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DIY Vegan Chicken Broth Powder

This recipe for vegan ‘chicken’ broth powder is super simple but so useful and versatile! Just mix with water to make vegan ‘chicken’ broth to replace regular chicken broth when you’re veganizing your old favourite recipes. Or you can use it dry to add a salty, savory flavour to tofu scrambles and similar dishes, sprinkle on popcorn and nut mixes, and more.
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Video tutorial for DIY Vegan Chicken Broth Powder

 

This DIY Vegan Chicken Broth Powder was inspired by my first whiff of pure nutritional yeast, over seven years ago. When I first went vegan and was researching vegan alternatives, I read about nutritional yeast and how it was good for adding a cheesy flavour to foods. My first impression was not one of cheesiness. I thought it smelled and tasted a lot like instant chicken noodle mix. Specifically, it reminded me of Lipton’s. I would add just a tiny pinch to vegetable stock to add that chicken-ish flavour to soups and dishes and always told myself I’d make a mix to make things easier. I never did. Until recently.

After posting my Best Vegan Fried Chicken recipe, I have gotten tons of comments asking where to get vegan chicken broth, what is vegan chicken broth, and how to make vegan chicken broth. Since spending way too much hand budget answering individual comments, I finally decided it was time to bottle a mix and share the recipe!

In the video, I also share some brands of vegan chicken broth that you can buy, as well as my favourite chicken broth alternatives. Most commercial vegan chicken broth concentrates (powders, pastes, liquids) include herbs that are often used in cooking chicken in Western cuisine. The most popular brand I like is Better Than Bouillon’s No Chicken Base. Be careful when buying though as they have meat versions as well.

Those herbs (like sage, rosemary, and thyme) are associated with chicken since they are so often used for Western chicken recipes.  So, my DIY version also uses poultry seasoning. However, when I’m non-Western dishes like my Hainanese Not-Chicken Rice, I’ll leave it out. The blend of nutritional yeast, salt, sugar, and herbs is cheap, easy and affordable but I have to admit, it’s not as convincing as my favourite: mushroom seasoning! This mushroom seasoning is NOT ground up mushrooms; it does NOT taste very mushroom-y. Instead, the main ingredient is a mushroom extract. When mixed with water, it resembles pure chicken broth without herbs.

That said, my favourite vegan chicken broths are not always easy to access so having this DIY version as a backup is a must. It’s just so convenient especially during cold/flu season. When you’re under the weather, the last thing you’ll want to do is trek out to a store to buy supplies. Just mix the DIY Vegan ‘Chicken’ Broth powder with water, crumble in some tofu, toss in some pasta and boil until the pasta is tender. In about 6 minutes, you’ll have the easiest lazy vegan ‘chicken’ noodle soup.

Printable recipe for DIY Vegan ‘Chicken’ Broth Powder

Yield: 20 servings

DIY Vegan Chicken Broth Powder

DIY Vegan Chicken Broth Powder

This recipe for vegan 'chicken' broth powder is super simple but so useful and versatile! Just mix with water to make vegan 'chicken' broth to replace regular chicken broth when you're veganizing your old favourite recipes. Or you can use it dry to add a salty, savory flavour to tofu scrambles and similar dishes, sprinkle on popcorn and nut mixes, and more.

This recipe makes about 20 servings. To use, mix 1 1/2 teaspoons of this powder with 1 cup of water to make 1 cup of vegan 'chicken' broth.

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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a jar and cover tightly. Shake well to thoroughly mix all the ingredients.
  2. To use, mix 1 1/2 teaspoons of this powder with 1 cup of water to make 1 cup of vegan 'chicken' broth.
  3. Store in a cool dry place. Shake well between each use.

Notes

  1. Poultry seasoning is a commonly used blend of herbs, usually containing sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg, and black pepper. Use a salt-free blend to avoid making this recipe too salty or reduce the amount of salt used if your blend already includes salt.
  2. Nutritional Yeast is vegan inactive yeast powder that has a savory flavour. It's very reminiscent of Lipton's instant chicken noodle soup!
  3. To make the quickest, no-effort vegan 'chicken' noodle soup, combine 2 teaspoons of DIY Vegan 'Chicken' Broth powder, 2 cups of boiling water, some crumbled tofu, and a small handful of dry pasta in a pot. Boil until the pasta is tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 9Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 213mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g

Nutritional Information automatically calculated by a plugin and may not be correct.

