Water simmered with chicken meat, bones and aromatics until it carries their flavour. Stock made with bones has more gelatin and body; broth made with meat has more flavour and less set.
What it does in a recipe: The savoury liquid backbone of a dish - salt, gelatin and background depth all at once. Pick the swap that covers that job - the ratios below are written so you can act on them without doing any arithmetic.
Also called: Chicken stock, Poultry stock
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Vegetable broth
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup vegetable broth
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4 ways to replace chicken broth
Vegetable broth
Reliable
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup vegetable broth
It performs the same job as a seasoned savoury liquid, though its flavour comes from browned or simmered vegetables rather than from meat and collagen.
Trade-offNo gelatin, so sauces made with it have noticeably less body and will not set or cling in the same way. Many vegetable broths are also sweeter, from carrot and onion.
Allergen checkCommercial vegetable broths frequently contain celery, and often soy or wheat in the flavourings. Celery is a declarable allergen in the UK and EU - read the carton rather than assuming a vegetable base is neutral.
Bouillon cube or stock powder + water
Reliable
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup hot water + 1 bouillon cube or 1 tsp stock powder
Bouillon is essentially dehydrated stock with added salt and glutamates, so rehydrated it delivers the savoury hit even without the gelatin of a real stock.
MethodDissolve it fully in hot water before it joins the pot, and hold back on salting the dish until you have tasted it.
Trade-offMuch saltier and flatter, with a distinct processed edge. It gives no body to a sauce at all.
CookingSaucesEgg-freeNut-free
Allergen checkStock cubes very often contain wheat, celery, soy, milk solids or MSG, and formulations differ between countries and even between flavours in the same range. Never assume a cube is gluten-free or dairy-free - check the wrapper each time.
Mushroom broth
Reliable
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup mushroom broth, or 1 cup water steeped with 1/2 oz dried mushrooms
Dried mushrooms are dense in glutamates and nucleotides, the same savoury compounds that make meat stock taste of something, so the depth is comparable even though the source is not.
MethodSteep the dried mushrooms in just-boiled water for 20 minutes, then strain carefully to leave the grit behind.
Trade-offDarker in colour and unmistakably mushroomy, which reads as depth in a stew and as wrong in a delicate chicken soup.
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup water + half an onion, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns and 1/4 tsp salt
You are building the simplest possible stock in the pot itself, which gets you the aromatic background even though there is no meat flavour or collagen behind it.
MethodAdd the aromatics early so they have time to give something up, and fish out the bay leaf before serving.
Trade-offDistinctly thinner and less savoury. In a risotto or a pan sauce, where the stock is most of the flavour, the difference is stark.
Chicken broth is not vegetarian. Shop-bought broths also vary enormously in salt, so taste before you season - a recipe written for homemade stock can end up inedible with a salty commercial one.
At a glance
Chicken broth in summary
Chicken broth at a glance: category, its job in a recipe, the diets it suits, the diets its substitutes can satisfy, and how many substitutes there are.
Can I use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth?
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup vegetable broth. It performs the same job as a seasoned savoury liquid, though its flavour comes from browned or simmered vegetables rather than from meat and collagen. No gelatin, so sauces made with it have noticeably less body and will not set or cling in the same way. Many vegetable broths are also sweeter, from carrot and onion.
Can I use bouillon cube or stock powder + water instead of chicken broth?
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup hot water + 1 bouillon cube or 1 tsp stock powder. Bouillon is essentially dehydrated stock with added salt and glutamates, so rehydrated it delivers the savoury hit even without the gelatin of a real stock. Much saltier and flatter, with a distinct processed edge. It gives no body to a sauce at all.
Can I use mushroom broth instead of chicken broth?
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup mushroom broth, or 1 cup water steeped with 1/2 oz dried mushrooms. Dried mushrooms are dense in glutamates and nucleotides, the same savoury compounds that make meat stock taste of something, so the depth is comparable even though the source is not. Darker in colour and unmistakably mushroomy, which reads as depth in a stew and as wrong in a delicate chicken soup.
Can I use water + aromatics instead of chicken broth?
1 cup chicken broth = 1 cup water + half an onion, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns and 1/4 tsp salt. You are building the simplest possible stock in the pot itself, which gets you the aromatic background even though there is no meat flavour or collagen behind it. Distinctly thinner and less savoury. In a risotto or a pan sauce, where the stock is most of the flavour, the difference is stark.
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.