14 Easiest Alternatives To Chicken Broth You Have To Try

More recipes call for chicken broth than we can possibly count, which is why most of us keep some in our kitchens. A base for soups, stews, and casseroles, chicken broth provides dishes with a gentle savory flavor, a pop of saltiness, and an herbal undertone that heightens every other ingredient. However, what happens when you don't have any chicken broth on hand? Or, alternatively, what if you're bored of its flavor?

We wouldn't blame you — for all of chicken broth's positives, it has an annoying habit of making every recipe taste the same — and that's why we decided that it's time you got to know some alternatives. Chicken broth is surprisingly easy to swap out in recipes, and a lot of the simplest swaps are for ingredients that you likely have in your kitchen already. In some cases, you'll barely be able to tell the difference between the ingredient you're using and your regular chicken broth. In others, though, the alternative you use can give your dish new textures and flavors. Check out some of our top swaps right here.

If you want to use an alternative that has as close a flavor to chicken broth as possible, then bouillon is where it's at. Bouillon is essentially dehydrated chicken broth, and if you haven't graduated to using fresh or homemade broth, it's likely that you're already using a fair bit of it. We wouldn't blame you, either. Not only is bouillon a massive timesaver and will cut out hours of time spent making fresh broth, but it also gives your food an immediately savory flavor, with that same chicken-forward taste and salty roundness.

However, if you're using chicken bouillon as a substitute for homemade or store-bought broth, you'll need to think about its quality. Chicken bouillon comes at many different price points, and while the cheaper brands may be widely available and convenient, they'll give your food a completely flat taste. Indeed, even some more expensive bouillons won't be able to replicate the complexity of fresh broth — but they'll be way better than going for the budget options. It's also worth bearing in mind that chicken bouillon can be way saltier than fresh broth, as manufacturers can add in a lot of sodium to inject it with flavor, so look for lower-sodium bouillons where available.

If you don't have any chicken broth on hand (or don't want to use it), then vegetable broth is the next best thing. Vegetable broth hits many of the same flavor notes as chicken broth, and can be swapped fairly seamlessly for its meatier sibling. Where they differ, of course, is in their composition: Vegetable broth is made with vegetables, which means that it doesn't quite have the same richness that chicken broth does. What you'll get instead is a lot more earthiness and a more vegetal flavor, but this flavor will still work seamlessly with other ingredients.

Vegetable broth also has the benefit of being virtually the same color as chicken broth, which is more important than it sounds. Using it won't change the visual appearance of your food, which can be a little unsettling at times. The same can't be said for beef broth, which is generally way darker and usually has a lot more umami than both chicken and vegetable broth. Naturally, beef broth is also an unsuitable substitute for vegetarians, while vegetable broth is a natural fit for people who follow plant-based diets.

If you've got a half-finished bottle of white wine lying around, don't throw it out — and maybe consider the fact that you might not want to drink it, either. We know that sounds wild, but bear with us here. Instead, use your white wine as a substitute for chicken broth. White wine won't give your food the same saltiness that chicken broth does, but what it will give your meal is a rounded flavor and a deeply pleasurable aroma that chicken broth doesn't always provide.

It's worth remembering that white wine will also heighten the acidity of your meal. So, while you can technically substitute it for broth at a 1:1 ratio, doing so may make things a little too tangy. As such, it might be worth diluting your white wine with some water. Remember, if this makes it taste too weak once it's in your dish, you can always just simmer off the excess water and add more wine. However, you'll struggle to reduce its acid levels once they're in there. It's also useful to bear in mind that white wine won't season your food in the same way that broth will, so you'll need to add salt, too.

If you want to add a bit of punch to your dish, soy sauce is the way to go. The beauty of chicken broth is that it gives any dish a hint of umami, which makes everything taste richer and meatier. Soy sauce will do exactly the same thing, thanks to its high levels of glutamates, which give it a deep, meaty flavor. Soy sauce is also super salty, which allows it to season your food just as chicken broth does.

Naturally, though, substituting the same amounts of chicken broth for soy sauce is a pretty bad idea. Soy sauce is way saltier than chicken broth is, and pouring in the same quantity will utterly ruin your dish. It's also not that cost-effective, considering that soy sauce is way more expensive than chicken broth, ounce for ounce. Therefore, it's best to use just a splash of soy sauce, and balance that out with water. Make sure to use light soy sauce, too: Dark soy sauce has a deeper flavor profile and will dye your food a much darker color.

