Homemade Chicken Bouillon Powder
When you are in a pinch or just want a healthy chicken broth substitute this homemade Chicken Bouillon Powder is the ideal staple to keep in the pantry! It is easy to make, keeps for months, and has more flavor than store-bought stock. This easy vegan chicken bouillon recipe is also low carb, keto-friendly, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, low fat, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
Need a Chicken Broth Substitute? Make Easy Bouillon Powder
The first time I tried nutritional yeast I couldn’t believe how much flavor it had and how much it tasted like chicken broth. It was uncanny! If you haven’t tried it before you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this homemade chicken bouillon substitute.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been testing this natural chicken broth substitute in all the recipes I’d normally use bouillon paste or chicken broth. It works amazingly well!
Last night was one of those nights I was in the kitchen at 5 wondering what on earth I was going to cook for dinner. All of the meat in the house was frozen and my husband was stopping home to pick up a few of the kids for dental check-ups so he wouldn’t be around to help. Thank God for the invention of the electric pressure cooker! I pulled out the Instant Pot, filled it with frozen chicken thighs, and turned to manual high for 15 minutes.
Then I sat down to nurse the toddler who promptly fell asleep on my lap. I heard the Instant Pot beep in the other room at some point but just stayed with my little one enjoying the time with my feet up while I did a little early Christmas shopping via Amazon.
When the baby woke up I took the chicken out of the Instant Pot, added some of this chicken broth powder to the cooking liquid, threw in some baby spinach, and then add back half the chicken (now shredded). The family had the choice between chicken soup and using the rest of the shredded chicken for tacos.
Considering all the soup had in it was cooked chicken, spinach, and this bouillon powder it was delicious. My husband raved about it.
For a heartier chicken soup than the one I threw together you must try this Whole30 Chicken Soup shown below.
Ingredients
Nutritional Yeast – This is absolutely the most important ingredient. Once you try it you will agree that it really tastes like chicken while being completely vegan.
Garlic Powder – Garlic powder or dried minced garlic work well in dry rubs and powdered pantry recipes.
Onion Powder – Onion powder or dried minced onion gives a nice onion flavor.
Dried Basil – Basil is my favorite herb and gives this a mildly sweet flavor.
Dried Oregano – Oregano is another good herb choice for chicken broth because it works well in many recipes.
Dried Rosemary – My family also enjoys rosemary so that is another of my herb choices. But you can change this up and use whichever dried herbs you enjoy. Other options are using a poultry blend, herbes de Provence, parsley, thyme, sage, or even tarragon.
Salt – Any type of salt with work. Kosher salt, pink salt, Himalayan salt, etc.
Black Pepper – Black pepper enhances the other flavors in the same way that salt does.
How to make Chicken Bouillon Powder from Scratch
Step One: To make bouillon powder you just need some herbs and seasonings, salt, and nutritional yeast. You add all of these to a food processor and blender and blend until you have a fine powder.
Step Two: Use in recipes that call for bouillon or hydrate with hot water and use in place of chicken broth.
Variations
Spice – For a spicy flavor add some cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes.
Salt-free – You can use this to make a sodium-free bouillon. Just omit the salt.
Common Questions
How to make chicken broth with bouillon powder
Once you’ve made bouillon powder it just takes a few seconds to turn it into a broth. Simple stir some into hot water. The amount you will want will vary on how you are going to use the broth and your own taste buds. My first few tries at figuring out the ratio of powder to water made a broth that was way too salty. I cut back on the bouillon powder and it was perfect. This can replace bouillon cubes in all your recipes.
What is Nutritional Yeast?
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, often a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is sold commercially as a food product. It is sold in the form of flakes or as a yellow powder and can be found in the bulk aisle of most natural food stores. Wikipedia
Nutritional yeast is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and protein. My mom is a vegetarian and can have trouble getting enough protein in. This is an easy way she can add a little non-animal protein to her foods. It is widely used in vegan cooking because of it’s cheesy, chicken like flavor.
What herbs for Chicken Soup and Chicken Broth?
There are dozens of common herbs that taste nice in a chicken broth. You’ll find Rosemary Chicken Soup, Tarragon Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup with Thyme, and dozens of other recipes if you search for them. I used three of my family’s favorite herbs in this chicken broth substitute: rosemary, oregano, and basil. These are all found easily in any grocery store and are generally inexpensive. They give a nice herby taste to the broth when you make it.
How Can I Use Chicken Broth Powder?
You can use it to add a flavor similar to cream of chicken soup to casseroles. When I make casseroles such as my Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole and Keto Green Bean Casserole I use a combination of cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, and/or Greek yogurt for a creamy texture. Adding this powdered bouillon to that combo will mimic a canned cream-of-type soup without the need of a bouillon cube.
Obviously, you can also add this to water and make broth. Then you can use it in your favorite soups such as:
Can I make vegetable bouillon powder with this recipe?
