The Salty Secret Martha Stewart Uses To Quickly Deepen The Flavor Of Her Dishes

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Martha Stewart is a hack. No, she's the queen of hack. The "doyenne of domesticity" offers dozens upon dozens of tips, tricks, and hacks to help her readers and viewers navigate the often quite stressful and strenuous world of cooking, entertaining, and home decor. If you're planning a portable meal, Martha recommends filling Mason jars with picnic courses for easy, leak-free travel. Stewart's simple baking tips will save time and help ensure you get it right the first time. And she's not afraid to be a hater, stating her distaste for the overuse of truffle oil, for example.

But, above all, Martha Stewart is a helper, offering solid advice on often simple ways to make the everyday more fabulous. In this case, it's an easy seasoning hack to add more salty, savory goodness to your dishes: use bouillon. Bouillon, whether in cubes or jars, comes in a rainbow of flavors and will maintain peak flavor for up to two years, opened or not (though it probably should be refrigerated after opening).

Using bouillon in recipes is sometimes looked down on as cutting corners or a deceitful work of trickery because the chef hasn't taken the time to properly cook down their beef bones, seafood shells, or chicken and mirepoix veggie mix into a proper homemade stock (which can take many hours). But the truth is (and we trust Martha on this one), bouillon, used sparingly, can add a touch of extra oomph to even the most carefully curated broth. And, in a pinch, it can be the perfect flavor-enhancer to certain dishes that may not contain a broth at all.

In an exclusive interview with Delish, Martha Stewart says she uses beef bouillon in her short ribs and beef bourguignon recipes, stating, "I use it sparingly but effectively, and I think it really does work ... It's enhancing not cheating." Adding just a sparing sprinkle of beef bouillon can be equated to using more salt or black pepper. It's not an overall revision of the recipe, it just gives it more layered flavor and more intense "beefiness." Beef bouillon may contain ingredients like onion powder, MSG, and other seasonings; it is, essentially, dehydrated beef stock. So, you're still working with the same base flavor. And while MSG has been much maligned over the years, its negative effects are much more of a sort of diners' urban legend than truly based in science.

Martha Stewart also likes to use bouillon in soups and vegetable purees, and there are a number of great bouillons for soup starters. A chefs' favorite among them is Better Than Bouillon, renowned for its depth of flavor and smooth, natural taste. That said, depending on how you use it, just about any cubed or powdered bouillon will work.

Add some chicken bouillon directly into your stir fry for a delicious chicken kick that would be hard to accomplish without it. It's great with steamed veggies — used in the steaming liquid or sprinkled on top. Try beef or vegetable bouillon in your stewed beans or chili recipe, mix it into your mashed potatoes, or sprinkle it on your popcorn. It can even be used to up the umami in your bloody mary. Once you start experimenting with bouillon, you'll be amazed at its versatility, and you can take solace in the fact that Martha Stewart says it's A-OK.