Out of veggie broth? This vegetable bouillon powder is your soup mix solution! This fat free, healthy broth substitute is ready in less than 5 minutes so you never need to buy store bought broth again!
Growing up we always used those packaged little bouillon cubes to deliver absolute flavour bombs to our dishes.
Little did we realize that they’re filled with unhealthy ingredients, like sugar, unhealthy fats, and words you can’t even pronounce. Not a good sign!
Homemade vegetable bouillon powder to the rescue!
Why you’ll LOVE this vegetable bouillon powder
- It’s super flavourful, without being overly powerful in any one herb or spice.
- You only need 8 ingredients and about 5 minutes to get this done.
- There’s no fat, no oil, no sugar, no unnatural thickeners and no preservatives. (Unlike most store bought soup mix varieties.)
- This recipe is naturally vegan, naturally gluten free and naturally allergen friendly!
- PLUS, it’s budget friendly too! You can make a LOT of soup mix and just mix it up with water for a fraction of the cost of store bought vegetable broth.
- This soup mix is completely customizable and versatile. Add more or less of any spices you like and use it, not only in soups, but in casseroles, risotto, on a baked potato, in your pasta water and so much more!
- Convenience!! It’s incredibly convenient to have vegetable bouillon powder in your pantry, and just mix it up with water. No carrying heavy cartons of vegetable broth home from the store which are filled with mostly water anyhow.
- It’s environmentally friendly too! How?? You’re saving the planet from a ton of wasted packaging and cartons that you end up throwing away. You can reuse and refill the same jar, over and over!
- And of course, it’s DELICIOUS!
What’s in it?
Okay, we’ve talked about what’s not in this vegetable bouillon powder, so let’s get to what IS in it.
All you need is 8 pantry ingredients, that if you’re anything like me and LOVE flavour, you probably already have most, if not all of them, on hand.
For anyone new to nutritional yeast, you cannot sub for another yeast, or another ingredient at all, for that matter.
Nutritional yeast is a unique ingredient here, and please note that it is a deactivated yeast.
It delivers big flavour and a great deal of nutrients too!
How to make homemade vegetable bouillon powder
(This is a summary with step by step photos, full recipe measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Measure out your ingredients and mix them together in a bowl. However, skip the bay leaf if you choose NOT to blend.
OR… (and my preferred way)
Add ALL the ingredients to small blender, or food processor and blitz for 20 seconds or so. (photo 1)
Then transfer to a dry, clean jar or container with lid and store in a cool, dry place like a pantry. (photo 2)
I prefer blending the seasoning into a fine powder as it not only resembles the vegetable bouillon powder you may be accustomed to, but it also distributes the flavours more evenly.
Expert Tips
- For a low sodium vegetable bouillon powder, use half a tablespoon of salt (instead of 2 tbsp) to reduce the sodium by 75 percent.
- If you’re on a NO salt diet, omit the salt entirely.
- Double, triple, quadruple the recipe as desired. I like to make a big batch of soup mix at a time to always have some on hand ready to go for soups, casseroles, veggies, and more.
- Store your soup mix in a CLEAN and DRY jar or container. Store in a cool dark place, like your pantry, or if you live in a humid climate, you may store in the refrigerator to maintain freshness.
- Use your soup mix powder to replace vegetable broth in any recipe. Just combine 1 teaspoon of your blended mixture with 1 cup of hot water for every cup called for.
- If you skip blending into a powder, and mix the seasoning in a bowl, you’ll need about a tablespoon for every cup of hot water. When blended, the spices are more condensed, and 1 teaspoon to every cup of water works well. Of course, use more or less to your taste. Also make sure to omit the bay leaf if you choose to skip the blending.
If you tried this recipe, please let me know about it in the comments below. I always love hearing from you! Don’t forget to Subscribe to This Healthy Kitchen to be among the first to get my new recipes! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to see more delicious food and get all the latest updates.
Buon appetito,
Rosa
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons sea salt or use 1 tablespoon for low sodium option
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon celery seed not celery salt
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper optional but recomended
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a small blender or food processor and blitz until a powder like consistency is reached, approx 20 seconds.
- Store in a clean jar or sealed container in your pantry.
- To make broth, combine 1 teaspoon of soup mix with 1 cup of hot water.
prettymaker
Hi I haven’t tried this recipe yet. I have nutritional yeast, which I have never used. I was curious what would be used for beef bouillon. I saw the chicken variation. Thanks. I have the next week off and I will be making the vegetable and chicken bouillon.
Rosa
Hi, I haven’t tried making a beef version yet. But I think the addition of some smoked paprika and mushroom powder would lend an umami and “beefy” flavour.
prettymaker
Thank you for the tip, I will need to buy mushroom powder. I appreciate you posting this recipe, I’m working on making my own spice blends. healthier and less expensive than the ones at the store.
Carole
This is a fab recipe. Have all my family a bag for Xmas last year
Rosa
Such a great gift idea. Thanks so much for sharing!
Toni
Hi! Is the celery seed necessary? Can’t find it in our local grocery. Can you suggest a substitute for that? Thank you
Rosa
Hi Toni, if you cannot find ground celery seed, you may omit it.
Or if you can find celery salt, you can use that and reduce the salt.
You may also try substituting with a little ground fennel seed.
Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Treasure
Can i totally do without Maggi cube with this recipe?
Debbie
Would this be sodium free if I omit the salt all together? Would it still be good? Could I use salt substitutes?
Rosa
Sure you can omit the salt or use substitutes, although I do prefer it with some salt. Let us know how it goes.
Helen S.
Agree with the comment that this deserves more than 5 stars!! I find myself using it (low sodium version) as a regular seasoning in with my veggies and not just as broth. More depth of flavor, probably from the nutritional yeast which I normally don’t care for. Thank you so much for the great recipes.
Rosa
Thanks so much Helen. Thrilled you’ve been enjoying it so much! 🙂
maryann
Would this be as good without the bay leaf?
Rosa
Yes, it’s great without it.
Cathy Switzer
SO good! I wish there were more than 5 stars to give. This is a game-changer for me. I use it on everything! It makes transitioning to a Whole Food Plant Based Diet so much easier. Thank you!
Rosa
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, Cathy! I’m absolutely thrilled you love it so much. <3