin—derived from beef—if you avoid eating pork.

How to Fortify Store-Bought Chicken Stock Products With Gelatin

You can also buy shelf-stable chicken stock concentrate; the most well-known and widely available is Better Than Bouillon.

Better Than Bouillon, as the name suggests, is meant to be a better-quality product than bouillon powders; instead of a powder, it’s a Marmite-like paste. However, it’s nevertheless a concentrated stock product, with similar additives for boosting flavor, texture, and appearance: hydrolyzed soy protein (basically MSG), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, starch thickener(s), and food coloring. Better Than Bouillon also contains milk solids (dried whey), which adds another layer of flavor.

When it comes to whipping up an instant stock with store-bought products, we prefer Better Than Bouillon over boxed stock and bouillon powder products. But nothing compares to our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/hub/bouillon">homemade bouillon cubes</a>.

Flavor profile: A lot like Campbell’s Chicken Noodle soup. Not too salty.

Best for: As a chicken stock substitute for soups and braises.

Reconstitution ratio: 1 teaspoon (6 g) per 1 cup (240 g) water; 2.5% concentration by weight.

Chicken Bouillon Concentrate

Want to know what’s better than all of these store-bought options put together—and the best secret-weapon instant stock option ever? Our very own ultimate instant bouillon cubes.

We have a whole series of DIY stock bouillon cubes—<a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chicken-bouillon-cubes">chicken</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-bouillon-cubes">beef</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-turkey-bouillon-cubes">turkey</a>, and <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pork-bouillon-cubes">pork</a>—so that you can whip up <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chicken-bouillon-egg-drop-soup">soup</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/bouillon-au-poivre-sauce">pan sauces</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/instant-turkey-gravy">gravy</a>, and even <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-instant-ramen">ramen</a> in an instant.

There’s really no comparison to be made between these bouillon cubes and the prepared or instant products you can find at the store. Unlike instant products, these chicken bouillon cubes contain a hefty amount of gelatin, which means they can be used to produce silky pan sauces and lip-smacking soups. They also have a lot of actual chicken flavor: When reconstituted, they taste like chicken soup, not autolyzed yeast extract. Unlike prepared products, they have a minimum of aromatics steeped into them, which means they’re more versatile, and you can use them in a range of applications and cuisines.

Flavor profile: Great chicken soup, with deep roasted chicken flavor.

Best for: Everything and anything! Use it as a chicken stock substitute for soups and braises; for making pan sauces; for a delicious sipping broth.

Reconstitution ratio: 1 cube (35 g) per 2 cups (475 g) water; 7.4% concentration by weight.

NOTE: If you live in the United Kingdom, Knorr makes a similar shelf-stable product called Stock Pots that is surprisingly good, but nowhere near as good as our bouillon cubes.

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Chicken sipping broth recipe made with homemade bouillon cubes

Boneless Chicken Bone Broth

Ultimate Chicken Bouillon Cubes

Instant ramen recipe using pork bouillon cubes.

Ultimate Instant Ramen

Chicken noodle soup recipe made with chicken bouillon cubes.

Instant Chicken Noodle Soup

ChefSteps Ultimate Bouillon Cubes

For each of the substitutes, we did side-by-side tests to determine which ones we liked the best.

For the boxed stocks, we warmed the stocks, then tasted them in a blind side-by-side tasting. Every member of the culinary team scored the samples and provided tasting notes, then the scores were compiled and averaged.

For the chicken bouillon powders and the Better Than Bouillon, we tasted the gelatin-fortified reconstituted stocks side-by-side, then used each to make identical batches of our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chicken-bouillon-egg-drop-soup">Instant Egg Drop Soup</a> and our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chicken-bouillon-cube-pan-sauce">Instant Chicken Pan Sauce</a>.

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Egg drop soup recipe with chicken bouillon

Instant Egg Drop Soup

Chicken pan sauce recipe with chicken bouillon cubes.

Instant Chicken Pan Sauce

How We Tested Store-Bought Chicken Stock Substitutes

The best chicken stock is homemade—no question. But sometimes what you need isn’t “the best”; sometimes you just need something that works well enough. Convenience, sometimes, is king. We take an all-of-the-above approach to chicken stock—we always recommend making and using your own <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pressure-cooked-brown-chicken-stock">brown</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pressure-cooked-blond-chicken-stock">blond</a> chicken stock, but we sometimes list boxed chicken stock as an acceptable sub, and we sometimes call for chicken bouillon powder. That doesn’t mean all these products should be used in the same way. In this guide, we’ll identify the ways we recommend using the various chicken stock products you can buy at the store, and the reasons why we use them in the way we do. For a quick glance at our recommendations, here are our favorite store-bought chicken stock substitutes from each category:Boxed chicken stock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Foods-Organic-Chicken-Carton/dp/B0CVSHY91T?tag=chefsteps02-20">Pacific Foods Chicken Broth</a>

Chicken bouillon powder: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Totole-Granulated-Chicken-Flavor-Soup/dp/B007DMV732?tag=chefsteps02-20">Totole Granulated Chicken Bouillon</a> 

Chicken bouillon concentrate: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Bouillon-Reduced-Roasted/dp/B0087VVOB8?tag=chefsteps02-20">Better Than Bouillon</a> (our favorite store-bought chicken stock)
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Stock Options: Store-Bought Chicken Stock Substitutes and How to Use Them