Homemade Beef Bouillon Powder Recipe (Vegan)

Homemade Beef Bouillon is a simple 5-minute recipe that will change the way you season your favorite dishes. This delicious umami seasoning is completely vegan and gluten free.

My beef bouillon recipe will easily replace commercial beef bouillon in your favorite recipes. There are no fillers or anti-clumping agents. And, there’s no MSG!

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my husband has a light allergic reaction when he eats MSG, so I have developed my own seasonings and blends to avoid that common ingredient.

I use it to make onion soup mix and to season my slow cooker roast beef or easy roast beef gravy. It makes fantastic onion dip for chips and veggies, too.

The Name

Even though there is no beef in my beef bouillon powder, I use it to replace beef bouillon in recipes. Just as my chicken bouillon powder contains no chicken, but is a marvelous vegan substitute for chicken bouillon.

I decided to call it Beef Bouillon because that’s what I’m using it to replace. Some might call it Umami Seasoning or Umami Powder, but that name isn’t as immediately familiar here in the U.S.

I wanted the name to be one that’s easy to recognize and remember. So, that’s how my Beef Bouillon Powder came to be named.

An Umami Definition

Believe it or not, I think the best definition I’ve read comes from WebMD, “Umami is the savory or meaty taste of foods.”

For me, it is that deeply rich and savory flavor that we enjoy in the best comfort food dishes. My beef bouillon recipe definitely is, without a doubt, a scrumptious umami seasoning.

Umami is considered to be the fifth taste, added to sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It’s a Japanese word that translates to “savory.”

The flavor component comes from glutamates that are naturally occurring in both meat and plant ingredients. If you’re interested in a little more info on how those tell your brain about flavor, I recommend reading What is Umami? over on Web MD.

Ingredients That Create Umami Flavor

When I create recipes that I want to be deeply, richly dark and savory, there are ingredients I instinctively reach for.
Onions are the first. And yet, scientifically, onions are not high in glutamates, so on their own are not really creating the depth of umami I wanted in my beef bouillon recipe.

I knew mushrooms were high in umami, and I’ve been using mushroom powder as a potent umami seasoning for some time now. I personally don’t care for the texture of mushrooms, so finding the dehydrated mushroom powder _{[affiliate link]} was a great flavor boost for many of my recipes. It was definitely going to go into my homemade beef bouillon /umami seasoning.

I also thought about herbs that I use when cooking beef and wanted to include those, as well. And salt was definitely going to be included as the strong flavor enhancer that it is. And garlic. I put garlic in everything. lol

It turns out that garlic is another umami creator. It is lower in glutamates than other intense umami foods, though. After a little more research about umami, I landed on a group of strong umami ingredients that I believe have really created the most delicious gluten-free and vegan beef bouillon /umami seasoning I have ever eaten.

Here’s what I used.

The Ingredients

At first glance, the list seems long. But keep in mind that most are herbs and spices you already have in your pantry. Three might be new to you, but will so change the way you season food that I think it’s worth them becoming pantry staples.

• Mushroom Powder (explosive umami flavor) See my description below.
• Tomato Powder (not the same as tomato bouillon) See my description below.
• Fine Sea Salt Any type should work as long as it’s finely ground.
• Tamari Powder (critical to umami flavor and keeping it gluten-free) See my description below.
• Nutritional Yeast If you follow my recipes, this one will be more familiar. See my description below.
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Mustard Powder
• Oregano
• Black Pepper
• Thyme
• Celery Seed
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Bay Leaf

What is Mushroom Powder?

Mushrooms have that deeply earthy, almost meaty flavor when cooked, and they are loaded with umami. When dried, that flavor is super-concentrated. Then the mushrooms are ground into powder for use in your favorite dishes.

For someone like me, who doesn’t handle the texture of mushrooms well, the mushroom powder is an important ingredient in flavoring savory dishes. It’s definitely integral to the delicious umami flavor of my beef bouillon recipe.

I couldn’t find it locally, so I purchased Shitake mushroom powder on Amazon _{[affiliate link]}, and you can also get Porcini mushroom powder at Spices, Inc., as well. I like both and often mix them. There are tons of varieties, though. So, choose the type of mushrooms you like best or do a combination of them for this beef bouillon recipe.

