As they say, chicken soup is good for the soul. If SHTF and you are stuck in a place with little food and resources, hot chicken broth is the food of your dreams.
Prepping for a catastrophic event allows you to have enough flavorful food for when that event does happen, but it should barely change how your homestead already operates. If you are well-prepared, you may have enough ingredients to make some pretty incredible recipes.
Some of those easy homemade recipes include making ketchup using tomato paste, pickling your homegrown onions or cucumbers, or making mayonnaise from fresh eggs from the coop.
All of these recipes are healthier than store-bought versions and also taste much better, too. Each homemade version is free from chemicals, dyes, and any other additives. All it takes is some preparedness and pre-planning to be successful in condiment making.
Homemade Bouillon Cubes
One of the best recipes to have in your back pocket is for homemade bouillon cubes. You can add this stuff to some simple hot water for instant chicken-flavored stock.
Sipping on some warm, comforting chicken stock is a great cure for colds, the flu, and sore throats. It also offers a ton of health benefits, and we all know nutrients are extremely important when living off of your homestead and food stock.
Although this bouillon recipe is chicken-flavored, it is completely vegan. It uses items with long shelf lives, such as nutritional yeast, which is high in vitamin B-12, dried herbs, and dried spices.
Aside from the oil, each dry ingredient has a shelf life of at least two years. If stored properly, this bouillon recipe will last a very long time.
Although you can use this recipe for making a quick stock, it’s great for adding to simmering beans, stews, or even scrambled eggs. This bouillon adds so much flavor with much less salt than the traditional soup mix.
Having this bouillon mix on hand gives you soup anytime you want it with water being the only necessary addition. It is so handy for preppers to keep homemade low-salt seasoning varieties at the ready to stay healthy and add flavor to your food stock.
Related: 10 Spices That Make Your Food Last Longer
Ingredients
- 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried turmeric
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, or your favorite oil
Related: How to Make Onion Powder in 6 Easy Steps
Process
#1. Start by setting up all of your ingredients so that they are right next to you. If you have everything ready, the process runs smoother.
#2. To the pitcher of your high-powered blender, add the nutritional yeast. Pulse briefly to break up the larger flakes.
#3. Add the onion powder, dried parsley, garlic powder, celery seed, thyme, turmeric, rosemary paprika, basil, salt, and pepper to the blender.
Related: 50 Foods You Can Turn Into Powder To Last Longer
Blend on high for 1-2 minutes until all ingredients are milled into a fine powder. The finer, the better because finer bouillon dissolves best into warm water.
#4. The consistency should be between cornmeal and whole wheat flour.
#5. Next, mix in the olive oil to make the bouillon a damp sand-like consistency. This is for shaping them into cubes.
Related: How to Keep Eggs Fresh for Months with Mineral Oil
Stir in a little at a time, you do not want these too wet with oil.
#6. Mix with a fork until you have a damp sand consistency.
#7. Using a teaspoon measurement, add the mixture to an ice cube tray.
#8. Press the cubes down firmly. Freeze for 4 hours until solid and set.
Once frozen, either wrap the cubes individually in foil like the store-bought ones.
#9. Or, you can add them all to a freezer zip-top bag and remove the air. 
#10. To make yourself a simple cup of broth, follow these instructions.
#11. Add 1 cup of hot water to a bowl, dissolving one bouillon cube into the water. Mix with a spoon.
#12. Drink as a sore throat remedy or add leftover protein or veggies to make a quick, healthy, and flavorful soup.
Related: 17 Natural Remedies for Fast Cold & Flu Relief
Storing For Up To 2 Years
By adding oil to the bouillon cubes, you will decrease their shelf life for about a year. You’ll also need to keep them in the freezer, which isn’t the most convenient option for some preppers.
If you want your bouillon to stand at room temperature, follow the steps above but leave out the oil. Oil can spoil much faster than dried herbs and spices, so be aware of that when making your bouillon cubes.
After blending all of your spices, pour the dry bouillon into a labeled zip-top bag and squeeze out all of the air.
Alternatively, you could use a vacuum sealer and seal the whole thing or individual teaspoon portions.
I like to keep it in a zip-top bag with the air squeezed out inside of an airtight container. This is double protection against spoilage and makes it accessible to you frequently during your cooking. And trust me, you will want to use this stuff often.
