THE QUICK PANTRY
STORE-BOUGHT BROTH
Granted, nothing compares with the flavor of homemade broth. But making it calls for watching the stove for hours—and not many of us have the time to do that. Fortunately, we’ve found a few good stand-ins at the supermarket that will deliver richly flavored yet speedy soups, stews, and more. Below you’ll find our preferred brands, plus two tips on storing the extras.
IN THIS SECTION:
CHICKEN BROTH
Chicken broth is an indispensable ally to the busy home cook and often used instead of water to add flavor to pasta dishes like Penne with Chicken, Artichokes, and Goat Cheese and side dishes like Garlicky Swiss Chard and Creamy Orzo with Peas and Parmesan. While searching for the best commercial broth, we discovered a few critical characteristics. First, look for a lower sodium content—less than 700 milligrams per serving—since reducing a higher-sodium broth when making a pan sauce will render the sauce inedible. Also, pick a mass-produced broth. We tasted several broths with rancid off-flavors, which are caused by fat oxidation, and the worst offenders were those made by smaller companies. Lastly, look for a short ingredient list that includes vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions. Our pick? Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, which tastes “very chicken-y.” If you can’t find it, Swanson’s Natural Goodness Chicken Broth rated almost as highly.
FREEZING BROTH
Rather than throwing away extra broth, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or you can freeze it in small portions using one of these tricks. The next time a recipe you are making calls for broth, thaw only what you need.
A. FOR SMALL AMOUNTS: Pour broth into ice cube trays. Once frozen, the cubes can be removed and stored in a large zipper-lock bag. (Each cube is about 2 tablespoons of broth.)
B. FOR LARGER PORTIONS: Nonstick muffin tins work well (each muffin cup holds about 1/4 cup). Once the broth is frozen, simply twist the muffin tin the same way you would an ice cube tray and store broth in a large zipper-lock bag.
BEEF BROTH
Historically we’ve found beef broths short on beefy flavor, but, that said, sometimes it adds a much needed kick in short order—we use it in our Quick Beef and Barley Soup, for instance. Our winning beef broth, Rachael Ray Stock-in-a-Box All-Natural Beef Flavored Stock (made by Colavita), has a short ingredient list (unlike some other brands we tasted) that starts with concentrated beef stock, which means this stock has more fresh, real meat than its competitors. Also, it managed to taste really beefy without a slew of processed additives (the only additive is yeast extract).
VEGETABLE BROTH
We turn to vegetable broth for vegetarian dishes and for soups or vegetable dishes that might be overwhelmed by the flavor of chicken broth, like our Green Pea Soup with Mint. Often we use a mix of chicken and vegetable broths since vegetable broth can be too sweet if used alone. We recently tasted 10 brands, finding that a hefty amount of salt and the presence of enough vegetable content to be listed on the ingredient list were key. Our favorite? Swanson Vegetarian Vegetable Broth.
CLAM JUICE
When we need clam juice for a seafood pasta dish, a shellfish stew, or a chowder and there’s no time to shuck fresh clams, we reach for a jug of their juice, made by briefly steaming fresh clams in salted water and filtering the resulting broth before bottling. We tested three brands, and only one tasted “too strong” and “too clammy,” perhaps because its sodium was more than double that of the other two. Our winner, Bar Harbor, hails from clam country in Maine and brings a “bright” and “mineral-y” flavor to seafood dishes.
