I would love to be able to make all food from scratch. And if I did nothing else with my life I might be able to do that. Like most people, I use convenience items from time to time. Once of my favorites is McCormick Chicken Base.

Why Not Just Make You Own Stock?
I've done it enough to know that making your chick broth or stock isn't that difficult, it just takes time to simmer on your stove. My problem is storage. After I've spent several hours turning chicken pieces and vegetables into a rich healthy stock I have to store it. That means ladling several quarts of stock into 1 cup containers and stocking my freezer. It just seems like more work than it is worth. While canned and boxed stock taste pretty good, storage is still an issue. Bullion cubes are easy to store but they taste awful. For us McCormick Chicken Base offers a nice balance between storage and taste.

Meet My Maker, Chicken Soup Maker that Is
I purchase my McCormick Chicken Base from Costco, for round $5 for a 16 oz jar. The jar is no wider than a mayo jar and less than half the height and makes up to 5 gallons of chicken broth just by adding water. Admittedly, the contents of the plastic tub are a bit disconcerting: sticky, mustard yellow goop. Each teaspoon of chicken base makes one cup of stock when dissolved in boiling water. The taste is good; not as good as homemade but better than some canned broths I have used. It has a rich, nicely seasoned chicken taste, well balanced without being overly salty tasting. Once the container has been opened it does need to be refrigerated, but it is good for about a year.

Each teaspoon of base contains 15 calories, 10 from fat and a whopping 850mg of sodium. While that is a lot higher that I would like, it is lower than many prepared soups that my children could be eating instead. By making homemade chicken and star soup, my children are actually getting about 25% less sodium per cup of soup along with a ton more of vegetables, chicken and a lot less noodle filler. I usually end up adding an additional 2 cups of water to my 8 cups of stock, which further reduces the amount of sodium without compromising the nice rich flavor.

But McCormick Chicken Base isn't just for making soup. We use it in for any recipe that calls for chicken broth or stock. Since you can make any amount you want (I've made as little as a 1/4 cup of broth) there is no waste. No more opening up at 14.5 oz can and having to figure out what to do with the leftover 6.5 oz once of broth once you have used a 1 cup in a recipe. I've also added it right from the jar to chicken and turkey gravy for some added flavor.

Final Thoughts
For us McCormick Chicken Base provides homemade taste without the trouble of making stock from scratch and storing it. I do get a little control over the sodium as I can add more water than the ratio called for on the jar, but this is not a product for people on a strict low sodium diet. The plastic container is easy to store in the refrigerator and is a good value since there is almost no waste. McCormick Chicken Base is a convenience food staple in out home.

More reviews courtesy of Lean-n-Mean VI, EpiWriMo and Food for Food

Recommended: Yes