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vegan instant chicken broth powder in mason jar

Showing 25 comments
  • Jwiltz
    Reply

    This was great and very easy. I made both the broth and the soup and they both were delicious. Thanks for making my lunch making easier!

    • Norine Kristjansson
      Reply

      Wow! This tastes great! I didn’t have poultry seasoning so I looked up a recipe for homemade.

      • Mary
        Reply

        Fantastic! Thanks for sharing, Norine!

  • Lilia
    Reply

    Great suggestion, thanks!

  • Melissa
    Reply

    Is there a way to make this sugar free?

    • Rupini
      Reply

      Just dont put sugar

      • K
        Reply

        haha…yes…

  • Jay
    Reply

    This is unreal! It makes no sense to me but it really works well. The flavour is so full. So easy and quick to make as well.

    My two cents – I cut tofu into tiny pieces (think canned chicken noodle soup chicken pieces) Then dry fry them to get some colour and texture. Once you add this to your “chicken” noodle soup it provides a great little chewy piece.

    • Mary
      Reply

      I’m so happy you liked it, Jay! Thanks for the tip about the tofu too – sounds perfect!

  • Rupini
    Reply

    Yay i was always wondering how to make lipton soup uwu

    By the way your fried donut recipe is a go to for me also :3

  • Maureen
    Reply

    i couldn’t believe the chicken flavor when i made my soup. i put carrots,onions,celery and noodles with water and this delicious vegan chicken broth powder. We all loved it and I’m making more tomorrow. Thank you so much for this great recipe.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Yay I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Maureen. Thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
      -Mary

  • Patricia
    Reply

    I made a lower sugar/salt version by keeping both equal, but stopping at just 2 teaspoons each. Tastes great!

    I really love this! Apart from being wonderful in recipes, it’s nice when I have an upset stomach, when I’m fasting, or when I just want something warm to drink. I’ve used it as a base to make a pork version as well (great on almonds!). Many of the people in my church are vegetarian, so I make it to keep in the kitchen spice rack there too.

    I also put it in the bullet blender with the flat blade for about 30 seconds to really make a fine powder of it.

    Thank you so much for this recipe. It really is the most chicken-y non-chicken bouillon I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve been a vegetarian since 1993.

  • Kathleen Ultra
    Reply

    Most vegan ‘chicken’ broth I have looked up uses onion powder, except yours. May I ask you why you left out the onion powder from your recipe? Just out of curiosity. 🙂 Thanks!

    • Mary
      Reply

      Hi Kathleen,
      Most Western recipes have carrots, onion and celery (aka mirepoix) in their chicken soups. However, for many Chinese recipes, the base aromatics are garlic, ginger and green onion (which doesn’t taste the same as regular onions). So by leaving out the common mirepoix flavours, this vegan chicken broth powder can be used more easily in more types of recipes. Hope that answers your question!
      Cheers,
      Mary

  • Liyah
    Reply

    Love this broth so awesome making it all the time thanks so much

    • Mary
      Reply

      I’m so glad! Thanks so much for letting me know. It makes my day! 🙂

      -Mary

  • KIM
    Reply

    I really like how successful and simple this recipe is. I used half the sugar and it was perfect. Thank you!

    • Mary
      Reply

      Glad to hear it, Kim! Thanks so much for your comment <3
      Cheers,
      Mary

  • Zora
    Reply

    Hi do you add warm or cold water in order for chicken broth add in your vegan fried chicken. Please advise. Thanks

    • Mary
      Reply

      Hi Zora,
      I use hot water when I’m using cubes and I want them to dissolve quickly. Other than that, it doesn’t matter what temperature the water is.
      Good luck!
      Mary

  • Hayley
    Reply

    OH MY!!!!!! This is Beyond Amazing! I can’t believe how “chicken-y” this tastes!!!! I’ve missed Chicken noodle soup SOOO much since I went vegan! This is incredible! I think I’ve made 14 cups of soup in the past week….I’m a little addicted 🙂

  • Cassandra
    Reply

    Such an awesome recipe! I have been looking for a good chicken broth substitute since I went vegetarian a few months ago but my husband did not. So many of the premade stuff is so expensive and making this on my own felt good knowing exactly what I am cooking with. I made soup with it to try it out and he said it tasted like chicken noodle soup without chicken in it! Thank you so much!

    • Mary
      Reply

      You’re very welcome, Cassandra! I’m so happy you’re enjoying it so much 🙂 Thanks for the comment
      Cheers,
      Mary

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