What’s the Difference Between Stocks vs. Broths?

There’s nothing more comforting than the smell of softly simmering stock—or is it broth? Learn more about the difference between the two here.

A broth is a liquid made from meat or vegetables that have been simmered in water. Broth differs from its close relative, stock, in that it’s made from whole ingredients, rather than bones, shells, or other trimmings. Although many chefs (and dictionaries!) consider broth and stock pretty much the same thing, broth more commonly refers to a finished liquid, meant to be drank as-is. It tends to have a more delicate flavor and thinner mouthfeel than stock. The word broth refers to the action of brewing, not specific ingredients, and so a broth can be made of pretty much anything: Some of the earliest broth recipes are actually vegetarian.

Unlike stock, which is typically made with bones leftover from another cooking process (say, the chicken carcass leftover from roasting), broth is often made by poaching or boiling a chicken breast, veggies, or shellfish.

Broth can be made by boiling a whole chicken, as in Massimo Buttura’s Tortellini in Rich Broth, which also incorporates an onion, a beef short rib, carrots, celery, and a parmesan rind, which he cooks until the vegetables lose their flavor, up to six hours. Both broths and stocks typically feature herbs and spices such as black peppercorns and bay leaves, but broths are generally cooked for less time. They tend to have a cleaner flavor and fewer vitamins and minerals than stock. Homemade broth is less salty and more delicately flavored than store-bought broth, which is why many recipes call for low-sodium chicken broth.

Broth is commonly eaten on its own, or as a base to float pasta in (think: chicken noodle soup). (“broth of everything”) extracts the “mood” from scraps and vegetables and has many applications; it’s the base for his passatelli or pasta made with bread crumbs from stale bread. Massimo Bottura’s vegetarian broth is made from onions, potatoes, parsnips, celery root, and thyme. Gordon Ramsay serves Szechuan Crusted Chicken Breast with udon noodles in a ramen broth made with chicken stock simmered with roasted chicken juices, lemongrass, ginger, cilantro, and garlic.

When boiling or poaching shellfish, use the leftover liquid as a soup base, such as in Wolfgang Puck’s Seafood Gazpacho or Gordon Ramsay’s Salmon with Shellfish Minestrone. More flavorful broths can be used as a base for sauces, such as Massimo Bottura’s Tagliatelle With Hand-Chopped Ragù.

Stocks are a commitment. They take time and effort. But they can make a profound difference in your kitchen. Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry calls stocks “the base for everything else that you’re going to do. And that’s why it’s so valuable to learn how to make a stock and so valuable to have it at home. It’s a life changer.” Stock is the liquid—technically a “water extract”—that results from simmering animal bones with water, often with the addition of aromatic vegetables, herbs, and spices. It makes up the base cooking liquid for soups, stews, and grains, but also is used in smaller amounts to flavor sauces and braised meats and vegetables.

Stocks are often confused for broths. As a general rule, stock is made from bones, where a broth is made from meat and other protein trimmings. Traditionally stock is thicker than broth, with a more substantial mouthfeel, since it’s made just from the animal bones—very little actual meat—and requires longer cooking to become flavorful, during which time collagen is released from the bones, making stock gelatinous. Confusingly, stock is also sometimes called bone broth; and vegetable stock, which contains no bones at all, is the same thing as vegetable broth.

Although you can easily find stock at the grocery store, consider making your own—if you cook a lot of bone-in meats, it’s basically free.

1. 1. Next time you roast a chicken (or another bony animal), instead of throwing away the carcass after all the chicken meat is gone, stash the bones in the freezer.
2. 2. Once you’ve amassed a sizable quantity, throw them in a stockpot over the stove or in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover, and a splash of vinegar.
3. 3. A few hours later, you’ll have rich, dark chicken stock. Of course, you can add aromatics to make your stock even more flavorful—like a broth.

Stocks often start with a mirepoix, a mixture of aromatic vegetables that are ultimately discarded. Classically, a mirepoix includes onions, carrots, and celery.

For the animal parts, use a variety of bones and tendons, cut to expose as much surface area as possible; the gelatin from them imparts viscosity and flavor. Stocks are often made with roasted bones, a traditional approach that adds flavor and color, but if you find the roasted-bone flavor too strong, you can use brûléed, or burnt, onions, and tomatoes for color. Although you can make stock with any leftover bones, adding parts with a lot of connective tissue (gelatin!), such as chicken feet and wings, can make a stock thicker and more gelatinous. Fishbones and heads also yield a thick stock, which is why traditionally made bouillabaisse is so creamy.

Stock is often used as a building block for sauces, such as Chef Keller’s sauce allemande (made with veal stock), Chicken Velouté (made with his light chicken stock) and Brown Chicken Quick Sauce (made with light chicken stock and veal stock), and Wolfgang Puck’s Veal Demi-Glace. Chef Keller also uses chicken stock to cook Braised Artichokes, Braised Greens, and pasta, such as his Agnolotti with Peas and Bacon. For his Red Wine Braised Short Ribs, he uses both roasted veal stock and light chicken stock.

Another great way to showcase a flavorful stock is rice: Alice Waters suggests an arborio rice–based risotto, while Gordon Ramsay uses homemade chicken stock in a spiced jasmine rice pilaf.

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