Prue Leith's 2-Ingredient Hack Makes Store-Bought Stock Taste Homemade

The stock can make or break a batch of homemade soup – if the broth isn't flavorful enough, it's impossible to ignore. Because of this, the best route to take is to make your own stock from scratch. However, this is a long and involved process that we don't always have time for, so, oftentimes, we have to resort to store-bought stock. Luckily, celebrity chef Prue Leith has a trick to make store-bought stock taste better and more homemade.

Leith discusses this in her cookbook, "Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom," in the introduction for the recipe for French Onion Soup with Cheese Croutons. Leith writes, "Add a dollop of tomato purée and a splash of Worcestershire sauce to hide the shop-bought [flavor]." The tomato purée will bring in some freshness, while the Worcestershire sauce will provide a burst of umami flavor.

Leith suggests starting with store-bought stock cubes, then adding in the purée and sauce. For anyone unfamiliar, stock cubes — otherwise known as bouillon cubes — are cubes made from stock and dehydrated veggies or meats that, once dissolved in water, become a broth. If you don't have any experience with stock cubes, you can try them out, or, if you want to stick to something more familiar, you can also use Leith's additions with a box of store-bought broth.

Adding some tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce is just one way to improve the taste of store-bought stock so that it tastes a bit more homemade. For example, you can add fresh garlic and herbs to heighten the overall flavor and give it much more of a fresh taste. Similarly, add in extra spices, such as cumin or coriander. If you don't have Worcestershire sauce, there are other sauces you can add for a similar result – soy sauce, fish sauce, or something like miso paste will all work beautifully and provide that umami flavor.

Another ingredient that makes a huge difference? Parmesan cheese rinds. The rinds add a ton of extra flavor to the stock, while giving it a creamier consistency. Of course, the only issue is that you need to have the rinds readily available, so this option requires some planning. So, next time you buy parmesan, make sure to freeze the rinds to then effortlessly upgrade your soup.