Kitchen Bouquet Substitutes: 11 Excellent Options in 2023

Kitchen Bouquet substitutes are chosen depending on their characteristics which are somewhat similar to this browning and seasoning ingredient.

If you hesitate to use one of the products below, you can read my article over and over to get the information you need.

I think cooking is all about personal experience, so feel free to choose the best option which suits your taste preference.

I give you more than 10 substitutes, and each has its pros and cons; therefore, it also depends on what you’re going to cook to decide the perfect alternative.

Keep scrolling to find out more!

What Is A Kitchen Bouquet?

Kitchen Bouquet is a browning and seasoning condiment which has been around in the pantry since 1873. It’s made from caramel, sodium benzoate, sulfiting agents, vegetable ingredients (onions, parsnips, carrots, celery, parsley), water, salt, and spices. ⁽¹⁾

As you can see, this product is totally suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets.

Kitchen Bouquet is usually packaged in a yellow and brown bottle which you can easily find in supermarkets and grocery stores.

Everyone uses Kitchen Bouquet when cooking as a habit when they want to give foods attractive brown colors, especially meat dishes. It’s not the same as a table sauce, although it looks like one of them and is used exclusively to prepare foods.

In a nutshell, Kitchen Bouquet can play the role of browning and thickening agents. Also, it can impart a unique flavor, as known as a smoky and beef-like taste, to any food you put it in.

Kitchen Bouquet Substitutes and Their Culinary Uses

Below are 11 Kitchen Bouquet replacements; let’s have a glimpse at each option and its uses before digging deep into their flavors and textures.

Kitchen Bouquet Substitutes	Best Use For
Gravy Master	Gravies, stews
Dark Soy Sauce	Stir-fries, marinades, braised and grilled dishes, and often eaten with noodles, sushi or sashimi, and rice
Dark Molasses	Smoothies, pancake batters, ginger cookies, applesauce, shakes
Instant Coffee	Gravies, sauces
Maggi Seasoning	Sauces, stir-fries, stews, and soups.
Parisian Essence	Gravies, soups, puddings, fruit cakes, broths, other baking recipes
Worcestershire Sauce	Soups, stews, sauces, casseroles, pies, and marinades.
Bragg Liquid Aminos	Stir-fries, salad dressings, dips, and sauces
Cocoa	Soups, stews, sauces
Brown Gravy Mix	Meat sandwiches, roast beef, stuffing, meatloaf, and mashed potatoes
Homemade Kitchen Bouquet Substitute	Gravies, soups, broths, stews, stir-fries

11 Kitchen Bouquet Substitutes You’re Happy To Find Out

It’s time to elaborate on each Kitchen Bouquet alternatives I’ve listed. Let’s spend your time reading about them carefully before deciding on your favorite product.

Gravy Master

The number 1 on the list of Kitchen Bouquet substitutes is Gravy Master because this tiny bottle can act as a browning and thickening agent as well as a flavor enhancer at the same time.

Although Gravy Master is said to have a more robust taste, it’s highly recommended that you use the same amount of it as you would with Kitchen Bouquet.

As the name implies, it’s a wonderful ingredient of perfect gravies, whether they are turkey, beef, pork, or chicken. It’s also an essential part of many recipes, including vegetables, fish, roasts, grills, and stews. Gravy Master coats foods with a beautiful brown glaze and makes them more appealing.

For people who wonder, Gravy Master is a combination of various herbs, spices, seasonings, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and apple vinegar. Therefore, it has a complex flavor profile and is known to elevate aroma efficiently.

Dark Soy Sauce

Dark soy sauce can bring a brown color to your food and might be used instead of Kitchen Bouquet in various recipes. The best part? It’s undoubtedly available in your pantry.

Besides adding salty and umami flavor to the dish, it makes your food look more appealing, especially helping you get a brown gravy you’re proud of. It’s said to have a hint of bitterness.

However, this Japanese condiment doesn’t act as a thickening agent, so you might need to add more ingredients to avoid running sauces.

Bear in mind that if you consider dark soy sauce as a Kitchen Bouquet substitute, you must reduce the salt amount to make sure your dish is not too salty that it’s impossible to eat. It would be best if for every 1 teaspoon of Kitchen Bouquet, you add ½ or ¾ teaspoon of dark soy sauce.

Soy sauce is suitable for stir-fries, marinades, braised and grilled dishes, and often is eaten with noodles, sushi or sashimi, and rice.

This soy sauce noodle recipe is super yummy, and you must try it right now!

Dark Molasses

If you’re looking for a brown effect of Kitchen Bouquet, dark molasses should be the top of your choice. It’s suggested that if you mix it with broth, you will get a mixture that tastes similar to Kitchen Bouquet.

Dark molasses is collected after the second time of boiling molasses. ⁽²⁾ Dark molasses feature a slightly sweet, caramel, mildly bitter flavor with a hint of smokiness. It has a dark color (nearly black) and dense texture, which not only adds color but also thickens the food.

People like to use it in making smoothies, pancake batters, ginger cookies, applesauce, shakes, and more.

Instant Coffee

If you’re in a hurry and run out of Kitchen Bouquet in the pantry, instant coffee might be your lifesaver. Thanks to its brown color, this caffeinated powder could be used as a food coloring for your recipe.

However, it might carry a mild coffee flavor to the dish, so start with a small dose, then gradually work up until you get the desired color without much affecting the taste.

There are many types of instant coffee in the grocery store, and you can choose any brand you like but remember to shop for original flavor, not coffee with milk and other flavored powders.

If you’re not familiar with incorporating instant coffee into food, I suggest you try to swap instant coffee for Kitchen Bouquet in gravy and sauce recipes first.

