Chicken stock is an essential ingredient for many recipes. It provides a rich, flavorful base for soups, stews, risottos, and more. But with so many options on the shelves, how do you know where to buy the best chicken stock? This guide will walk you through the different types of chicken stock and where to find them.
Grocery Stores
Your local grocery store is a convenient place to buy chicken stock Look in the soup aisle or broth section to find it You’ll typically find three main types of chicken stock at the grocery store
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Canned chicken broth – This is made from chicken meat and bones that are simmered to extract flavor Canned broth has a lighter flavor compared to stock, Leading brands like Swanson and Campbell’s are readily available
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Boxed chicken stock – Companies like Kitchen Basics and Pacific Foods sell packaged chicken stock in Tetra Pak cartons. This type of chicken stock has a more concentrated flavor than canned broth.
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Refrigerated chicken stock – Some grocery stores sell fresh chicken stock in the refrigerated section, often near the fresh soups. This provides the richest flavor but has a shorter shelf life.
When buying chicken stock at the grocery store, check the label for words like “organic” and “natural” to find options without MSG, preservatives, and other additives. Low sodium and fat-free versions are also available for health-conscious cooks.
Big Box Stores
Places like Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s sell chicken stock in large quantities for bulk savings. You can find multi-packs of canned chicken broth and boxes with several Tetra Pak cartons of chicken stock. The Kirkland brand at Costco is popular for its organic, low-sodium chicken stock at a budget price point.
For the best value, look for chicken stock with a long shelf life when buying bulk. Then you can stock up without worrying about it expiring before use.
Online Stores
Ordering chicken stock online provides access to niche brands and varieties you won’t find in stores. Specialty online grocers like Thrive Market have high-quality, organic stocks and broths. Amazon also sells its own Happy Belly brand of chicken broth and stock delivered right to your door.
Other online stores to buy chicken stock include:
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ButcherBox – Offers chicken bone broth and chicken stock from grass-fed, free-range chickens.
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US Wellness Meats – Sells shelf-stable and frozen chicken broths.
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Kettle & Fire – Specializes in bone broths made from grass-fed ingredients.
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Pacific Foods – Wide selection of organic and low-sodium chicken broth options.
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Epic Provisions – Organic chicken bone broth sourced from pasture-raised chickens.
Buying chicken stock online is convenient, provides more variety, and allows you to buy in bulk to save. Just account for shipping costs in your budget.
Restaurant Supply Stores
Restaurant supply stores sell large containers of chicken stock aimed at food service businesses. But many are open to the public for retail purchases too. Brands like Savory Choice and Swanson Pro stock high-volume chicken broths and stocks.
The advantage of restaurant supply stores is you can buy gallon or #10 cans of chicken stock for less than grocery store prices. The large format is ideal for meal preppers, soup makers, and anyone who cooks in big batches. Just be sure to have storage space!
Butcher Shops & Specialty Markets
Local butcher shops and specialty food stores often prepare chicken stock from scratch using fresh ingredients. Their stocks have delicious homemade flavor. Some places even save the chicken bones throughout the week to simmer into stock on weekends.
Farmers markets and ethnic grocery stores can offer unique varieties too. You may find chicken stock made from organic, pasture-raised poultry or exotic spices and aromatics. These small-batch stocks make tasty artisanal additions to your pantry.
Make Your Own
For the freshest, most flavorful chicken stock, make it yourself at home. All you need is chicken and vegetables like carrots, celery, onions, and herbs. Simmer them gently for a few hours and strain.
The benefit of homemade stock is controlling ingredients. You can avoid preservatives, MSG, etc. by making it from scratch. It also costs a fraction of the price of store-bought. Just be sure to use good kitchen practices and refrigerate or freeze it promptly.
Key Tips for Buying Chicken Stock
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Check the label for the fat and sodium content to fit your dietary needs. Low sodium stocks are great for heart health.
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Look for organic, non-GMO, and hormone/antibiotic-free stocks for the best quality.
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Compare prices between the boxed, canned, and refrigerated options. Buying in bulk can offer savings.
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Evaluate the flavor profile. Darker chicken stocks provide richer flavor than lighter ones.
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Pay attention to the expiration or use by date and storage guidelines after opening.
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Inspect the packaging. Avoid dented cans or torn boxes that may indicate spoilage.
From the grocery aisle to specialty shops, you have ample options for buying chicken stock. Evaluate your recipe needs, budget, and how much storage space you have. Pay attention to factors like salt content, organic certification, and quality of ingredients too. With this guide, you’ll be able to find the perfect chicken stock to enhance any dish. Happy shopping and cooking!