If you haven't used dashi instead of chicken broth, you're missing out. Dashi is a totally unique stock that's commonly used as a base for soups in Japanese cuisine. The stock is made from a combination of kombu (or kelp seaweed) and katsuobushi (or dried bonito flakes), with other ingredients added in to give it extra depth and flavor. All of these ingredients give it a lot of saltiness and a somewhat briny taste — but they also fill the dish with umami, the key flavor note that chicken broth provides.

Dashi has a light, delicate flavor that makes it pretty unassuming in dishes, similar to chicken broth. While you'll definitely notice that there's something slightly different about your regular meal if you're using it as an alternative, it won't stick out like a sore thumb. Dashi also has a similar color to chicken broth, with a light brown shade that means that it'll retain the original shade of your recipe. The best part is that you can buy dashi stock in bottles or in cubed form, so you can keep it on hand and use it whenever you want.

Some chicken broth alternatives are pretty obvious — and others are less so. Aquafaba is one of the latter. Aquafaba is the water that comes with canned beans, but it most commonly refers to chickpea water. This water is often fairly salty and has a slightly meaty, chicken-like flavor — making it a perfect swap for chicken broth in a pinch. Aquafaba also often has a slightly thick consistency, provided by the beans releasing starch into the water, which allows it to give any dish that you're adding it to a little more bulk.

It's worth remembering, though, that aquafaba may not be a totally straight swap. To get it closer to chicken broth's flavor, you'll have to perform a few tweaks and add in some extra seasonings by way of herbs or any spices. Importantly, while a lot of types of aquafaba will work, there are definitely some that'll be better than others. Using aquafaba that has been storing kidney or black beans will likely give your food way too dark of a color, and take it down a fairly weird avenue looks-wise. We'd stick to chickpea water, folks.

If you have some chicken base in your pantry, you never have to worry about not having chicken broth again. A chicken base is an ultra-concentrated flavor base that's full of a chicken-forward flavor that can be used as the starting point for a soup or stew. A chicken base tends to come in a jar and is usually a thick paste that you then dilute with water, but it's also available in powdered form. While it's similar to bouillon, it tends to have a more intense taste, and less of it is required to be as effective.

These qualities make it the perfect fit for using in place of chicken broth, but you'll need to be careful with it. Because it's got such an intense flavor, adding too much chicken base can overpower whatever you're making and make it just taste like pure chicken. It can also make it way too salty. It's therefore best to just add a little bit at a time to get the right flavor balance, and to remember that as the dish you're making simmers, it will naturally get more intense and flavorful.

You know those little packets you get in your chicken-flavored ramen? Well, they're basically the sole vehicle for flavor in your noodles — and this quality makes them the perfect substitute for chicken broth. It's kinda wild how similar ramen seasoning packets are to chicken broth in terms of flavor, thanks to the ingredients they have in them. Regardless of the type of ramen you're buying, most seasoning packets will have stock granules, dehydrated vegetables and herbs, and a sprinkling of MSG to give them a boost of savory flavor. All of these ingredients tend to show up in chicken broth, making these nifty little packets a like-for-like swap.

However, it's important to remember that the type of ramen seasoning packet you use will change its flavor. Each type of ramen seasoning will have a different type of stock, and spicier ramen flavors may give your food more of a kick than you'd anticipated. Seafood-flavored ramen may also imbue your food with briny, fishy notes that you might not want. It's best to stick to chicken-flavored or other plainly-flavored ramens for the most universal flavor.

Miso paste is a game-changing ingredient in savory foods. This classic Japanese paste is made from fermented soybeans, with the production process imbuing it with an intense umami flavor and a big punch of saltiness. It's these two qualities that make it the perfect alternative for chicken broth. When it's dissolved into a cup or two of water, you'll barely notice the difference — and it has the light brown color of chicken broth, too, making it a seamless swap, visually.

Miso paste also has an excellent versatility to it which allows it to take on the flavors of your meal without imposing itself too much on things. The best part is that, unlike store-bought chicken broth, you control how salty your miso broth is. If you want a milder taste, just add a little less paste; if you want to amp up the salty, umami notes, spoon in a little more. Just remember that miso is incredibly high in sodium, and it can be tempting to add lots of it in to give things more punch, before realizing that you've made your meal way too salty.

