Chicken Consommé substitute

Best substitute

Chicken Stock, Reduced

Use 1 ½ cups chicken stock, simmered down to 1 cup for every 1 cup consommé

Best for casseroles

Close match

Use chicken stock simmered down by about a third (1 1/2 cups stock reduced to 1 cup), or 1 cup chicken broth plus 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder. If the recipe just wants savoury liquid in a casserole or rice dish, 1 crumbled chicken bouillon cube in 1 cup hot water works fine.

Other chicken consommé substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Chicken Broth plus Bouillon
Close match
Use 1 cup chicken broth + ½ tsp chicken bouillon powder or ½ tsp chicken base for every 1 cup consommé
Boxed broth on its own tastes thin and watery next to consommé because it is roughly half the strength.
What changes
Stirring in a little bouillon puts the savoury concentration back without any simmering time. The result is a shade saltier and slightly more seasoned tasting, with a faint onion-and-celery background from the bouillon.
Best for
weeknight cooking, soups, sauces, stuffing and dressing
Bouillon is very salty. Add it, taste, then cut the recipe's salt by about a quarter.
3Chicken Bouillon Cube in Water
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 cube + 1 cup hot water for every 1 cup consommé
The fastest fix and completely acceptable in anything opaque.
What changes
Expect it to be noticeably saltier and flatter than consommé, with a slightly dusty, seasoned-powder edge instead of real roasted chicken depth. It has no gelatin at all, so a sauce made with it will not thicken or gloss the way it would with real stock.
Best for
casseroles, rice dishes, emergency substitution, gravy
Dissolve fully in hot water first. Do not add any salt until you have tasted the finished dish.
4Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Thinned
Taste and texture differ
Use ½ can condensed cream of chicken + ¾ cup water for every 1 cup consommé
Only for casseroles, and only if you accept a very different result.
What changes
It brings the chicken flavour and the salt, but it also brings dairy, starch and a lot of body, so your dish turns pale, creamy and thicker rather than clear and clean. In a chicken and rice bake nobody will complain; in a soup you are meant to see through, it will not do.
Best for
chicken and rice casseroles, poultry bakes, old-fashioned family recipes
Because it thickens, reduce or skip any flour, cornstarch or cream the recipe also asks for.
5Beef Consommé
Different taste
Use the same amount
Widely available where the chicken version is not, especially in US supermarkets, and it behaves exactly the same in the pan.
What changes
What changes is obvious: the dish turns brown instead of pale gold and tastes distinctly beefy and more mineral. Fine in a mushroom-heavy casserole or a beef-and-rice bake, wrong in a delicate chicken soup or a light cream sauce.
Best for
beef dishes, mushroom sauces, hearty casseroles, onion soup
Canned consommé is usually condensed. Dilute with an equal amount of water unless the recipe says otherwise.
6Vegetable Broth plus Soy Sauce
Different taste
Use 1 cup vegetable broth + 1 ½ tsp soy sauce + a pinch of sugar for every 1 cup consommé
The vegetarian route.
What changes
Soy sauce supplies the glutamate savouriness that chicken normally provides and the sugar rounds off the edge. Honestly, it does not taste like chicken; it tastes like a well-seasoned savoury liquid, more herbal and slightly fermented, and it will darken a pale sauce. Adding 1/2 teaspoon of nutritional yeast gets it closer.
Best for
vegetarian cooking, vegan casseroles, grain dishes, vegetable soups
Soy sauce is salty and darkening. Use a light or reduced-sodium soy sauce if the dish needs to stay pale.

What is Chicken Consommé?

Chicken Consommé is Chicken consommé is chicken stock that has been clarified until it is perfectly clear and reduced until the flavour is concentrated, sold canned as condensed chicken consommé or made from scratch.

Cooking tips

Canned chicken consommé is usually condensed, so the label ratio matters: one can plus one can of water gives you the strength most recipes assume. If you swap in ready-to-use broth or stock, do not add extra water.
There is no honest substitute for consommé served as a clear soup course. Every option here is cloudier. If clarity is the whole point, clarify a strong chicken stock yourself by whisking two egg whites into cold stock, bringing it up slowly without stirring until a raft forms on top, then ladling the clear liquid out through a coffee filter or several layers of cheesecloth.
Chicken stock made with wings, backs or feet sets to a jelly in the fridge. That jelly is gelatin, and it is what makes a consommé-based pan sauce cling to meat. Bouillon and boxed broth have almost none, so finish those sauces with a small knob of cold butter to get the same gloss.
Never boil a substitute hard to concentrate it if it is already salty. Bouillon, base and condensed soup all reduce to something inedible. Reduce unsalted stock instead, then season at the end.
Freeze leftovers in an ice cube tray. Two cubes is roughly 1/4 cup, which is the amount most pan sauces and risottos want at a time.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just use chicken broth instead of chicken consommé?

Yes, but straight swapping will taste weak. Consommé is roughly twice as concentrated, so either simmer 1 1/2 cups of broth down to 1 cup or stir 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder into each cup of broth. In a heavily seasoned casserole you will barely notice the difference; in a simple soup or sauce you will.

What is the difference between chicken consommé, chicken stock and chicken broth?

Broth is the mildest and is usually simmered from meat. Stock is made from bones, so it has more body and sets to a jelly when chilled. Consommé is stock taken two steps further: clarified with egg white so it is transparent, and reduced so the flavour is concentrated. Consommé de pollo and clarified chicken broth are the same thing under other names.

Can I leave the chicken consommé out entirely?

Not if it is the main liquid, because rice, pasta and braises need something to cook in and the consommé is also most of the seasoning. Use water plus 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a good pinch each of onion and garlic powder per cup as an absolute last resort. If the recipe only calls for a splash to deglaze a pan, you can substitute water or a dry white wine and simply salt the dish properly.

Where do I buy chicken consommé?

It is much harder to find than beef consommé, particularly in US supermarkets, which is why so many recipes calling for it send people looking for a substitute. Check the international or Latin aisle for consommé de pollo, look for jarred chicken base near the bouillon cubes, or simply reduce chicken stock, which is what consommé is.

Is chicken bouillon the same as chicken consommé?

No. Bouillon is a dehydrated cube, powder or paste that you dissolve in water, and it is far saltier and less complex. It is a perfectly good stand-in for cooking, but it is not clear, it has no gelatin body, and it will not pass as a consommé you serve on its own.

Related substitutes

More soups substitutes

Chicken Consommé substitute

Other chicken consommé substitutes

2Chicken Broth plus Bouillon

3Chicken Bouillon Cube in Water

4Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Thinned

5Beef Consommé

6Vegetable Broth plus Soy Sauce