Other good chicken broths
If you want a lighter bone broth with greater ingredients transparency: Pacific Foods Organic Bone Broth Chicken Unsalted (about $5.50 per quart) is a respectable runner-up to the Good & Gather bone broth. Compared with that one, this bone broth is lighter in body and chicken flavor, and it’s more rounded out with vegetables, herbs, and spices. The Pacific Foods bone broth also stands apart from the competition in that the label fully spells out the ingredients, listing water, organic chicken, organic vegetables (onions, carrots, celery), and so on. On most of the broths and stocks we tasted, the labels listed only “chicken broth” or “chicken stock” as the first ingredient. The Pacific Foods bone broth is a good all-purpose choice for most recipes, and it would even make a fine soup base with additional carrots, onions, and fresh herbs.
For a decent and economical supermarket option: The College Inn Unsalted Chicken Stock (about $2.60 per quart) is a solid choice. It got different grades from the testers: I thought it was okay, and Winnie ranked it as her number-two pick. In her notes, Winnie wrote that this stock had “decent chicken flavor” that was “pleasant and clean.” She also found it “surprisingly rich” given the “fairly clear straw color.” I put the College Inn Unsalted Chicken Stock squarely in the middle.
For a supermarket brand with more intense, chicken-y flavor: Swanson Unsalted Chicken Cooking Stock (about $3.20 per quart) is inoffensive and was available at most of the supermarkets I shopped at while researching this guide. Winnie and I were split on the flavors we picked up in this one—she detected a charred onion flavor, whereas I thought it had a pleasant bit of gaminess, like a stock made from a more mature chicken. We think it’s one of the better-tasting big-brand chicken stocks that most folks can find at their local supermarket.
This is not a comprehensive list of everything we tested in previous iterations of this guide, just what’s still available.
Swanson Organic Low-Sodium Free-Range Chicken Broth (about $4 per quart) doesn’t taste terrible so much as it doesn’t taste like much of anything. Even though this broth had a “cleaner” flavor than most of the others we dismissed, it was insipid, thin, and described as “weaksauce” by our blind-taster.
The Pacific Foods Organic Free Range Chicken Broth Low Sodium (about $3.30 per quart) was too weak on chicken flavor and aroma for the price. An onion-powder flavor, while not overtly offensive, dominated and lingered on the palate.
Target’s Good & Gather Organic No Salt Added Chicken Broth (about $2 per quart) is very affordable for an organic product, and we think we know why: In our tests it was watery and barely tasted like anything, chicken or otherwise. If buying organic is a priority, you’re better off spending slightly more for a quart of the Imagine organic low-sodium broth.
“Milky white” and “bland” best describe Whole Foods 365 Organic Chicken Broth Low Sodium (about $2.50 per quart).This broth stood out for its lack of both flavor and color. We detected a faint chicken aroma, and that’s about it.
To paraphrase Winnie, our blind-taster, the Progresso Chicken Broth Unsalted (about $2.70 per quart) tasted like the plastic from the carton more than anything else. I also thought this one was plasticky, with a strong onion-powder and yeast aftertaste.
Intense onion flavor dominated Swanson Unsalted Chicken Broth (about $2.50 per quart). The chicken flavor was there, but the yeast extract in the ingredients took over and lingered on the palate for a while. If Swanson broths and stocks are the best option at your local supermarket, skip this one and grab either the Unsalted Chicken Cooking Stock or the Organic Low-Sodium Free Range Chicken Broth.
I don’t like to drag subpar products through the mud, but the Rachael Ray Stock-in-a-Box Low-Sodium Chicken Stock (about $3.00 per quart) was one of the worst we tasted. It had no discernible chicken flavor or aroma. Instead, it was watery and plasticky tasting, with an unidentifiable off-flavor that lingered way too long on the palate. The Rachael Ray stock is the only one we tested that’s made from watered-down chicken stock concentrate, not chicken stock or broth. And the difference was glaringly obvious.
We don’t know which ingredient made Kitchen Basics Unsalted Chicken Stock (about $3.30 per quart) taste so sour. The only clue we could gather from the ingredient list was “natural flavor.” In our tasting notes, we agreed that the strong acidic flavor was the most memorable characteristic. Winnie called it “thin” and mused that it “might be worse” than the Rachael Ray stock.
The Best and Worst Supermarket Chicken Broths | The Taste Test
FAQ
Can you buy real chicken stock?
Handmade Chicken Stock 500ml
Our homemade chicken stock is the perfect base of any soup and has great nutritional value. Our chicken bone broth is made by slowly simmering chicken carcasses and chicken necks, with thyme, garlic and seasoning. Please note, this product requires 48 hours notice.
Can you buy chicken stock in a grocery store?
You can purchase Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock online or in most nationwide grocery stores.
Is chicken broth and chicken stock the same thing?
No, chicken broth and chicken stock are not exactly the same, though they are often used interchangeably. While both are flavorful liquids made from simmering chicken and vegetables, the key difference lies in their foundation: stock is typically made from bones, while broth is made from meat.
Can you purchase chicken broth?
A good-tasting chicken broth can help ensure a better result in your cooking, even when broth is just a bit player in a recipe. And when broth is the star ingredient, as it is in soup, it can make or break the final dish. But store-bought chicken broths range widely in quality and flavor.