Give Store-Bought Beef Broth Extra Flavor With This Pantry Staple

Whether you're looking to make a satisfying beef bourguignon (perhaps using Anthony Bourdain's recipe) or you're simply trying to enrich your Swedish meatball gravy, beef broth is a great way to infuse rich, unctuous flavor into a dish. And yet, the store-bought stuff you get in a carton doesn't exactly set the world on fire, does it? Just about any store-bought broth is going to taste a little flat compared to what you can make at home, but it's especially true of beef broth. Christine Pittman, founder of Cook the Story and The Cookful and host of the "Recipe of the Day" podcast, told The Takeout a way to make that store-bought beef broth more flavorful: by adding some tomato paste.

"Tomato paste makes beef broth taste richer and more rounded," Pittman said. "It adds umami, a little acidity, and subtle sweetness that wake up store-bought broth. Because it's so concentrated, it also gives the broth a bit more body." 

Anyone who's had a tomato juice on an airplane will tell you that tomato is a great way to enhance umami as well as acidity, both of which are surefire ways to add a bit of get-up-and-go to your carton of broth. "Anything with beef, cabbage, beans, or long-simmered cuts [of meat] benefits from the extra depth," Pittman added. " ... Which is why it shows up in dishes like stuffed cabbage soup, oxtail soup, and classic chili."

Now, if you're wondering whether the tomato paste will make your pot roast or any other dish taste unbearably tomato-heavy, you don't have to worry. Christine Pittman said if you do it right and just add a small amount, it won't taste tomato-y at all. She explained, "Tomato paste is there to support the beef, not overpower it. In beef-forward soups and stews, the meat and long [simmering] keep the tomato flavor in the background."

How much you use depends on how much of a dish you plan to make and how concentrated your tomato paste might be, but Pittman provided a helpful heuristic. "I usually use 1 to 2 tablespoons per quart of broth," she advised. 

As for how, exactly, to add the ingredient to your dish, Pittman suggested, "Tomato paste works best when it's added early and cooked briefly before the broth. Stirring it into sauteed onions or meat lets it caramelize slightly, which boosts flavor." Caramelizing tomato paste only takes a minute or two, and it has a tremendous effect on the flavor of your dish.