Tip
You could also use this bouillon to season homestyle chicken noodle soup. Simmer a whole, fresh chicken in enough water to cover along with 4 cubes of bouillon.
Simmer at a very low bubble for 4 hours. Remove the chicken, shred the meat off the bone, and add chopped veggies with the cooked chicken.
Simmer for 30 minutes, add cooked noodles, and serve. Add additional bouillon for more chicken flavor, if necessary.
Final Words
Hot chicken soup is one of the greatest meals for a chilly evening. The flavorful broth warms you right up and elevates your mood.
By using homemade bouillon to make your chicken soup, you are cutting out tons of sodium, chemicals, additives, and preservatives that are found in manufactured bouillon.
You can make the soup even tastier by adding whole chicken, beans, more vegetables, or bacon. Use it the same as you would any other bouillon for added flavor.
This flavorful base will become your new go-to for all your saucy meals and it will keep you healthy and focused on the important things.
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Wow! I’m almost speechless. This is really something impressive here. Always wondered just how do they do that in the split second it usually takes me to unwrap a cube and pop it into the pot! There are several more varieties on the store shelf than I’ve seen in the past, including ham, fish, and porcini mushroom, so much more than just chicken or beef. If you have not tried them yet, you won’t be disappointed if .you do! Now in a pinch, after reading this article it’ll be fun to try making my own. A real culinary adventure!
Hope that it works as good and as easy as it sounds.
Thank you.
After seeing the headline, I already had in mind to ask for vegan versions, then I read…. Its Vegan.
This is one area for my household that bottlenecks our food storage prep’s for long term storage. We keep the biblical food laws, and as so we have to ensure things like no animal fats, no unclean animals, no frankenfruit GMO’s. As you can guess this REALLY limits our long term food storage options. So generally Kosher or Vegan ( And we still have to double verify as Kosher allows for things we disagree with *rendered chicken fat for one and Vegans do as well with *GMO for an example )
My wife uses the better than bullion as they have a vegan chicken and vegan beef version.
Again thank you, and any more would be very welcome.
What a great topic, what happens to our various dietary rules when SHTF? I eat no carbs, but that is a matter of health instead of faith so my most basic prep is 2 years worth of rice and beans, as a hedge against starvation and also as food I can afford to share, depending on circumstance. Religious rules are much stricter, and have more meaning to the believer. There is a requirement in Jewish law that the preservation of human life takes precedence over most of the laws, including the dietary restrictions. This was last tested in WW2 when the Nazis cut off all food to the 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. The only food available was horsemeat. The Rabbis debated and finally decided that those actually dying of starvation could be fed horsemeat. Of course that eventually included everybody.
It’s good to think long and hard, about what ethical compromises might be called for in a disaster, short and long term. Some people sound like they can’t wait to be free of all laws and moral considerations in the belief that the only important thing is their own survival. Good to hear your commitment to faith and the law and how it affects your prepping, not many seem to think that way.
Great assessment judge but maybe a little misinformed let me explain.
It would actually actually be Judaism not Jewish law. Seeing as how not everyone that is a descendant of Judah per day, are actually believers. It would be like saying in 25 generations from now, everyone that is a descendant of Claude would be known as Claudish. Sorry Claude just using you as an example. And speaking of which there are 12 tribes of Israel, Judah is one of the 12 so a lot of people typically think Jewish when there’s actually 11 other tribes within Israel.
Luckily for us and I’m not going to get on to too much doctrine but we reject Judaism seeing as how they reject the Messiah, though we still hold on to the Torah unlike traditional christians.
I’m trying to learn as much non traditional caloric sources, such as cattail , inner lining of pine trees etc. As well as trapping techniques, something I’ve never had a chance to explore yet. And all ng the way learning other valuable stuff
I thought the same thing. IT’S VEGAN. YEAHHHH
Check out Thrive Life freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. Most of their products are just plain veggies and fruits, harvested, freeze-dried and packaged. No processing other than that, no preservatives, no seasonings, no chemicals added at all. Most can be bought in “pantry cans” and in #10 cans with a 25-year shelf life. Not cheap but good quality. I don’t know if freeze-drying is considered “Kosher.” You would be more knowledgeable about that than I.
The recipe’ looks really good. What IF you did not all the oil and left it dry only to put in a dehydrator for a while to be absolutely sure its dry. then store in an air tight container. When being used oil can always be added later. That way freezing or being put in a fridge would not be needed as oil goes bad.
