Stock cubes are one of those ingredients I reach for without really thinking about it. They are cheap, easy to store and capable of rescuing a soup, stew or tray of roasted vegetables when dinner needs to happen quickly. Once you turn the packet around, however, the ingredient list is often far more complicated than the little cube suggests, and what you are really after is non-UPF stock cubes.
Finding a genuinely straightforward alternative has not been easy. Many products marketed as organic, natural or free from artificial additives still contain flavour-building ingredients such as yeast extract, maltodextrin and concentrated extracts. Those ingredients are not automatically dangerous, but they can make a strict ultra-processed-food classification less clear.
The best current non-UPF stock-cube options in the UK are Borough Broth’s frozen chicken and beef broth cubes. They are made from water, bones, vegetables, vinegar, seasoning and herbs, then reduced and frozen. They are not suitable for vegetarians and they cost considerably more than an ordinary dry cube, but their ingredient lists are unusually easy to understand.
For a vegetable option, there is more interpretation involved. Kallo Yeast Free Vegetable Stock Cubes have a comparatively short recipe and avoid yeast extract, although they still include extracts and an antioxidant. Marigold Organic Yeast Free Stock Cubes use familiar vegetables, herbs and spices but also contain maltodextrin. I would describe both as simpler alternatives rather than declaring that everybody must classify them in exactly the same way.
This post is based on manufacturers’ current recipes and. These can change, so always read the packet of the UPF-free stock cube that you are actually buying.
The Best Non-UPF Stock Cubes and Alternatives in the UK
If you are standing in the shop and want the quickest possible answer, these are the options I would consider:
- Best overall chicken option: Borough Broth Organic Chicken Bone Broth Cubes — a frozen double-concentrated broth with a short list of recognisable ingredients.
- Best overall beef option: Borough Broth Organic Beef Bone Broth Cubes — similarly simple, with beef and a small amount of chicken bone.
- Best cupboard option without yeast extract: Kallo Yeast Free Vegetable Stock Cubes — convenient and widely understandable, although the vegetable extracts mean classification is not completely unambiguous.
- Best organic dry-cube alternative: Marigold Organic Yeast Free Stock Cubes — useful when you need a vegan cupboard product, but they contain maltodextrin.
- Best budget option: homemade vegetable stock concentrate or frozen stock cubes made from ordinary kitchen ingredients.
- Best for complete control: homemade chicken stock, reduced and frozen in small portions.
My first choice is Borough Broth when freezer space, budget and meat-based stock all work for your household. For ordinary weeknight cooking, I would also be comfortable using one of the simpler yeast-free vegetable cubes occasionally rather than letting the search for a perfect label make family meals harder.
Borough Broth Organic Chicken Bone Broth Cubes
Best overall chicken stock alternative
These are not dry cubes wrapped in foil. Borough Broth slow-cooks an organic chicken broth, reduces it to a double concentrate and freezes it in nine 20g portions. The manufacturer lists:
- Spring water
- Organic chicken bones, 40%
- Organic carrots and onions
- Organic apple cider vinegar
- Organic black peppercorns
- Pink Himalayan salt
- Organic thyme and bay leaves
That is the clearest ready-made recipe I found. There is no listed yeast extract, maltodextrin, flavouring, modified starch, emulsifier or hydrolysed protein. The company calls the product UPF-free; the ingredient list also fits comfortably with the sort of stock that could be made in a home kitchen.
One cube contains 0.16g of salt according to the current product information, but the amount used in a finished dish will depend on the recipe and serving size. Taste before adding extra salt rather than assuming every stock product is heavily seasoned.
The cubes are currently listed by both Waitrose and Ocado. They need to stay frozen at -18°C and should not be refrozen once thawed. This makes them less useful for a desk drawer, caravan or cupboard emergency, but very convenient for risotto, soup, gravy and sauces at home.
View Borough Broth Organic Chicken Bone Broth Cubes at Waitrose.
Worth knowing: the product is made in a kitchen that also processes mustard. Always check the current allergy statement if that is relevant to your household.
Borough Broth Organic Beef Bone Broth Cubes
Best overall beef stock alternative
The beef version follows the same frozen format. Its current recipe contains spring water, 38% organic beef bones, 2% organic chicken bones, carrots, onions, apple cider vinegar, black peppercorns, salt, thyme and bay leaves.
