I Refuse to Open Another Carton of Chicken Stock — I Use This Way More Delicious Staple Instead

I hate buying cartons of chicken stock, and I really hate buying cans of chicken stock (it’s that metallic taste — you know what I’m talking about). As someone who cooks 90% of their meals, and is a recipe developer and cookbook author, I find myself needing stocks of various types (beef, veggie, chicken, lobster, fish) on a regular basis. But here’s the thing: Sometimes I need just a little stock one day, and then I don’t need it again for a week or more. And once you open that carton, you have precious little time to use up the rest. 

And here’s another thing: Those cartons take up valuable pantry space, so it’s kind of annoying keeping enough stock on hand to get me through a cookbook or any other busy cooking time. My favorite solution to this somewhat specific problem? Better than Bouillon. 

If you’re unfamiliar, Better than Bouillon is essentially stock that has been cooked down to a thick paste and sold in jars. Just add one teaspoon of Better than Bouillon to eight ounces of hot water, give it a stir, and boom! Baby, you’ve got a stock going.

It lasts a long time. Unopened, a jar of Better than Bouillon is good for years. Once opened, it must be stored in the fridge (just like cartons of stock), but you have at least until the “Best By” date to use it up. As a completely anecdotal example, I just bought a jar of the stuff on September 10, 2025 to use for the current cookbook I’m working on. The “Best By” date? August 06, 2027. (Plus, that date is just an indication of freshness, not safety.)

It tastes great and there are a ton of different flavors. My go-to is the Reduced Sodium Roasted Chicken, and I like it enough to sip on its own (with a little pinch of salt, of course). It has a sort of homey, mom’s chicken soup vibe (your mom’s chicken soup may vary) that I find really comforting.

When I first started buying Better than Bouillon many years ago, I could only ever find Chicken, Beef, and Seasoned Vegetable in stores. Now you can find flavors like Roasted Garlic, Sautéed Onion, Seasoned Lobster, Mushroom, and Roasted Turkey. If you can track down Bouillon’s Culinary line of products, it includes bases for making Adobo, Pho, Birria, and more.

It also takes up very little space. The eight-ounce jars fit nicely in my fridge door, where I keep a few flavors at a time. Plus, one makes 38 cups of stock. That’s just shy of 10 quarts, which would take up a fairly big chunk of pantry and/or fridge space if you were buying cartons instead. There are also 21-ounce jars you can buy at Costco, and those big chonkers make 100 cups of stock while still being smaller than a one-quart carton.

Now, is it a perfect swap for homemade stock? No, it lacks the body and richness of a homemade stock. But will it do for most day-to-day meals? Yeah, absolutely. I’ve never found any other carton, can, or jar of stock that I like more.

What’s the one pantry staple you’ll never buy again? Tell us about it in the comments below.