Bone Broth vs Stock: What’s the Difference?
Bone broth and stock aren’t the same thing. Here’s how simmer time, protein, collagen and salt compare – and how to swap bone broth powder for stock cubes in any recipe.
In this guide
You’re halfway through a recipe. It says “500ml stock”. You’ve got a pouch of bone broth powder in the cupboard and a half-squashed box of stock cubes. Same thing, right?
Not quite. They both make things taste savoury, and they both start life in a pot. But how long they cook, what goes in, and what you end up with in your mug are very different.
So what actually is the difference between bone broth and stock? And can you swap one for the other? Let’s settle it.
Is bone broth the same as stock?
No. Think of them as cousins. Stock is a cooking base. It’s made to be a background flavour in soups, sauces and gravies, and it isn’t really meant to be drunk on its own. Bone broth is made to be good enough to sip straight from a mug, and to bring something to the table beyond flavour.
The three big differences are time, ingredients and what ends up in the finished pot.
1. Simmer time: hours vs a whole day
A classic homemade stock simmers for a few hours. That’s enough to pull flavour out of bones, meat scraps and veg.
Bone broth goes much, much longer. Ours is slow-simmered for up to 16 hours in small batches. Why bother? Because the long, gentle cook is what breaks down the bones and connective tissue and draws out the collagen and protein. Ever noticed a proper homemade broth turning to jelly in the fridge? That wobble is the collagen, cooked down into gelatin. A quick stock rarely sets like that.
2. Bones vs meat and veg
Stock is usually a mix: some bones, some meat, plenty of onion, carrot and celery, maybe a few herbs. It’s built for taste.
Bone broth is built around the bones. Ours is grass-fed British beef bones or free-range British chicken, slow-cooked and dried into a fine powder. No seasoning, fillers or artificial ingredients in Pure Beef or Pure Chicken. Just broth.
3. Protein and collagen
Here’s where bone broth runs away with it. A tablespoon of Pure Beef Bone Broth Powder gives you 9.6g of protein, including 8,500mg of collagen. That makes it high in protein, and protein contributes to the growth and maintenance of muscle mass.
Now flip over a box of stock cubes. What do you see near the top of the ingredients? For most, it’s salt. Then flavourings, flavour enhancers, sugar, oils and starches. Protein barely gets a look in.
4. Salt: the bit nobody reads
When Action on Salt surveyed over 100 stocks sold in UK supermarkets, it found some stock cubes were around 50% salt – about 5g in a single cube. For context, the NHS says adults should have no more than 6g of salt a day. That’s most of your day’s salt in one little cube.
Only 13 of the 103 stocks in that survey would have earned a green traffic light for salt. Even big names like Oxo sell reduced-salt versions now, which tells you how salty the regular ones are.
Top tip: check the label. The NHS counts anything over 1.5g of salt per 100g as high in salt. Stock cubes and powders often fly past that.
Our Pure Beef has no added salt at all. Our Chicken + Vegetable has just 0.1g of salt per tablespoon. You season it how you like.
Bone broth vs stock at a glance
| Stock cube | Homemade stock | H+G bone broth powder | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simmer time | Factory-made flavour base | A few hours | Up to 16 hours |
| Main ingredients | Salt, flavourings, fats, starches | Bones, meat scraps, veg | British beef or chicken bone broth |
| Protein | Very little | Varies batch to batch | Up to 9.6g per tablespoon |
| Collagen | Not really | Some, depending on the bones | Up to 8,500mg per tablespoon |
| Salt | Some cubes around 5g each | Whatever you add | None added in Pure Beef |
| Effort | Easy | An afternoon at the hob | One spoon, ten seconds |
| Nice to sip? | Not really | Fine, if a bit thin | Award-winning flavour |
How much protein is in each spoon?
Every one of our broths gives you real protein in a single 10g tablespoon. Here’s how the range stacks up.
Per 10g tablespoon. Bar length shown out of 10g.
Can I use bone broth instead of stock?
Yes, and it’s an upgrade. Anywhere a recipe asks for stock, bone broth works: soups, stews, risotto, gravy, curry, bolognese, even the water you cook your rice in. You get the savoury depth, plus a proper hit of protein you’d never get from a cube.
Here’s how to swap bone broth powder for stock cubes or stock powder.
Use one 10g tablespoon of bone broth powder for every 250ml of water. So a recipe that needs 1 litre of stock takes 4 tablespoons.
Whisk into hot water first, or stir straight into the pan with your other liquid.
Pure Beef has no added salt, so taste and add a pinch of salt, soy sauce or herbs at the end. You’re in charge, not the cube.
Need ideas? Our Sneaky Bolognese and Ten-Minute Broth Ramen both use bone broth powder where you’d normally reach for stock.
Why does H+G bone broth win?
Up to 9.6g protein per spoon No fillers Slow-simmered up to 16 hours Gold + Silver award winnersStock does one job: flavour. Our bone broth does that job and brings protein to the party. And it actually tastes good enough to drink. Don’t take our word for it. Our Chicken + Vegetable Bone Broth Powder won Gold at the Taste of the West awards, and our Beef Marrow Bone Broth Powder took Silver. Not bad for a spoonful of powder.
Every batch is tested too, and you can see the test results for yourself. Can your stock cube say that?
Questions people ask
What is the difference between bone broth and stock?
Stock is simmered for a few hours from bones, meat and veg, and it’s used as a cooking base. Bone broth is simmered much longer – ours for up to 16 hours – so it’s richer in protein and collagen and tasty enough to sip on its own.
Can I use bone broth instead of stock?
Yes. Use it like-for-like in any recipe. With powder, it’s one 10g tablespoon per 250ml of water, then season to taste.
Can I use bone broth powder instead of stock cubes?
Absolutely. It dissolves the same way, but you get far more protein and you control the salt. Pure Beef has none added.
Is bone broth healthier than stock?
Compared with most stock cubes, bone broth powder gives you much more protein and, in the case of Pure Beef, no added salt. A tablespoon of Pure Beef is 9.6g of protein.
Does bone broth have more protein than stock?
Yes. The long simmer draws much more protein and collagen out of the bones. Stock cubes are mostly salt and flavourings, with very little protein.
Can you drink stock like bone broth?
You can, but most stock cubes are very salty and a bit flat on their own. Bone broth is made to be sipped. Try Pure Beef in a mug with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon.
Is bone broth powder as good as homemade?
Ours is made the slow, traditional way, then dried, so you get the long-simmered broth without the 16 hours at the hob. We’ve gone deeper on this in Is Bone Broth Powder as Good as Homemade or Liquid?
Our pick
For cooking, go for Chicken + Vegetable Bone Broth Powder. It’s our Gold award winner, simply seasoned with carrot, nutritional yeast, rosemary and thyme, with just 0.1g of salt per spoon. Swap it in anywhere you’d use chicken or veg stock and your soups, risottos and gravies will thank you.
Shop Chicken + Vegetable Bone Broth Powder →
For sipping, go for Pure Beef Bone Broth Powder. Neutral in flavour, no added salt, and 9.6g of protein per tablespoon. Make it a warm mug mid-afternoon, or stir it into your coffee.
Shop Pure Beef Bone Broth Powder →
Want to see the whole range? Browse all our bone broth powders.
Related Reading
- Is Bone Broth Powder as Good as Homemade or Liquid?
- 7 Easy Ways to Use Bone Broth Powder
- 12 Easy Ideas to Make Bone Broth Taste Better
- Beef Marrow Broth
- Sneaky Bolognese
Sources & Further Reading
