How To Make Bouillon Cubes With 2 Years Shelf Life

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.