What to use instead of beef broth
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
Advertisement
The savoury liquid body of a soup or braise
It brings salt, gelatin and roasted meat flavour together, so the finished liquid has weight in the mouth rather than tasting like seasoned water.
Beef bone brothRan out
1:1 by volume
More gelatin, so the sauce coats the spoon and sets when cold. Usually unsalted, so season at the end rather than the start.
Chicken broth with soy sauce and tomato pasteRan out
1 cup chicken broth + 1 tsp soy sauce + 1 tsp tomato paste per 1 cup beef broth
Lighter and cleaner underneath, with the soy and tomato standing in for the dark roasted note. Colour stays pale unless you brown the paste first.
Dried mushroom brothPlant-based
30 g dried porcini steeped 30 min in 4 cups hot water
Deeply savoury and slightly sweet with no gelatin at all, so a braise stays thin unless it reduces by a third or gets a spoon of flour.
Water with Marmite and soy saucePlant-based
1 tsp Marmite + 1 tbsp soy sauce per 2 cups water
Very savoury and noticeably salty, so cut the recipe salt entirely and taste before adding any. No body, so the sauce stays thin.
Beef base or bouillon pasteRan out
1 tsp paste per 1 cup water
Salt-forward and one-dimensional, which is fine under a pile of caramelised onions and obvious in a clear pot au feu.
What doesn't work: Red wine cup for cup in place of the broth. It is acid and tannin with no salt or gelatin, so a full swap makes the braise sharp and astringent and it never rounds out. Keep wine to a quarter of the total liquid.
Deglazing liquid that reduces to a pan sauce or a jus
It lifts the fond and then concentrates, so everything in it, including the salt, gets three or four times stronger by the time the pan is done.
Unsalted beef or bone brothLow-sodium
1:1 by volume, reduced by half
The only kind that can safely be reduced hard. It gels as it cools and coats meat properly.
Mushroom soaking liquidPlant-based
1 cup, strained through paper to catch the grit
Concentrates into something dark and savoury without any salt creeping up. Grit ruins it, so strain it twice.
Dry red wine cut with waterRan out
1/2 cup wine + 1/2 cup water, reduced by half
Sharper and more aromatic, and it needs a knob of butter at the end to round the acid off. The pan sauce comes out darker.
Beef base whisked into hot waterRan out
1 tsp paste per 1 cup water, added after the reduction
Works only if it goes in at the end. Reduce plain water and the fond first, then season with the paste.
What doesn't work: Reducing a salted carton broth by half for a French dip. Everything concentrates, salt included, and a broth that tasted mild in the carton comes out of the pan inedible. Reduce unsalted stock, or dilute the carton with an equal volume of water first.