The presence of chicken matters. Someone avoiding chicken for allergy, religious, ethical or dietary reasons should not assume that a beef-labelled broth contains beef alone. It is a useful reminder to read even a very short ingredient list.
Each pack contains nine 20g cubes. The manufacturer suggests using them in dishes such as ragu, soup and gravy. A cube currently contains 0.21g of salt and 1g of protein. Bone broth is often surrounded by extravagant wellness claims, but it is better treated as a flavourful cooking ingredient rather than a cure or essential supplement.
Waitrose and Ocado currently list the frozen beef cubes. They cost much more per portion than a standard dry stock cube, so they make most sense in dishes where the stock flavour will be noticeable.
View Borough Broth Organic Beef Bone Broth Cubes at Waitrose.
Kallo Yeast Free Vegetable Stock Cubes
Best easy cupboard option
Kallo’s yeast-free cube is the most practical dry option I found for people who want to avoid yeast extract. Its current ingredients are salt, sustainable palm oil, vegetables including onion, carrot, tomato and celery, caramelised sugar, herbs and spices, mushroom, onion and carrot extracts, plus rosemary extract as an antioxidant.
There are no listed artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and no added MSG. It is vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free according to Kallo. Those are useful facts, but none of them automatically answers the UPF question.
The extracts are where classification becomes less certain. Concentrating an onion or carrot is not inherently a problem, yet NOVA classification looks at the purpose and industrial formulation of ingredients as well as whether their names sound natural. Different people following a non-UPF diet may reach different conclusions.
I would describe this as a relatively simple, yeast-free cupboard cube rather than an unequivocal whole-food product. It is a sensible option when convenience matters, particularly if the alternative is abandoning a homemade dinner for a takeaway.
Check the current Kallo Yeast Free Vegetable Stock Cubes recipe.
Allergy note: the recipe contains celery. Check the packet because ingredients and factory warnings can change.
Marigold Organic Yeast Free Stock Cubes
Best organic vegan alternative
Marigold’s yeast-free cubes are made with sea salt, organic shea butter and sunflower oil, maltodextrin from maize, 13% vegetables, and spices and herbs including mace, nutmeg, turmeric, parsley, lovage, bay and pepper.
The recognisable vegetable and herb ingredients are appealing, and there are no artificial preservatives, colours or flavourings listed. The sticking point is maltodextrin. It is an industrially produced carbohydrate often used as a carrier or bulking ingredient and is commonly treated as a UPF marker under strict interpretations of NOVA.
For that reason, I would not present Marigold as the clearest non-UPF choice. It belongs here because people searching for additive-free or yeast-free stock cubes will encounter it, and because it is still useful to understand how it compares. If your approach is simply to reduce rather than completely eliminate ultra-processed ingredients, it may be an acceptable occasional shortcut.
Marigold currently lists Ocado, Planet Organic and Amazon among its UK stockists.
Read the Marigold stock-cube ingredients.
What About Ordinary Kallo Organic Vegetable Cubes?
Kallo’s standard organic vegetable cubes are not the same as the yeast-free version. The current recipe includes potato starch, palm oil, sugar, vegetable oils, yeast extract and caramelised sugar alongside vegetables, herbs and spices.
Yeast extract is used to add savoury intensity. It does not have the same composition as added monosodium glutamate, although it naturally contains glutamates. Its presence does not make the product poisonous or unsuitable for everybody. It does make the product harder to class as non-UPF under a strict approach.
If you are comparing two Kallo packets, look specifically for “Yeast Free” rather than relying on the organic label. Organic certification relates to how qualifying ingredients are produced; it does not guarantee that a food is minimally processed.
Are Stock Cubes Always Ultra-Processed?
No. The cube shape and long shelf life do not decide the classification. A frozen cube of reduced homemade broth is still stock, just portioned for convenience.
Conventional dry cubes are more likely to be ultra-processed because manufacturers need to deliver intense flavour, easy dissolving and long cupboard storage in a tiny portion. Depending on the product, the recipe may include:
- Yeast extract or hydrolysed proteins
- Flavourings
- Maltodextrin
- Modified starch
- Palm fat or other concentrated fats
- Caramel colouring
- Emulsifiers
- Anticaking agents
- Glucose syrup or added sugar
- Concentrated extracts
One ingredient should not be used as an automatic verdict in every product. NOVA can be difficult to apply consistently at individual-product level, particularly when an ingredient performs several jobs. The complete formulation and the reason those ingredients are present matter.
