Discover The Best Vegan Stock Cubes in the U.K
Maybe when you were growing up you remember Mum adding flavour to soups and broth with stock cubes. Chicken stock and beef stock may have always been sitting in the kitchen cupboards.
But, as a vegan, you could be wondering if using stock cubes is okay. After all, there are the dreaded meat terms in some of the names.
To put your mind at rest, vegans can enhance the taste of meals using these condiments. Some companies cater solely to the vegan market.
Consider one of the brands in this list next time you go shopping for some stock cubes.
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Knorr Stock Cubes
The company has been around since 1838. It commenced with Carl Heinrich Knorr supplying the coffee industry with chicory.
Then he moved on to drying vegetables, herbs and spices for soup.
Fast forward to 1949 when Knorr introduced its first stock cube. It was included with packets of soup.
Regarding the stock cubes, the company has a variety to choose from. Unfortunately, there is only one that is vegan-friendly: Knorr Vegetable stock cube.
The other stock cubes use animal juices to give you the meat flavourings. That makes them unsuitable for vegans.
No products found.
OXO Cubes
These are probably the most iconic of all the stock cubes. The company has been around since 1840 and was founded on a meat extract process.
That doesn’t mean that vegans are ignored.
OXO offers vegetable stock cubes that are suitable for vegans and contain:
- Salt
- Potato Starch
- Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin)
- Dried Glucose Syrup
- Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium 5′-Ribonucleotides)
- Onion Extract
- Flavourings
- Palm Oil
- Yeast Extract (contains Barley)
- Tomato Powder
- Sugar
- Dried Herbs (Parsley, Bay, Thyme)
- Black Pepper Extract
The company has also created vegan beef and chicken cubes. Known as “Meat Free Beef Flavoured stock cubes” and “Meat Free Chicken stock cubes”.
The Meat Free Beef flavoured cubes are made from:
- Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin)
- Salt
- Maize Starch
- Yeast Extract
- Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium Guanylate)
- Colour (Ammonia Caramel)
- Palm Oil
- Autolysed Yeast Extract
- Flavourings
- Sugar
- Acidity Regulator (Lactic Acid)
- Onion Extract
- Onion Powder
- Potassium Chloride
OXO’s vegan chicken stock cubes consist of:
- Wheat Flour (with Added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin)
- Dried Glucose Syrup
- Salt, Flavour Enhancer (Monosodium Glutamate)
- Yeast Extract
- Palm Oil
- Sugar
- Potato Starch
- Flavouring
- Onion Extract
- Colour (Ammonia Caramel)
- Dried Parsley
- White Pepper
The cubes should be available in your local supermarket or stockist.
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Kallo
Kallo is focused on creating organic, natural food and condiments. You will find a variety of items available from rice cakes, cereals, bread gravy and stocks.
That doesn’t mean that everything the company creates is suitable for vegans.
Regarding stock cubes, Kallo does have a few choices. You can choose from:
- Organic Vegetable stock cubes
- Very Low Salt Organic Vegetable stock cubes
- Organic Garlic & Herb stock cubes
- Organic Mushroom stock cubes
- Organic Umamio stock cubes
- Organic Sriracha stock cubes
- Organic Tomato & Herb stock cubes
- Organic French Onion stock cubes
- Yeast Free Vegetable stock cubes
If you want to try Kallo’s products next time you are cooking, you can have a look at your local supermarket.
Alce Nero
A company that is founded by organic farmers. Alce Nero is committed to creating products that require the least amount of ingredients possible.
Yet, the flavours aren’t sacrificed in the process of achieving such a lofty goal.
Regarding the manufacturing of its products, Alce Nero states:
“Whenever possible, we avoid additives, flavourings, colourants, sweeteners and anything else which enhances or conceals the sensory characteristics of foods.”
That should set off some alarm bells for vegans. After all, flavourings and colourants can contain animal derivatives.
However, there is a stock cube that can be given the thumbs-up: Organic Vegetable cubes.
These cubes contain:
- Salt, cane sugar*
- dehydrated vegetables* (13.5%) (onion* 5%, celery* 5%, carrot* 3.2%, parsley* 0.3%)
- corn starch*
- sunflower oil*
- yeast extract
- spices*
(*Organic)
You can purchase the cubes online through Amazon’s UK site. Also, see if your local supermarket has them on the shelf.
Massel
All Massel’s products have to adhere to 3 principles:
- Be plant-based
- Are healthy for all people, not just vegans and vegetarians.
- Have to be affordable
Since 1982, the company has grown a reputation as being one of the best in the world for its quality. The factories are gluten and animal-free. Everything they produce is vegan.
Concerning stock cubes, you can choose from the following:
The Beef Style cubes are made from:
Southern Ocean Sea Salt, Rice Flour, Dextrose, Cane Sugar, Yeast Extract, Natural Vegetable Flavours, Dehydrated Vegetables (Celery, Carrot, Parsley, Bay Leaf), Potassium Chloride, Vegetable Oil.
Regarding the Chicken Style cubes, they contain:
Southern Ocean Sea Salt, Vegetable Oil, Rice Flour, Dextrose, Cane Sugar, Yeast Extract, Natural Vegetable Flavours, Dehydrated Vegetables (Celery, Carrot, Parsley), Potassium Chloride, Vegetable Oil, Turmeric Ground Madras
Massels is an Australian company, however, you can purchase the products online through Amazon.
Marigold
In 1980, Isaak Mansk had a vision. As a vegetarian, he longed for a non-meat instant fix.
His quest led him to stumble across Bouillon. A powder that could turn bland food into something extraordinary.
From that “I’ve found it!” moment, Isaak sought to get this amazing powder onto the mass market. That was in 1981. Since then it has become increasingly popular.
The range of stock cubes is fairly limited. You can select from:
If you don’t follow the instructions, you may find that your cubes make the meal salty. Like anything with cooking, read the directions!
You can’t buy directly from the company, so that means you need to visit a local store. If you can’t find Marigold stock cubes locally, then contact Marigold and plead your case.
Limited stock!
For vegans in the UK, enhancing meals is possible. We have covered a range of brands that offer some stock cubes that are plant-based.
There seem to be only a few companies that have taken it upon themselves to offer vegans this condiment.
The most popular offering across the board is organic vegetable cubes. Yet, you can still get a hint of beef or chicken thanks to Massels in Australia.
OXO also has taken it upon themselves to offer meat-free meat flavoured stock.
Being vegan doesn’t equate to bland food. It leads to more inspirational and creative cooking.
Let stock cubes become part of your culinary journey.