He mentions not putting the oil in and keeping it in a ziplock bag. Its in the last part of the blog.
It would appear that the oil is only needed to make it possible to form cubes.
may i suggest using a different oil. olive is only good for a year, but canola, which has no flavor of its own, can last up to double that time. use organic or at least non-gmo to meet a higher standard.
Was thinking, What about Mineral Oil?
From my understanding it does not have a shelf life – is used to maintain wooden kitchen tools, knives & wood handles, cutting boards etc. I think theres also health benefits right?
Thanks Tracey for posting. Glad I stumbled across it!
I have a jar of beef bouillon cubes in the pantry. The Use By Date is 2012. I unwrapped one. It smelled like beef bouillon and looked like it should. I just finished breakfast, so am not in the market for a hot cup of bouillon just this minute. I will make one up later, around lunch time and if still alive later, will post what I found. It might go well with my 2017 Cliff bars.
LCC – Well, I for one look forward to your findings! Hope all is well with you and the Mrs.
Mom passed in 2002. Among the thing we found in the kitchen were chicken bullion cubes much older than that. I’m still using them. I hope you find your bullion still as good.
Hoo Rah! Welcome back, LCC. How is Mrs. Chuck doing? a lot of us are worried about her and you. niio
So if ya decide not to make cubes, would it be 1 tsp of dry=1 cube? Author stated 1 tsp in ice cube trays, so that is my thinking.
Also, I always add some tomato powder to my chicken stock for a bit of umami flavor. I will try this recipe and add tomato and maybe some mushroom powder. Thanks for the article and recipe
Peace,
MadFab
You read my mind MadFab…Love tomato powder and powdered mushrooms! Both are super easy to make. Just dehydrate, then powder (I use a Bullet blender). If times get really bad there is always a Mortar and Pestle!
Hazel Simone,
That’s what I do also. Use all the skins I remove from tomatoes and dehydrate. Love getting mushrooms on sale that look bad but are fine to dehydrate. Kroger has them for 1.00 when the look brown. Love it when the suitable are only 1.00 for 8 to 12 oz. I buy them all!! Lol
I put them in an old coffee grinder from goodwill, but yes a mortor and pestle will work great.
I also dehydrate spinach and other greens then powder them. Add to soups casseroles, etc. To get more vitamins in the picky eaters. Lol
Peace,
MadFab
Shitake!!
Dang autocorrect! GRRRR!
I have powdered tomato skins, powdered beets, and powdered mixed greens to add to things. I havectwo small electric coffee grinders. One for coffee a n d one for herbs. Hand coffee grinder is just for coffee. Handy kitchen tools.
MadFab, Ever try chicken stew Mayan style? they add cocoa powder to everything. Of course, Inca stew is OK, but I cannot recommend adding hoja de cocaína to everything… Too many wannabe hippies drown when trying to snort the stew 🙂 niio
Red,
No never tried Mayan food that I know of. Have made mole a couple times, but wow is it a lot of ingredients and work.
I use the aubeuella chocolate from the Latin store for some cocoa. Waaay different than hot cocoa I am used to.
Would love the recipe if ya have one. Always looking for new recipes. You know the problem, 10k recipes for chicken, but I only known 20. Lol
Peace
MadFab
I am planning on mixing up these herbs. It sounds like a good addition to supplies, but I think I am missing something. You mentioned adding the bullion to hot water and getting some chicken flavored stock, but I could not find any chicken flavoring in the recipe list. How will the stock be chicken flavored?
Thank you.
It actually does have the same flavor as chicken bouillon.
Some vegan recipes are spot on with flavor ( Impossible meat – example ), some are a swing and a miss ( boca burger ) .
If,
The nutritional yeast gives it the mouth feel and taste of bouillon.
Used in a lot of vegan cheese to make ya feel like it is cheese.
Also it isn’t stock, like the author states. It is a broth. I’m just being picky, but it isn’t a stock.
Peace,
MadFab
Mom used brewers yeast back in the 1950s to make an ok vegan soy cheese. I’d forgotten that. Thanks for a nice memory.
Store bought boullion is full of MSG, therefore I don’t use them. Thank you so much for the recipe. I am definitely going to try it out.
