Last Updated on March 25, 2024 by Share My Kitchen
It is possible to make homemade bouillon paste in the comfort of your own home. You can use it in various soups, stews, and noodle dishes. It might be much better than any canned soup you have ever tried.
Pam Corbin’s book, The River Cottage Preserves Handbook, inspired this recipe. This lovely little book includes more than just the rhubarb relish and winter fruit compote. She also recommends making your own homemade bouillon.
There is a list of components to blend into a concentrated mixture of herbs and vegetables, which are then salted to preserve it. It is considerably better than any canned vegetable stock you have ever tasted. But the most incredible part? Expanding on the basic concept and changing it according to what is in season and your unique tastes is possible.
What is Bouillon?
A bouillon cube is a dehydrated cube or powder used to make instant vegetable stock. Pam calls her version “souper mixture,” but you can use it the same way as bouillon cubes. Making a tasty soup with it is simple and fast. For instance, it goes well with every food you can imagine, including soups, risottos, curries, and more.
Homemade Bouillon Recipe Tips
What is the most important thing? Don’t forget that bouillon is very salty and concentrated. To start, use one teaspoon bouillon per 1 cup of water/liquid. There are many options to adjust the amount depending on your recipe and personal preferences. Regarding the variations, the bouillon is made primarily from ingredients usually found in a fridge. However, you are allowed to experiment with other base ingredients and herbs.
More Variations of Homemade Bouillon
These are some variations of bouillon that you might consider trying. They are great!
- You may try using local ingredients: carrots, long onions (like a leek), Japanese wild parsley, salt, daikon radish, and a 7 pepper blend. To add more flavor and salt, you can add soy sauce. Then, use this to make red lentil soup. The soup will be delicious!
- Another variation is to double the ingredients, except for salt and tomatoes, and add garlic and white onion. Then set aside the first half. While the second half is toasting in olive oil, roast for two hours. Finally, toss the whole thing into a large pot, add bay leaves, and let it simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Remove the bay leaves, and use an immersion blender to make a smooth paste.
Bouillon Paste Recipe
| Servings | Prep Time | Total Time |
| 200 | 30 mins | 30 mins |
Ingredients
- 5 ounces / 150 g leeks, sliced and well-washed
- 7 ounces / 200g fennel bulb, chopped
- 7 ounces / 200g carrot, well-scrubbed and chopped
- 3.5 ounces / 100 g celery
- 3.5 ounces / 100g celery root (celeriac), peeled and chopped
- 1 ounce / 30g sun-dried tomatoes
- 3.5 ounces / 100g shallots, peeled
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 9 ounces / 250g fine grain sea salt
- 1.5 ounces / 40 g flat-leaf parsley, loosely chopped
- 2 ounces / 60g cilantro (coriander), loosely chopped
Equipment
- Food processor
Instructions
- Add the first four ingredients into your food processor, and pulse approximately twenty times. Then, add the following four ingredients, and pulse again. Add the salt, and pulse a few more times. Next, add the cilantro and parsley. Some chopped vegetables may need to be scooped on top of the herbs to chop them. There are instances where the vegetables stay on top of everything and initially escape from the blades.
- The result should be a loose, moist paste. The 1/4th should be kept in a glass jar in the fridge for quick access over the next few days. Then, freeze the rest to use next month. Also, the salt barely solidifies the paste, so it is easy to scoop directly out of the freezer and put in the pot.
- You can start by using one teaspoon of bouillon for every 1 cup (250ml), then adjust according to your preference.
Notes
This recipe makes approximately 3 1/2 cups.