Maggi Seasoning Liquid

Another browning agent which can replace Kitchen Bouquet is Maggi Seasoning liquid. Although adding it to the sauce doesn’t make the texture thicker, it can impart savory flavors to the food.

Maggi Seasoning, made from wheat protein, was invented in Switzerland in the late 1800s and has become prevalent worldwide because it can quickly enhance the taste of food.

Some people perceive it as a combination of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. This dark brown liquid has a rich, meaty, and salty aroma.

It’s known to be able to amplify the savory note in seafood, meat, and poultry. Similarly, it can add depth to any dish you put it in. Therefore, Maggi Seasoning is common in sauces, stir-fries, stews, and soups.

Due to its saltiness, I highly recommend that you be careful when using it as a substitute for Kitchen Bouquet. Let’s use half the required amount of Kitchen Bouquet in the recipe.

Let’s cook delicious dishes with Maggi Seasoning! You can see this video to know more:

Parisian Essence

Although its name sounds fancy, it’s simply made from water and caramelized sugar. It’s considered one of the best replacements for Kitchen Boutique if you’re after both browning and thickening agents.

In addition, it’s suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets. It’s also gluten-free, peanut-free, and dairy-free, so it’s quite a healthy option to add to your recipes. You can use it for any food that calls for Kitchen Bouquet.

Parisian essence performs well in gravies, soups, puddings, fruit cakes, broths, other baking recipes, and more.

Worcestershire Sauce

Worcestershire sauce is a famous British brown and thin sauce, loved worldwide thanks to its complex yet impressive flavor profile. To be more specific, it’s sweet, salty, tangy, and umami-rich.

As far as I know, this sauce is made from anchovies, vinegar, tamarind extract, molasses, salt, garlic, chili pepper extract, shallots, and sugar. These ingredients can vary depending on different manufacturers.

Worcestershire sauce can be a stand-in for Kitchen Bouquet because it adds brown color to the dish.

It’s worth noting that this sauce might significantly affect the flavor of the food, so you should consider it before deciding to use it as a replacement. Let’s add only ½ the amount of Kitchen Bouquet that the recipe asks for.

Versatile Worcestershire sauce is suitable for soups, stews, sauces, casseroles, pies, and marinades. It pairs well with cheese, mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes, and red meat.

You can see this video to know more:

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Bragg liquid aminos are much similar to soy sauce but seem to be healthier and more pleasant to taste than soy sauce. It’s also used as a table condiment and a cooking seasoning.

Many health-conscious people would like to choose Bragg liquid over other soy-related products because it’s gluten-free and 100% non-GMO.

So, both Bragg liquid and Kitchen Bouquet are good for your health and can brown your foods as you want. Let’s use one for another when you suddenly run out of one of them in the kitchen.

Bragg liquid aminos are salty (but less salty than soy sauce) and slightly sweet. It can infuse a savory and umami flavor to whatever you drizzle it on, such as stir-fries, salad dressings, dips, and sauces.

To get the desired flavor, incorporate as much as ¾ the amount of Kitchen Bouquet which is suggested in the dish.

Unsweetened Cocoa

Believe it or not, cocoa powder is the next option on my list. It works amazingly as a browning and thickening component you’ll need when making gravies, sauces, dips, stews, and other recipes.

It’s a fact that unsweetened cocoa powder can impart a chocolatey aroma to your dish, so you can use it as a last resort when there’s no other option around.

Brown Gravy Mix

This mixture is sold widely in a small packet which helps you get the flavorful brown gravy to serve over foods. So, if you happen to have this product at home, let’s use it in place of the Kitchen Bouquet.

What I like most about this brown gravy mix is that it’s easy and quick to prepare. All you have to do is to pour it into the saucepan, add water and simmer for less than 5 minutes, and everything is ready.

As far as I know, it can thicken the sauce and bring color to the dish. Also, it can boost the overall taste. It goes along with meat sandwiches, roast beef, stuffing, meatloaf, and mashed potatoes.

Homemade Kitchen Bouquet Substitute

Why not make your own version of Kitchen Bouquet at home and use it confidently in your recipe? Below is a step-by-step instruction you can refer to. Let’s start now!

Ingredients

• Beef broth
• 1 cup of water
• ½ cup of brown sugar

Cooking Instructions

Step 1: Add sugar to the pan and turn on the heat. Cook until it melts.

Step 2: Take the pan out of the stove. Start pouring a little by little water into the pan. Stir well with a spoon so that melted sugar dissolves in water, forming a brown liquid.

Step 3: Add beef broth according to your consistency preference. The more of it, the runnier this mixture becomes.

Step 4: Put the pan back to heat and let the mixture simmer for extra few minutes.

Step 5: Use this homemade Kitchen Bouquet for your recipe.

FAQs

Asking a lot of questions makes you smarter, so don’t hesitate to do so. Here are some interesting facts that have been clarified in the form of questions-and-answers. Let’s see!

Jazz Up Your Meals

From steaks, stews, gravies to grilled dishes, Kitchen Bouquet is here for you and makes your foods incredibly good.

But, in some cases, you fail to find it everywhere, don’t be disappointed too soon. Instead of moaning over your undone dish, let’s take advantage of what you have around your kitchen.

Using cocoa powder as a substitute can be a breakthrough on your cooking journey because this requires a lot of creativity to integrate into your planned recipe.

Luckily, things are not always challenging. You can have Gravy Master, Bragg Liquid Aminos, or Worcestershire sauce, which are considered excellent yet effective replacements for Kitchen Bouquet in almost any recipe.

All in all, have fun cooking, and I’ve got your back with this article.

Reach me if you find 11 options above are helpful. I’d like to discuss cooking topics with you!

Reference

1. En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Kitchen Bouquet – Wikipedia.
2. Reader’s Digest. 2021. Blackstrap vs. Dark vs. Light Molasses: What’s the Difference?.