Bouillon Paste Is for a Lot More Than Broth and Soup

When you hear the word bouillon, perhaps what comes to mind are those dusty yellow cubes shoved in the recesses of your pantry, used only as a last-minute solution for soup stock. Bouillon paste, however, is an entirely different product so versatile and effective that it’s worth keeping a jar handy in the kitchen, flanked alongside your other all-star staples.

Better Than Bouillon, my go-to brand, is made from a concentrated mixture of cooked meat or vegetables, along with sugar, starches, and protein. I treat it as a flavor magnifier. Just as with Parmesan or soy sauce, adding a spoonful into pasta, rice, sautéed greens, and hot mashed potatoes amps up a dish’s umami richness. Mixed with spices or other seasonings like gochujang, bouillon paste becomes an instant, lusty glaze for chicken breasts, Halloumi cheese, or cross-hatched eggplants, ready to sear in a pan or char under the broiler. Dissolved in buttermilk or soda, it forms a powerful brine with more depth than plain salt alone (hello, chicken-brined fried chicken).

You get a ton of mileage out of a single 8-oz. jar, especially when you’re only using a dollop at a time. One container keeps for six months in the fridge, and a little goes a long way. I reach for mine often—and you’ll find lots of starting points below. For example, buttery, garlic-glazed broccoli gets its savory punch from a small scoop of chicken bouillon paste. And tofu marinated in vegetable bouillon transmutes a plain, mild protein into a craveable, intriguingly complex ingredient you can add to salads, stir-fries, or lunch boxes.

There are more than 20 Better Than Bouillon flavors available, like mushroom, roasted garlic, chicken, and vegetable. I opt for the latter two most, but if you become a convert like me, you may end up working your way through the whole lot.