What's wrong with good old-fashioned water, we ask? It may not be the most glamorous substitute for chicken broth, but honestly, it's a way better alternative than you probably think. The case for using water in place of chicken broth is simple: Not only is it basically free (which is a big positive in our book), but it doesn't give your food any of the cluttered, overly salty notes that cheap chicken broth can provide. This is especially the case with broth made from bouillon, which can amp up the salt way too much as a way to disguise that it's made with cheaper ingredients that don't add that much to your dish.

Instead, water is infinitely customizable: You can add whichever flavors you like to it, and you don't have to worry about it flooding your food with sodium. If you want to amp up its umami flavors, try simmering a parmesan rind in your water, dashing in some Worcestershire sauce, or throwing in an anchovy or two. Want it to be more herby? Add herbs. Want it to be spicier? Add spice. Want it to be saltier? Okay, you get the drill. Turn on your tap, and you're good to go.

Most chicken broth alternatives seek to emulate the flavor and texture of the liquid. However, opting for a substitute that brings a different taste and consistency that remains compatible with the ingredients you'd normally pair with chicken broth is also an interesting way to go. Coconut milk does just that. This creamy liquid has a relatively neutral taste that takes on savory flavors incredibly well, and pairs with chicken and other white meats wonderfully. It can also be thinned out easily, allowing you to more closely emulate the consistency of chicken broth while still achieving a lovely richness.

As you might expect, though, coconut milk won't work well in every recipe. There are some instances where you'll need a chicken broth alternative that doesn't add body to your meal, and there's no denying that coconut milk adds a lot of creaminess from its fat content. Instead, it's best to use it in recipes like curries and stews that might benefit from its rich, smooth texture. It's also a great option to add coconut milk to meals that have a lot of spice, as its creamy notes can help to stop them from being too overwhelming.

If you're looking for a deeply meaty chicken broth substitute, bone broth is the next best thing. You can think of bone broth as a kind of intensified chicken broth. Whereas chicken broth is simmered for a shorter amount of time, bone broth simmers the bones of an animal for up to 48 hours. This long cooking process means that all of the collagen in the bones breaks down, filling the broth with a deeper, more meaty flavor and giving it a slightly thicker consistency.

Importantly, though, bone broth can lack flavor elsewhere. Unlike chicken broth, bone broth tends to be unseasoned, so it won't salt your food in the same way. It also doesn't have any herbs or spices added to it, with the flavor coming purely from the bones themselves. As such, if you're using it as an alternative to chicken broth, you may need to add a touch of salt and a few of your favorite seasonings to round out its taste. Additional ingredients, like a splash of vinegar, can also give bone broth a much fuller flavor and balance out some of its meatiness.

One of the best chicken broth alternatives out there is one that you likely have in your fridge already. Adding diluted salted butter gives your dish the richness that well-made chicken broth can provide. Homemade or jarred chicken broth tends to have a good amount of fat, which is released by the chicken as it's boiled in water alongside the aromatics. While other alternatives won't give you that same fat content, the dairy fats in salted butter definitely will — and they'll amp up the flavors of your meal in the process.

The salt content, meanwhile, will help to season your food in the same way that chicken broth would. If you don't have salted butter, don't worry: Just use regular butter and add the salt yourself. What salted butter won't give you is any umami, but you can amp up those notes by adding in other ingredients like Worcestershire or soy sauce. Crucially, using too much salted butter will make your food very greasy, so be sure to only add a little bit at a time.

The vegetal notes that chicken broth gives food are often forgotten about in the pursuit of substitutes. If you want to replicate those vegetal notes while also giving your food unexpected flavors, then using an Italian herb blend is the way to go. Italian seasoning is composed of herbs like parsley, oregano, and basil, which gives your food a well-rounded flavor. Plus, many of them also contain garlic and onion powder which help to replicate the earthy notes in chicken broth, and the red pepper flakes in the mix also give your food a slight warmth.

However, it goes without saying that using an Italian herb blend won't give your food the moisture that chicken broth provides, so make sure you add plenty of water too. Nor will it add any saltiness into the mix, unless your Italian seasoning has salt in its recipe. Just make sure that you're adding extra seasoning to account for this, and find a source of umami from somewhere to fill in the savory notes lost.