Does Yeast Extract Make a Stock Cube UPF?
Yeast extract is one of the most debated ingredients in stock. It is made by breaking down yeast cells and concentrating their savoury components. Manufacturers use it to build umami and replace or reduce other flavour enhancers.
Under a strict NOVA interpretation, yeast extract is often regarded as an ingredient associated with ultra-processed formulations because it is used to intensify flavour. Some people reducing UPFs therefore avoid it. Others are comfortable using it in small amounts, particularly in an otherwise straightforward product.
This guide does not pretend the disagreement can be solved with one sentence. If avoiding yeast extract is one of your personal rules, Borough Broth, the Kallo yeast-free cube and a homemade stock are clearer choices.
Is Maltodextrin Ultra-Processed?
Maltodextrin is produced from starch and is used as a carrier, bulking ingredient or texture aid. It is not an ingredient most households make in their kitchens, and it commonly appears in ultra-processed formulations.
That does not mean a tiny amount will make somebody ill, nor that a cube containing it has no place in a balanced diet. It does mean products such as Marigold’s yeast-free cubes are less clear-cut than their short, natural-sounding front-of-pack claims may suggest.
If your aim is a strict non-UPF kitchen, choose a broth without it. If your aim is a realistic overall reduction, look at how often you use the product and what the rest of the meal contains.
Is “No Added MSG” the Same as Non-UPF Stock Cubes?
No. “No added MSG” tells you that monosodium glutamate has not been added as a separate ingredient. A cube can still contain yeast extract, flavourings, maltodextrin or other components associated with ultra-processed foods.
Likewise, a product described as organic, vegan, gluten-free or free from artificial preservatives is not automatically non-UPF. These claims answer different questions:
- Organic concerns production standards for qualifying agricultural ingredients.
- Vegan concerns animal-derived ingredients.
- Gluten-free concerns gluten content and cross-contamination controls.
- No artificial preservatives concerns a particular additive category.
- Non-UPF concerns the nature and purpose of the whole formulation.
The ingredient list remains more useful than a collection of badges on the front.
How Much Salt Is in Stock Cubes?
Stock cubes are concentrated seasonings, so salt is often a major ingredient. Compare the nutrition information for the stock as prepared, not only per 100g of dry cube, and remember that the finished dish may include bacon, sausages, cheese, soy sauce or other salty ingredients.
For adults, the NHS recommends no more than 6g of salt a day. Children need less, with the recommended maximum varying by age. Babies should have less than 1g of salt a day, so ordinary stock cubes are rarely a sensible way to season food for a baby.
Practical ways to keep control include:
- Starting with half a cube
- Diluting the stock more than the packet suggests
- Adding salt only after tasting the finished dish
- Using herbs, garlic, pepper, mushrooms or browned vegetables for flavour
- Choosing an unsalted homemade stock for young children
- Checking other salty ingredients in the same recipe
Reducing UPFs and reducing salt are related but different goals. A homemade stock can still be too salty if you season it heavily.
Can Children Have Stock Cubes?
Older children can eat family meals made with stock, but the amount and the rest of the recipe matter. A single cube spread through a large pot of soup is very different from a concentrated mug of stock.
For babies, avoid relying on ordinary stock cubes. Use water, an unsalted homemade stock or a product specifically suitable for the child’s age, and follow NHS weaning advice. Do not use “organic” or “natural” as a substitute for checking the salt figure.
With two children, I know how tempting it is to make one dinner for everybody rather than create separate pans. An easy approach is to cook the base with unsalted stock, remove the baby’s portion, and season the family dish afterwards. This is general practical guidance rather than a substitute for advice from your health visitor or GP.
Easy Homemade Vegetable Non-UPF Stock Cubes
This concentrate is more useful than a large container of thin stock because it takes up less freezer space. It will not look like a perfect commercial cube, but that is rather the point.
Ingredients
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 3 carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 1 small leek, washed thoroughly and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- A few sprigs of thyme or parsley
- 6 black peppercorns
- 750ml water
Method
- Warm the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat.
- Add the onion, carrot, celery and leek.
- Cook gently for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to colour.
- Add the garlic, bay, herbs, peppercorns and water.
- Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cook uncovered for 40–50 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and tastes noticeably stronger than an ordinary soup broth.
