Dehydrated stock compressed with salt, fat and flavour enhancers into a cube or a paste. One cube is designed to season roughly a cup or two of water, depending on the brand.
What it does in a recipe: Concentrated salt and savoury flavour with a very long shelf life. Pick the swap that covers that job — the ratios below are written so you can act on them without doing any arithmetic.
Also called: Stock cube, Stock pot, Bouillon powder
4substitutes
2close matches
Broths & stockscategory
Quick answer
Liquid stock or broth
1 bouillon cube + 1 cup water = 1 cup ready-made stock (and reduce the recipe's salt)
All substitutes, best first
4 ways to replace bouillon cube
Liquid stock or broth
Closest match
1 bouillon cube + 1 cup water = 1 cup ready-made stock (and reduce the recipe's salt)
This is what the cube is imitating, so it does the same job with more of the gelatin and rounded flavour that dehydration strips out.
MethodReplace the water in the recipe with the stock rather than adding it on top, and taste before salting.
Trade-offBetter in every respect except convenience, though usually less salty, so the dish will need seasoning you were not expecting to add.
CookingSaucesDairy-freeEgg-freeNut-free
Stock concentrate or 'stock pot' jelly
Closest match
1 bouillon cube = 1 concentrated stock pot or 1 tbsp liquid stock base
The same dehydrated-stock idea in a gelled or paste form, usually with more fat and less salt per serving, which gives a rounder result.
Trade-offRicher and less harsh than a dry cube, but brands vary widely in strength — check what the pack says it makes.
CookingSaucesEgg-freeNut-free
Allergen checkConcentrates and jellied stock pots commonly list wheat, celery, milk or soy. Formulations differ by country and by flavour within a range, so read each one; do not carry over an assumption from a different product.
Miso paste
Reliable
1 bouillon cube = 1 to 2 tsp white or yellow miso in 1 cup hot water
Miso is fermented soy dense in free glutamates, so it delivers salt and savour together in much the way a cube does, without the processed edge.
MethodDissolve it in a little warm liquid first and add it late, off a hard boil, to keep its flavour.
Trade-offDistinctly fermented and slightly sweet, and it clouds a clear broth. It reads as Japanese even in small amounts.
Allergen checkMiso contains soy, and most types are made with a barley or wheat koji, so it is not reliably gluten-free. Rice-koji miso is the gluten-free option — confirm on the label rather than assuming.
Nutritional yeast + salt
Reliable
1 bouillon cube = 1 tbsp nutritional yeast + 1/2 tsp salt per cup of water
Nutritional yeast is rich in glutamates and nucleotides, the same compounds that make a stock cube taste savoury, and the salt supplies the rest of what a cube contributes.
Trade-offCheesier and slightly nutty in flavour, and it leaves a faint cloudiness in the liquid.
Allergen checkNutritional yeast is usually grown on beet or cane molasses and is generally gluten-free, but some brands are grown on a barley-derived medium. Look for an explicit gluten-free claim if you are cooking for a coeliac.
Worth knowing
Cubes are typically the saltiest ingredient in any dish they enter, and their ingredient lists routinely include wheat, celery, soy, milk solids and MSG. Do not treat a cube as gluten-free, dairy-free or even reliably vegetarian without reading the wrapper.
Cooking around an allergy? Diet tags here describe the ingredient itself, not any particular brand. Processed products change formulation without notice and shared production lines are common, so read the label on everything you use. A severe allergy is a medical matter — confirm with the manufacturer or your clinician rather than relying on a substitution chart.