It’s soup season. So, you may be perusing recipes, saving scraps, and looking for good ways to stir up some inner warmth. So how do you know if you want to start with a broth, a bone broth, a soup, or a stock? Let’s break down the differences.
Broth:
Broth is what you get when you simmer uncooked meat and bones, vegetables, and seasonings in water for an hour or two. It’s usually seasoned and makes a pretty good cup of flavor in and of itself, although it’s often used as a base for heartier soups, stews, and sauces.
Bone Broth:
Bone broth contains the same basic ingredients, sans vegetables. It may be simmered as long as 24 hours, to extract the maximum amount of nutrients and collagen from the bones. You can use bone broth as a base like you would a broth or drink it as a concentrated cup of nourishment—no guarantees, but some say its dense nutrient content improves the skin, joints, gut health, hydration, and even immunity.
Stock:
While the ingredients in stock may look a lot like the ingredients in broth, stock is generally made with cooked meat and bones, and simmered for about 4-6 hours. Then it’s strained, but not always seasoned. Want to make your own? Check out our tried-and-true recipe here.
The Vegetable Broth Conundrum:
Since there are no bones in vegetable broth, the lines between vegetable broth and vegetable stock are not as well defined. Some say broth recipes call for whole vegetables, while stock recipes demand that you chop them.
Soup:
A soup is a dish in itself, often made with a base of broth or stock. There are as many soup recipes as there are ideas in a chef’s imagination. Here are some of our own Chef Joya’s favorites around this time of year, from Matzoh Ball Soup to Italian Wedding Soup to Brazilian Shrimp Soup to African Peanut Stew.
No time to brew up your own soup magic? No problem. Just pick up one or two of Our Own Soups, heat them at home, and we promise you’ll feel all warm inside.