Updated 2022
I couldn’t believe my luck when I came across a version of this really simple recipe for a “powdered” vegetable stock. Originally published in the River Cottage Preserves Handbook, it was re-worked by Heidi Swanson as her Home-made Bullion Recipe. One of the most irritating things about cooking low FODMAP is that you can’t use shop bought stocks in the UK as they contain onion or garlic in some form (often just listed as flavourings). So the only option is to use alternative flavourings or to make your own stock. This recipe is so simple because it doesn’t involve any cooking, you just need a food processor to blitz all the ingredients together into a paste then store it in the freezer. The added salt means that the paste doesn’t freeze solid but stays in a power-like state that makes it easy to scoop out a spoonful as required. Heidi Swanson’s recipe uses a lot more salt than my version but mine still freezes to a powder, tastes great and you can add extra seasoning as required (if a recipe includes salty foods like bacon or cheese it needs a lot less seasoning). If you made it salt-free or used much less salt then you could freeze into “stock cubes” using an ice cube tray. To make it low FODMAP I’ve omitted the onion, garlic, leek and celery and used green tops of spring onion or chives and celeriac root instead. The amount of fennel I’ve used would be high in the FODMAPs mannitol and fructans (50g of fennel would be fine and over 75g is high) but as you only need a tablespoon of the paste to make 500ml of stock this quantity would be well within limits. I’ve tested this stock for making soup and risotto, it gets a big thumbs up. This stock really does open up a whole world of cooking possibilities to make life easier (especially for vegetarians) on the low FODMAP diet.
- 2 medium carrots (approximately 300g) scrubbed and roughly chopped
- 150g celeriac root, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 small bulb of fennel (approximately 170g) roughly chopped
- 4 sundried tomatoes
- Green tops of 4 spring onions (or substitute a small handful of chives)
- A handful of fresh coriander
- A handful of fresh parsley
- 50g salt
- Place the carrot, celeriac, fennel and sundried tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped
- Scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula and add the herbs and salt and blitz it all together until you have a smooth paste
- Store in a plastic container in the freezer and scoop out a spoonful as required using 1 tablespoon per 500ml water to make a stock
This may be a daft question but what type of salt are you using? I would also like to say what a great website I really look forward to your recipes as they are the type of food that I eat.
Hi Shaz, thanks very much for leaving a comment, it’s great to get some feedback! I don’t use any fancy salts just standard table salt. Hope that helps.
Hi,
I have been told I cannot eat Fennel on a low FODMAP diet – but it is in your recipe for stock.
Hi Claire, fennel is classed as low FODMAP, larger servings should be avoided but this quantity per serving should be absolutely fine. The best source of information on what can and can’t be included in the diet is the Monash university FODMAP app. Best wishes, Louisa
i can’t believe OUR good luck to have you developing and sharing these recipes with us! Looking forward to trying the vegetable stock powder. It will come in handy with vegetarian family members. I’ll likely try adding it to a bone broth or a fish stock at some point.
Hi Pat, that’s so kind of you to say! Thank you. I think it’s a great one for vegetarians, let me know how you get on.
Hi Louise just started the FODMAP diet and finding it a nightmare sorting out new meals.Reading labels and packages are a pain trying to eliminate what you are allowed.Your recipes are a great help thankyou
Hi Frances, I’m really glad to hear the recipes are helping. Don’t worry, it gets easier!
This recipe is so helpful, thanks so much! Sick of adding only water instead of stock in my recipes!
Hi Aine, Thanks very much for your kind comment! Let me know how you get on with your recipes.
Hi Louisa,
This is brilliant! We’re doing a FODMAP study here as part of our Nutrition Science/Dietetics degree at Monash University and students have to follow a FODMAP diet for 10 days to gain some experience with the diet for ourselves- so needless to say, I will be visiting you blog tons!
Love your work! xx
Thanks very much Roxanne, that’s very kind of you! I had to follow it for a week as part of my FODMAP training and I found it such a useful way of learning about the diet. It was great to then be able to give practical advice and tips to patients. Good luck with the course!
Thank you thank you thank you for creating this website and these recipes. Life saver!
Thanks Sarah, you’ve made my day!!
Thank u so much for these ideas , you have made me believe it’s possible to follow this diet! At first it seems like a giant maze to get through ! You have given me hope !
Thanks
Jo
Hi Jo, that’s great to hear! Its so nice to know that people are finding this useful. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this wonderful blog site. It has been the single most helpful aid to being pain free since I was first diagnosed. Great idea for the stock and the chive cubes. Would you be able to advise on making garlic flavoured oil as the method I found suggested sauteing garlic for 15 minutes in olive oil. Wouldn’t this render the health benefits of olive oil to toxic?
Hi Karen, thanks for the kind comments, I’m really glad to hear the blog has been so useful to you! We can’t recommend home made garlic oil as there is a small risk of botulism from it so I can only advise using shop bought garlic oil. You’re right about cooking olive oil at a high temperatures, not a great idea.
Very helpful ?
I’ll try it out tomorrow.
Oh my goodness… you can totally imagine my excitement when I stumbled across this last night right? I was so disappointed to find that the majority of shop bought stock cubes contain onion or garlic… The only one I’ve found so far is Knorr reduced salt chicken stock cube. Great for general use but not so fab for my frequent meat free days…
Trying this out later – thank you thank you!!
Hi Rachel, thanks for the comments, hope you enjoy the stock ?
Thank you so much for sharing! It really is such a relief to think there are people there to help with ideas. I’m about to start my elimination diet on Monday and, as a vegetarian, I’m terrified! I’ve spent all day worrying about what on earth I’m going to eat and resigning myself to eating bland food. I’m definitely going to make this stock – a lifesaver! Just need to plan something to take to work for lunch now I’m thinking rice with this stock and some veg thrown in! X
Thanks for the kind comments Marie, hope the diet goes well for you. Best wishes, Louisa
Just discovered your site Louisa, you are a life saver. I’ve had 26 years of being fobbed off with PPI’s for my IBS. They have given me more symptoms than the IBS. I’m now detoxing from them and FODMAPing for the IBS. Life has been quite bleak until I found these recipes to add to the book. Although I have to say yours are easier to follow and don’t require me to use things not available in the UK. Thank you so much for doing this work.
Thanks for the comments Pat, that’s really great to hear. I’m going to try and be a bit more disciplined this year and post more recipes 🙂 Louisa x
Hi,
Just wondering if the 50g of salt is a misprint. That is approximately 10 tsp of salt!
The recipe makes a large batch of stock that you freeze and then use in small quantities as required. The salt also keeps it powdery and stops it freezing solidly so that you can just take a spoon of it when needed in a recipe. Best wishes, Louisa
Thank you so much for this really helpful recipe. Will be trying it today!
So glad to have found this site and really excited to try this recipe now I’ve started the low FODMAP diet, but i’m having trouble finding sun dried tomatoes that don’t have garlic in. Is it still OK to use those which do on low FODMAP (i’ve just started so still getting used to it) and if not would the recipe work with fresh tomatoes instead of sun dried?
Thanks so much!
Hi Natasha, if the sundried tomatoes are kept in oil and it would be easy to pick out the pieces of garlic then it should be ok (the fructans in garlic are not fat soluble so they should stay within the garlic if kept in oil), otherwise tomato puree would be a good substitute. The fresh tomatoes would probably add too much liquid and make it freeze more solidly. Hope that helps, Louisa
That’s really helpful, thank you!