Stock vs. Broth vs. Bouillon: What's the Difference (and When to Use Each)
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You're three steps into a recipe, the pot's already on the stove, and the ingredient list just says "broth." Except what's in your pantry is a box labeled stock, plus a jar of bouillon cubes you bought two apartments ago. Are these the same thing? Close enough? Going to ruin dinner?
Short answer: they're related, not identical, and the differences actually matter for how your dish turns out. Here's the breakdown.
Quick Answer
Stock is made by simmering bones (plus vegetables and aromatics) for a long time. It's usually unseasoned and has a thicker, richer body from the collagen the bones release.
Broth is made by simmering meat, cooks for less time, and is seasoned. It's thinner than stock and typically has more sodium.
Bouillon isn't really a separate ingredient. It's broth with the water removed: a dehydrated concentrate sold as cubes, granules, or paste. Dissolve it in hot water and you get something broth-like again, just saltier.
What Is Stock?
Stock starts with bones, usually roasted or raw chicken, beef, or fish bones, simmered for hours with vegetables like carrot, celery, and onion. The long simmer time pulls collagen out of the bones and connective tissue, which is what gives cooled stock its jiggly, gelatin-like texture and gives hot stock its noticeably thicker mouthfeel.
Traditional stock is left unseasoned, or close to it, because it's meant to be a building block. You add the salt later, when the stock becomes part of a sauce, risotto, or finished soup. That's also why professional kitchens lean on stock for things like French sauces and braises: the concentrated, gelatin-rich body holds up under reduction without turning painfully salty.
What Is Broth?
Broth starts with meat, sometimes with a few bones thrown in, but the bones aren't doing the heavy lifting the way they are in stock. It simmers for less time than stock, usually an hour or two rather than half a day, and it's seasoned as it cooks.
Because broth doesn't extract as much collagen, it's noticeably thinner than stock. It's also usually saltier, since seasoning is part of what makes broth work as a stand-alone food. That's the version you'll see sold in cans and cartons labeled "ready to serve," and the version most people are picturing when they think of a bowl of chicken soup.
What About Bone Broth?
Bone broth is the outlier that confuses most people, and reasonably so. It's made like a stock (bone-based, long simmer time to extract collagen) but marketed and labeled like a broth. If you're trying to sort ingredients into "stock" or "broth" buckets, bone broth technically belongs in the stock camp. In casual and commercial use, though, the "broth" label has stuck.
What Is Bouillon?
Bouillon is broth with the water taken out. Cubes, granules, and paste are all the same idea: meat or vegetable extract, salt, and seasoning, dehydrated or concentrated down into something shelf-stable.
The standard swap is 1 cube (or 1 teaspoon of granules or paste) dissolved in 1 cup of hot water to stand in for 1 cup of broth. Check your specific brand's package though, since cube size and concentration vary.
The tradeoff for that shelf-stability and convenience is sodium. Removing the water concentrates everything else, salt included, so bouillon reads much saltier per serving than the broth it's standing in for. See the sodium comparison below for actual numbers.
Substitution Table
| If the recipe calls for... | You can use... | What to adjust |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | Broth | Reduce added salt in the recipe; broth is saltier and thinner, so texture will be slightly lighter |
| Broth | Stock | You may need to add a pinch more salt since stock is usually unseasoned |
| Broth or Stock | Bouillon (1 cube or 1 tsp per cup of water) | Taste before adding any extra salt; bouillon is more concentrated in sodium than either stock or broth |
| Bouillon | Broth or Stock | Use a 1:1 cup swap; you likely won't need to add salt |
Sodium Comparison
Sourced from USDA FoodData Central.
| Item | Sodium |
|---|---|
| Dry chicken broth/bouillon, 1 cube | 955 mg |
| Canned chicken broth, 1 cup | 763 mg |
| Canned beef broth, 1 cup | 782 mg |
| Home-prepared chicken stock, 1 cup | 343 mg |
| Home-prepared beef stock, 1 cup | 475 mg |
| Low-sodium canned chicken broth, 1 cup | 379 mg |
| Low-sodium canned beef broth, 1 cup | 72 mg |
Home-prepared stock consistently comes in lowest, which tracks: nobody's salting it at the source. Bouillon comes in highest by a wide margin because concentrating the liquid concentrates the sodium right along with it. If you're watching sodium intake, a low-sodium bouillon or a homemade stock will get you a lot further than a standard cube.
FAQ
Can I substitute stock for broth, or broth for stock?
Yes, in most recipes. Stock will give you a thicker, richer result with less salt; broth will be thinner and saltier. For soups and sauces where body matters, stock is usually the better swap-in. For a quick weeknight soup, either works.
Is bouillon the same as broth?
Not exactly. Bouillon is a dehydrated, concentrated version of broth. Once dissolved in water, it behaves like broth in a recipe, but it is typically saltier per serving than broth straight from a can or carton.
Is bone broth a stock or a broth?
Technically a stock, since it is bone-based and simmered for a long time to extract collagen. It is sold and labeled as broth because that is the term that stuck commercially.
Do I need to adjust salt when substituting between stock, broth, and bouillon?
Generally yes. Going from stock to broth or bouillon, cut back on added salt since both are more seasoned than stock. Going from broth or bouillon to stock, you may need to add a little salt back in.
Looking for more kitchen basics? Check out our guides on Dry Rice and Pasta Shelf Life and Salt and Taste Science for more on how these staples actually work.