Sure. For a vegetable flavor just sub in dehydrated vegetables for the nutritional yeast.
Can I make beef bouillon powder with this recipe?
I’ve tested this with dried mushrooms to try to replicate a beef flavor but was not successful. If you find a way to make this taste like beef please let me know!
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Video
Chicken Bouillon Powder
Ingredients
- 2 cups nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup salt ***
- 1/4 cup garlic powder
- 1/4 cup onion powder
- 1/4 cup dried basil
- 1/4 cup dried oregano
- 1/4 cup dried rosemary
- 1-2 tbsp pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until it is a fine powder.
- To make broth: use 1 tbsp bouillon powder per 8 oz hot water
Notes
Nutrition
Originally Published November 26, 2018. Revised and Republished May 19, 2023.
You are amazing thank you for sharing this is beautiful
I live very rural so I do make my own stock usually since having to shop is time consuming. BUT having this is so easy and the FLAVOR is perfect. It’s now the staple.
I am so excited to try this! I’ve made so many of my own seasoning blends since I’ve moved to Japan because I simply can’t get them here or they’re cost prohibitive. I LOVE the idea of mixing up my own soup stock powder (because veggie soup is my absolute favorite). I’m also trying to reduce my sodium intake, and being able to control the amount of salt in it is fabulous.
I have to watch my sodium so can a person decrease the amount of salt in the recipe. And the recipe sounds really good and I’m going to make it soon too.
What do you recommend adding to the recipe to keep the seasoning from clumping up in the jar from humidity?
I’ve never had mine clump and it gets pretty humid in the summer here in NJ. As long as it is airtight moisture shouldn’t be able to get into the jar.
Try putting a saltine cracker in it.
I wanted to so much give this 5 stars but I cut the recipe in half to try it and see, well I had to process this in 2 different food processors, my little one 1st then in my big one and still couldn’t get in fine enough and these are new processors. By cutting the recipe in half it is still way to much pepper. I even put it through a fine strainer 2 times to get out the seasonings. The Nutritional Yeast I bought does not dissolve at all in hot boiling water. I bought ANTHONY NUTRITIONAL YEAST FLAKES. I had to put the hot broth though the stained because it was just munch. Tasted better after that. Can you tell me what I did wrong?
Mary
I personally don’t mind some herbs in my broth. You can see in my photos there are some visible herbs. I would just try another brand of nutritional yeast. That is the first one I’ve heard of that does not dissolve in hot water. You could also use ground herbs. I’ve seen rosemary and sage in a powdered form and I assume most can come more finely ground than a regular store. A coffee grinder or rocket blender with a flat blade can grind herbs more finely than a regular food processor. Or the hand method of a mortar and pestle.
You mention in the article that it is a great way to add non-animal protein into your diet, but the nutritional info says 0 G protein. Is that correct?
2 heaping tablespoons of plain nutritional yeast has 8 grams of protein. This blend has 1.1 gram of protein per level tablespoon. I just updated the recipe card to fix the error.
Great Article
Can you use black salt instead of regular salt for a more authentic chicken flavour?
Sure. I’m not very familiar with black salt but any salt should be ok.
I didn’t know that my regular chicken bouillon in a jar had sugar, so I was looking for an alternative. This works great. I made green beans in the instant pot with a quarter cup of this broth, and the beans were delicious, much better than regular chicken broth. I”m going to use this from now on, when I need a cup of broth to add to a recipe.
Do you store the leftover Chicken Bouillon in the refrigerator or in the cabinet?
In a cabinet. I’ve kept it up to a year.
I really hate regular bouillon, so ai tried your mix in a casserole when I realized I was out of broth. It added great extra flavor. Thanks for sharing your mixture. It’s a good alternative.
Excited to make this…do you have a beef equivalent recipe? I did not find one in my search.
Love you btw :O)
I’m actually working on a recipe for one! I hope it is ready soon.
I hope to see a beef recipe soon 😀
I was just thinking of what I could come up with as an alternative to the store-bought, as we’re going to be experiencing shortages because of supply chain interruptions, after watching a youtube video that used bouillon powder as part of their freeze-dried food storage using a commercial freeze-dried product. I have my own freeze-dryer, so I don’t want to buy the manufacturer they recommended, but use my own meat, produce, dairy, et al, to freeze-dry as I grow and produce my own. And the very next day, this pops up in my Pinterest recommendations! Thank you! Now, off to find the nutritional yeast!
Just made up a batch of this powder, Taryn. It smells soo good! Just double checking that you use a tablespoon per 8 ounces of liquid, and not a teaspoon. With store bought, it’s a teaspoon, correct? Thank you for this recipe! Look forward to trying more of your creations! God bless!
You can add it to taste. But, yes, I normally use 1 tablespoon per cup of water.
Ran out of chicken broth and this recipe saved me. It was better flavor than the regular chicken broth I use. Love that it’s vegan too. Thank you.