Check labels to be sure what you buy is only 100% mushrooms, with no additives.

What is Tomato Powder?

Again, it’s not carried at my local grocery store, so I order Tomato Powder _{[affiliate link]}. Tomatoes are dehydrated at the peak of ripeness and then ground into a powder for use in cooking. This practice has actually been going on for many centuries. It was just a new idea to me.

Tomatoes are commonly added to beef dishes to intensify the meaty, umami flavor. It only makes sense to include it in my vegan beef bouillon recipe.

This is not the same as the tomato bouillon (Caldo de Tomat) I use in my 10-Minute Mexican Rice recipe. That bouillon contains many other ingredients and fillers. In the future, I hope to update that recipe using tomato powder instead.

Tomato Powder provides that super-concentrated fresh tomato flavor even when tomatoes are out of season. Tomatoes are also high in natural umami glutamates, so tomato powder amps up the flavor in my beef bouillon.

Over time, tomato powder can actually start to get cakey and clumpy. no worries, it’s still good. Toss some into your spice grinder or a mortar and pestle and grind it to powder again. And be sure you are storing it in an air-tight container in a dark cabinet or pantry.

Check labels to be sure what you buy is only 100% tomato powder, with no additives.

What is Tamari Powder?

As I have done more and more gluten-free cooking, tamari has become a staple liquid ingredient in my fridge. It is a gluten-free version of soy sauce that we use regularly. Both soy sauce and tamari are high in umami flavor.

My problem was how to get that delicious umami flavor into a dried beef bouillon powder. I was thrilled to find I could buy it in a dehydrated form. I don’t find it at my grocery store, unfortunately, but order in bulk online. I purchase mine at Spices, Inc.

Tamari is the Japanese version of soy sauce. It is a by-product of miso fermentation. (Miso is also high in umami flavor.) It provides deep, rich, “meaty” umami flavor in so many Asian dishes but also in recipes from all around the globe.

Powdered Tamari was another non-negotiable when creating this delicious beef bouillon.

What is Nutritional Yeast?

Nutritional yeast is loaded with vitamins, minerals and proteins and is a completely natural food. It is NOT the same thing as baker’s yeast for making bread or brewer’s yeast, so please don’t try to use either of those as a substitute. 

Nutritional yeast grows on sugar cane and beet molasses. Producers heat the yeast to deactivate it, after it’s harvested.

It’s a good source of B vitamins, folate and niacin. It contains 18 amino acids, 9 of which make it a complete protein. Fiber and glutathione are more beneficial components of nutritional yeast. Plus, it’s dairy-free, soy-free and gluten-free.

I not only use it in my Homemade Beef Bouillon, but also in my Homemade Chicken Bouillon, Homemade Taco Seasoning and my famous Gluten Free, Dairy Free Zuppa Toscana soup! I also use it in the best homemade Vegetable Broth you will ever eat and in my Cashew Queso recipe. So, you can see it is definitely a staple in my kitchen.

How to Use Homemade Beef Bouillon

• To make Vegan “Beef” Broth, dissolve 1 Tablespoon of Beef Bouillon powder in 1 cup of hot water.
• In any Beef Dish where your store-bought stock needs better flavor. Use it in Beef Stew, Slow Cooker Roast Beef dinner, Crock Pot Cube Steak or Mexican Shredded Beef.
• Use it dissolved in water to replace chicken stock in Ground Beef and Cabbage.
• Add it to Stuffed Pepper Soup, Meatball Stew, Meatballs in Brown Gravy or Easy Roast Beef Gravy.
• Use it to replace Au Jus Gravy Mix in Mississippi Pot Roast.
• Add Beef Bouillon to soups, stews, sauces and gravies for deeper richer flavor
• Make Easy Onion Dip for chips and veggies by adding 5 teaspoons Beef Bouillon Powder and 2 Tablespoons of dried minced onions to 1 cup of Sour Cream. Cover and chill for 30 minutes before serving.

How to Make Beef Bouillon Powder

1. Place all the ingredients in a smoothie blender or your high speed blender.
2. Blend them together into a fine powder.
3. Store your bouillon powder in an airtight container in a cool dark pantry or cupboard like all your herbs, seasonings and spices.

The Recipe

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