Recipes

Bouillon Powder

A recipe for homemade bouillon powder. Done within 5 minutes and without all the nasty additives that you'll normally find in bouillon powders or stock cubes. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

Most bouillon powders or stock cubes are chock full of additives, flavor enhancers, sugar, salt and other weird things that you don’t actually need. Although using stock cubes is an easy way to e.g. give your soups extra flavor, it can also give you all those things that you would probably prefer not to ingest. Therefore I went on an experimental journey, to see if I could make a powder as an alternative for stock cubes!

A recipe for homemade bouillon powder. Done within 5 minutes and without all the nasty additives that you'll normally find in bouillon powders or stock cubes. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

The first (and probably easiest) option to avoid all the flavor enhancers in regular stock cubes, is to not use them at all. This works often, but not always. I mean, let’s be honest about it: sometimes you just need a little extra flavor, and what’s easier than tossing in something ready made?

The second option is to go to your local health food store and to check all the labels of the stock cubes (which will take FOR EVER) and then to pay $8 for a package of 6… Yeah, I’m not a fan of that either.

Thirdly, you can make your own bouillon powder as an alternative to store-bought stock cubes. Bingo! When doing research I found a lot of different versions of how to make your own bouillon powder, most of them were either based on dried and then pulverized vegetables, or based on dried herbs and spices. This version falls in the latter category, which makes this “recipe” really really easy and quick to put together once you have all the ingredients on hands.

Another benefit of making your own bouillon powder is that it is simply much cheaper than its store-bought counterpart. Two birds one stone ;)

Also, there is an AMAZING recipe for instant noodle soup, that uses this bouillon powder as its main flavoring, so make sure you have this bouillon powder on hand if you want to make it. It’s really good! It’s perfect for on-the-go with an Asian twist, and it is both simple and delicious.

Bouillon Powder
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: –
Total time: 5 mins
Yield: about half a cup

Ingredients
1/2 cup (33 gram) nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (a.k.a. pimentón)
1/4 teaspoon dried turmeric
1/8 teaspoon dried ginger
1 tablespoon coconut sugar

Instructions
1. Simply mix everything together and store in an airtight jar.
2. Use about 1T for every 250ml water you want to flavor for a strong bouillon, or use less for a lighter broth.

Nutritional information per tablespoon
29 kcals
0.3 gram fat
5.5 gram carbohydrates
of which 1.3 gram fiber and 2.2 gram sugar
2.1 gram protein

A recipe for homemade bouillon powder. Done within 5 minutes and without all the nasty additives that you'll normally find in bouillon powders or stock cubes. Recipe by That Healthy Kitchen

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22 Comments

  • Reply Stormi November 3, 2016 at 18:23

    How much of this do you use at a time? For 1 cup of broth?

    • Reply Emma November 10, 2016 at 12:49

      Hi Stormi, I use about 1 tablespoon for 1 cup of broth, but it kind of depends on how strong you want it to be as well. There is no right or wrong here :)

  • Reply Jody December 21, 2016 at 18:56

    Are yeast flakes different from yeast you may bake with.

    • Reply Emma December 4, 2017 at 23:24

      Hi Jody,

      Nutritional yeast is indeed different than the yeast you use to bake bread with. Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast strain, and it has a very nice cheesy or umami flavor to it. You can get it in most health food stores, on Amazon, or on iHerb. Hope that helps!!

      Emma

  • Reply Lyndsy March 15, 2017 at 02:55

    What is nutritional yeast flakes and where do I get it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    • Reply Emma December 4, 2017 at 23:22

      Hi Lyndsy,

      Nutritional yeast flakes are made from deactivated yeasts, and they are very flavorfull! They have a kind of cheesy or umami (savory) flavor to them. I bought mine off of iHerb, but I believe you can buy it on Amazon and in most health food stores too. Hope that helps!!

      Emma

    • Reply Matt September 19, 2019 at 03:12

      You can just use msg as a substitute that is what you’re tasting and is a key component of this type of yeast. Also just for the record every academic study ever done for the record has shown no issues with msg.

  • Reply Miss Polly March 21, 2017 at 00:00

    So this sounds very healthy apart from the salt content but am I right in thinking that for every litre of water I would need to add approx 4 tablespoons of powder. Would this not make it rather expensive????

    • Reply Emma December 4, 2017 at 23:20

      Hi Polly,

      You are definitely right, as this bouillon powder is more expensive than store-bought bouillon powder or cubes. However, most of the ingredients you can buy in bulk, so perhaps that is a good way for you to cut the costs?

      Emma

  • Reply Vernie August 28, 2017 at 02:33

    Can you leave out the sugar? I’m trying not to consume any additional sugar. Thanks

    • Reply Emma December 4, 2017 at 23:17

      Hi Vernie!

      You can definitely leave out the sugar, since this recipe is great to customize!

      Emma

  • Reply Hannah January 16, 2018 at 03:44

    Can you leave out the yeast or substitute it for something else? Yeast allergy here :(

    • Reply Emma January 17, 2018 at 08:41

      Hi Hannah,
      The nutritional yeast is a substantial part of the recipe unfortunately, and I have not tried to make it without. As far as I know, the taste of nutritional yeast can be compared to a good, authentic parmesan cheese like Pecorino Romano, so perhaps you could try it with that? However, there is a good chance the bouillon powder won’t dissolve if you try this, since the cheese is fat based. If you do give it a try, I would love to know how it turns out!!
      Love, Emma

  • Reply Tracey January 25, 2018 at 04:41

    About how many tablespoons will this recipe make? I’m hosting a Soup in a Jar party and am going to make and provide this for guests and will need to make a big quantity so trying to plan accordingly. Thank you!

    • Reply Emma February 14, 2018 at 11:26

      Hi Tracey,

      This recipe makes about 10 tablespoons worth of bouillon powder. Hope that helps :) Have fun during your soup in a jar party! Sounds like a great idea!!

      Love, Emma

  • Reply Lucy Pulsipher September 21, 2018 at 22:25

    I’m looking for an alternative to chicken and vegetable bouillion- would you say this recipe works as a substitute for both flavor profiles? It looks like a great recipe, just wanted your opinion :)

    Thank you!

    • Reply Emma July 24, 2019 at 09:19

      Hey Lucy, I think this would work yes! Hope you like it! Emma

  • Reply Ann Cassler October 17, 2018 at 23:34

    Why so much salt? I know commercial boullion powders have a lot of salt and I don’t like them because of that. I’m going to try leaving out the salt and then salting the broth I make according to taste. Do you think that would work?

    • Reply Emma July 24, 2019 at 09:19

      Hi Ann, yes I definitely think that would work!! Let me know how it works out for you :) Emma

  • Reply Brenda M Lyle October 5, 2019 at 14:09

    Could I add some poultry seasoning in this mix to give it more of a chicken flavor?

    • Reply Emma January 24, 2020 at 20:56

      Hi Brenda!

      I am not familiar with poultry seasoning, but you can definitely try it! Just make sure to make a small batch (maybe half the recipe), so that if it doesn’t work out, you don’t waste a lot!

  • Reply The Best Cheese Recipes that Involve Tofu - Mom and More April 13, 2020 at 15:50

    […] of apple cider vinegar, miso pesto, and lemon juice. Add a half tsp garlic powder, salt, and bouillon powder. If you need to add more flavor you can either pick fresh mint, some sesame seeds, or anything else […]

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