on Nov 03, 2023 Get ready to revolutionize your seasoning game with these nutritious flavour bombs that will add incredible layers of flavor to your soups 🍜, stews, sauces, gravies and more!
Why You’ll Love Chicken Bouillon Cubes
Not only are these homemade chicken bouillon cubes budget-friendly, but they can last for 3-4 months without any preservatives. Speaking of preservatives, did you know most commercial bouillon cubes have up to 500 mg of sodium per cube 😱?! My homemade chicken bouillon cubes dish up an impressive 12 mg of sodium per serving and are made without any additives, artificial colouring or flavour enhancers. Just some good old simple kitchen staples as ingredients and a blender to fuse it all together. The best part is that these are completely customizable. You can use any cut of chicken 🐓you prefer, swap out the vegetables, add or remove spices – it’s entirely up to you. So why not give it a try and enjoy the goodness of homemade bouillon cubes without worrying about preservatives and excess sodium 🧂?
How to Prepare Chicken Bouillon Cubes
To prepare these chicken bouillon cubes start by adding the vegetables to a large pot of water on the stove, and turning the heat 🔥 to medium-high. Let the soup come to a boil, add the chicken and salt, reduce the heat to low, and let the concoction simmer for a minimum of 45 minutes. After this duration, carefully remove the chicken 🍗 and let the broth and vegetables cool. The tender-boiled chicken is perfect as a salad topper or can be repurposed in my Chicken Salad recipe. Once cooled, remove the vegetables from the broth using a slotted spoon 🥄 and add them to a blender along with some of that delicious chickeny broth. Blend the mixture until it reaches a smooth consistency, pour into an ice-cube tray and freeze ❄️. Once frozen, either cover the ice-cube tray with a lid if available or transfer the frozen cubes into a large Ziplock bag for convenient freezer storage.
Variations and Substitutions
Here are some ways you can make these homemade chicken bouillon cubes your own:
Experiment with different flavor profiles by adding other vegetables like mushrooms 🍄, bell peppers, fennel, butternut squash, sweet potato 🍠, or anything else that’s lying around in your fridge. If you don’t want to use chicken, feel free to use other meats such as beef, turkey, or fish to make the stock. If you’d like to make this vegan or vegetarian-friendly, omit the meat entirely and make my Vegetable Stock Cubes! Add herbs and spices 🌿 to enhance the flavor. Some great additions would be thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, parsley, cayenne pepper, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, or even some ginger for an extra immuno-boost. Instead of salt 🧂, you can use alternatives such as nutritional yeast, soy sauce, tamari, or even Vegeta (my Eastern Europeans know 😉). Consider making different shapes and sizes of the cubes. Larger cubes might be suitable for big batches of soups and stews, while smaller cubes might be appropriate for quick seasoning. If an ice-cube tray is not available, consider using a baking sheet. Line the baking dish with parchment paper, spread the purée evenly using a silicone spatula or spoon, and freeze ❄️ until solid. Remove the frozen block from the baking sheet and cut it into equal-sized squares. Wrap each square into foil (or parchment paper on top of foil) and transfer them into a Ziplock bag ready to be stored in the freezer.
How To Use These Chicken Bouillon Cubes
Throw them into rice 🍚 as it cooks for extra flavor. Add 1-2 squares to a cup and pour hot water on top. You can add a pinch of salt and sip away when you feel under the weather. Sneak it into pasta sauces for picky eaters. You can also take a look at my Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce. Use it as a base for any bean or lentil stew 🍲. A perfect example would be my Coconut Chickpea Stew. Make Pastina Soup by adding 1-2 cubes to a pot of water, then add the salt and pastina. When the pastina has cooked, take it off the heat and add grated Parmigiano on top. Enjoy!
Common Questions
