What can I use instead of beef stock for the clear base of a soup that is mostly liquid?

Roasted-bone stock made from scratch (2 kg roasted marrow and knuckle bones per 4 litres water, 6 to 8 hours). The only version that sets to jelly in the fridge, which is the sign it will coat a spoon hot. Takes a day and freezes well. Demi-glace, diluted (1 tbsp demi-glace per 1 cup water). Deep, glossy and expensive. It is already salted and reduced, so taste before adding anything. Chilled beef bone broth from a carton (1:1). The refrigerated cartons that wobble when cold have real gelatin in them. The shelf-stable ones mostly do not.

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What to use instead of beef stock

Q: What can I use instead of beef stock for savoury liquid that becomes a gravy?

Chicken stock with soy sauce and tomato paste (4 cups chicken stock + 1 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp tomato paste per 4 cups beef stock). Paler and lighter. The soy and tomato stand in for the roasted depth and add salt, so season at the end. Beef bouillon paste or cubes (1 tsp paste per 1 cup water). Much saltier and thinner, with no gelatin, so the gravy needs more roux to hold. Salt only after it has thickened. Dried mushroom broth (1 cup water steeped 20 min with 10 g dried porcini per 1 cup beef stock). Nearly as deep and darker in the pan. It reads mushroom under the meat, which suits steak and roast beef. Yeast extract in water (1 tsp Marmite per 1 cup water). Gets the savoury hit and the brown colour in one go. Salty and a little sharp, so take the salt out of the recipe.

Q: What can I use instead of beef stock for braising liquid that reduces around the meat?

Chicken stock with a splash of soy (4 cups chicken stock + 1 tbsp soy sauce per 4 cups beef stock). Lighter sauce, and the meat in the pot ends up doing most of the flavouring anyway over a long braise. Water plus the trimmings (4 cups water + a browned onion, a carrot and any bones or trim off the meat). Takes an hour to catch up and then builds its own stock in the pot. The finished sauce is cleaner and much less salty. Dark beer cut with water (1 cup malty dark beer + 3 cups water per 4 cups stock). Bitterness concentrates as it reduces, so stop at half and use a malty beer rather than a hoppy one. Dried mushroom broth (4 cups water steeped with 20 g dried mushrooms). Deep and earthy. Without gelatin the sauce stays thin, so finish with cold butter or a cornstarch slurry.

It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.

Savoury liquid that becomes a gravy

Gelatin from the bones gives gravy the body flour alone cannot, and the roasted-bone flavour is most of what you taste under the roux.

Chicken stock with soy sauce and tomato pasteRan out

4 cups chicken stock + 1 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tbsp tomato paste per 4 cups beef stock

Paler and lighter. The soy and tomato stand in for the roasted depth and add salt, so season at the end.

Where to buy it →

Beef bouillon paste or cubesRan out

1 tsp paste per 1 cup water

Much saltier and thinner, with no gelatin, so the gravy needs more roux to hold. Salt only after it has thickened.

Dried mushroom brothPlant-based

1 cup water steeped 20 min with 10 g dried porcini per 1 cup beef stock

Nearly as deep and darker in the pan. It reads mushroom under the meat, which suits steak and roast beef.

Where to buy it →

Yeast extract in waterPlant-based

1 tsp Marmite per 1 cup water

Gets the savoury hit and the brown colour in one go. Salty and a little sharp, so take the salt out of the recipe.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Water plus extra flour to make up for it. Gravy thickened harder to cover the missing stock tastes of raw flour and coats the mouth without ever tasting of beef.

Braising liquid that reduces around the meat

It starts as the cooking medium and ends as the sauce, so everything in it concentrates over two hours, salt first.

Chicken stock with a splash of soyRan out

4 cups chicken stock + 1 tbsp soy sauce per 4 cups beef stock

Lighter sauce, and the meat in the pot ends up doing most of the flavouring anyway over a long braise.

Where to buy it →

Water plus the trimmingsLow-sodium

4 cups water + a browned onion, a carrot and any bones or trim off the meat

Takes an hour to catch up and then builds its own stock in the pot. The finished sauce is cleaner and much less salty.

Dark beer cut with waterRan out

1 cup malty dark beer + 3 cups water per 4 cups stock

Bitterness concentrates as it reduces, so stop at half and use a malty beer rather than a hoppy one.

Dried mushroom brothPlant-based

4 cups water steeped with 20 g dried mushrooms

Deep and earthy. Without gelatin the sauce stays thin, so finish with cold butter or a cornstarch slurry.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Bouillon made up at drinking strength for a braise you plan to reduce by half. Stock that is already seasoned to taste turns to brine as it cooks down. Make it up at half strength if that is the plan.

The clear base of a soup that is mostly liquid

When the broth is the dish there is nothing to hide behind: it needs gelatin for body, clarity, and enough roasted flavour to stand alone.

Roasted-bone stock made from scratchRan out

2 kg roasted marrow and knuckle bones per 4 litres water, 6 to 8 hours

The only version that sets to jelly in the fridge, which is the sign it will coat a spoon hot. Takes a day and freezes well.

Demi-glace, dilutedRan out

1 tbsp demi-glace per 1 cup water

Deep, glossy and expensive. It is already salted and reduced, so taste before adding anything.

Chilled beef bone broth from a cartonRan out

1:1

The refrigerated cartons that wobble when cold have real gelatin in them. The shelf-stable ones mostly do not.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Bouillon in a consomme. Clarifying with egg white pulls out the cloud and leaves nothing underneath, and with no gelatin the raft has nothing to hold onto, so you finish with salty water.