I had a cup of Herb-Ox beef bouillon at 11:00. The container had a best by date of January 2012, so it is nine and a half years past its best by date. It has been in the cupboard to the right of the stove which I imagine gets hotter than the cupboard furthest away from the stove. I am still breathing and have suffered no unusual bowel sensations, so I guess I will live. I found some interesting data. Herb-Ox bouillon is made by Hormel. The label has a dark red background overprinted with black ink. I guess the Hormel marketing department is unaware that anywhere from 17% to 23% of the male population, depending upon which authority you consult, is color blind with red/green color blindness the most common. Men who have that affliction see red as black. Actually, I think that color blindness could be described as monochromatic color vision. So some percentage of the male population can’t even read the label. Good marketing ploy. Don’t let them know what is in the product.
Herb-Ox has a bright yellow label that proclaims “gluten free! No MSG!” Each cube is 3.5 grams. Each cube contains 910 mg of sodium chloride. My third grade math says that salt is 16% of each little cube. It is no surprise that the cubes are still palatable. It’s like eating salt cured beef extract.
The other brand, Knorr is made by Unilever. (aren’t they the soap people?) and is vegetable bouillon which has an expiration date of January 2017, so it is much fresher than the Herb-Ox. The second ingredient on the label says it is monosodium glutamate. So we know it contains that wicked poison. Each serving is 5 grams and each contains 840 mg of salt so the Knorr vegetable bouillon has 16.8% sodium. It would be interesting to compare Knorr beef bouillon to Herb-Ox bouillon for salt comparison but I didn’t feel like making a grocery run to get that product. A serving of Knorr contains 15 calories of which 10 are from fat. A serving of Herb-Ox contains 5 calories and must be composed almost entirely of salt because it has zero fat, zero sugar and zero protein.
In my view, it isn’t worth the effort to haul either bouillon in your bug-out bag. Have a cup of coffee or hot chocolate instead. If you think you might get cramps because of insufficient sodium chloride in your diet, buy some salt tablets and take one of them with your hot coffee or hot chocolate. They will bring up your salt intake dramatically and be a lot lighter to carry.
You may be of a different opinion, but to my way of thinking, bouillon has so few calories and requires heating water to the boiling point, that it is useless to include bouillon if there is the slightest chance that you will be hoofing it to get home. If you have a vehicle and are driving, why then, you can heat a cup of water to roiling boil in just a very short while with your 12 volt immersion heater and make yourself a cup of hot salty fluid with little effort but otherwise leave the bouillon cubes in the car as you exit it to begin your long walk home.
This little exercise was an eye opener for me. I hope it provides food for thought for others who follow this list.
Herb-Ox is the brand of my mothers from sometime before 2002. I’m still using them. Mostly as seasoning.
Sounds as if Herb-Ox brand bouillon is like Cheese Whiz with a shelf life of 5,000 years.
Do you have spice blends for other flavors
I think I’d dry them. niio
I’ll leave out the oil. Use the dry powder. I bet the flavor is good.
I went too chef school in Portland Oregon
Year’s ago of course….it was rated #3 in the U.S.A.. I’m very IMPRESSED with this recipe…I would OMIT the 1 table spoon of salt…use or double one amount of your
Favorite herbs….and you will be just find with the the favorite…..thank’s for the good job you people are DOING..
I am over the top ECSTATIC to find this incredible recipe! I’ve been searching for weeks trying to find a non-toxic, MSG laden, low-sodium bouillon to put into my prep and have not found one and do not believe they exist. I even considered the Better than Bouillon as a last resort but the ingredients are horrible: Vegetables [Carrot, Celery, Onion) Salt, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Maltodextrin, Cane Sugar, Canola Oil, Yeast Extract, Corn Syrup Solids, Dried Potato, Natural Flavors, Turmeric. Yuck! Other than the veggies, I don’t eat any of those things as they are highly unhealthy and are known to cause dis-eases. So my research and patience have greatly paid off. Thank you so much! Blessings…
I forgot to add that I calculated that the dry seasonings should equal 1 1/2 cups or 72 1 tsp servings by themselves, without the oil, which is how I am storing them to get a longer shelf life.
This is a great idea, and will be added to my Food Storage area.
My problem is that I have a severe adverse reaction to nutritional yeast flakes.
What could I replace this with, in your opinion, that would be a close equivalent?
TY for all of the great info that you all share.