- Strain through a sieve, pressing the vegetables gently.
- Return the liquid to the clean pan and simmer for a little longer if it still seems weak.
- Cool it quickly, then refrigerate until completely cold.
- Pour into a clean lidded ice-cube tray and freeze.
- Once solid, transfer the cubes to a labelled freezer container or bag.
Leave the concentrate unsalted if you want maximum flexibility. You can season the final meal instead.
The Lakeland lidded silicone ice-cube tray makes 22 small portions and has a lid to reduce spills and freezer odours.
Using Vegetable Scraps To Make Non-UPF Stock Cubes Without Making Bitter Stock
A freezer bag of suitable scraps can reduce waste, but not every peel and stalk belongs in stock. Good additions include clean carrot peelings, celery ends, leek tops, parsley stalks, mushroom trimmings and onion ends with any dirty or mouldy parts removed.
Use brassicas sparingly. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprout scraps can make a long-simmered stock sulphurous or bitter. Beetroot changes the colour dramatically, while potato peel can make it cloudy and starchy.
Only freeze scraps that were clean and fresh when prepared. A freezer does not turn spoiled vegetables into safe ingredients. Label the bag and use it while you can still remember what is in it.
If you fancy growing a few ingredients near the kitchen door, this guide to vegetables and herbs that grow well in pots includes basil and several compact crops. Fresh herbs are an easy way to give homemade stock more flavour without reaching automatically for extra salt.
Homemade Non-UPF Stock Cubes
After a roast chicken, place the stripped carcass in a large pan with an onion, carrot, celery stick, bay leaf and enough cold water to cover it. Bring it to a simmer rather than a violent boil, skim any foam, then cook gently until the liquid has flavour.
Strain it carefully, cool it quickly and refrigerate. Remove excess set fat if you wish, then reduce the stock in a clean pan until concentrated. Freeze it in small portions once cold.
Food safety matters. Refrigerate cooked stock promptly, do not leave a warm pan on the worktop for hours, and reheat until piping hot. If the stock smells unexpectedly sour, has visible mould or has been stored for an uncertain length of time, throw it away.
How to Use Frozen Stock Cubes
Frozen broth cubes can go straight into many hot dishes. Try them in:
- Soup and stew
- Risotto
- Bolognese or ragu
- Cottage pie filling
- Gravy
- Lentils and beans
- Rice or couscous
- Pan sauces
- Vegetable purées
- Sausage casserole
Check the manufacturer’s instructions. Borough Broth says its cubes can be used from frozen and should be heated until piping hot. Homemade cubes can vary in strength, so begin with one and add another after tasting.
For a quick family dinner, combine a chicken cube with water, small pasta, frozen peas, shredded cooked chicken and a squeeze of lemon. It is not glamorous, but it is the sort of meal that works when everybody is hungry and time has disappeared.
How to Read a Stock-Cube Label
Start with the ingredient order. Ingredients are normally listed from greatest to smallest by weight. If salt and fat appear first, the vegetables pictured on the packet may form only a small percentage.
Then look for:
- The percentage of meat, bones or vegetables
- Yeast extract and hydrolysed protein
- Maltodextrin or modified starch
- Generic flavourings
- Added sugar or glucose syrup
- Palm oil or other fats, if those matter to you
- Allergens including celery, mustard, milk or gluten
- Salt per prepared portion
- Storage requirements
Do not assume the longest word is the worst ingredient. Equally, do not assume a product is simple because the packaging is brown, green or covered in leaves.
A Realistic Approach to Reducing UPFs
A stock cube is normally a small part of a much larger meal. Replacing it can be a simple win, but it is not worth becoming so worried about one teaspoon of seasoning that cooking from scratch feels impossible.
I find it more helpful to keep a few levels of convenience available:
- Frozen homemade stock when there is some
- Borough Broth cubes for dishes where stock really matters
- A yeast-free cupboard cube for emergencies
- Water, herbs and ordinary seasoning when stock is not actually necessary
That gives you options rather than another food rule to fail at.
You can find more straightforward supermarket swaps on the Non-UPF Food UK hub. The guides to non-UPF sausages and non-UPF pasta sauces are particularly useful for the same kind of quick family dinners, while non-UPF crackers make an easy side for soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Stock Cubes Are Non-UPF in the UK?
Borough Broth’s frozen organic chicken and beef broth cubes have the clearest current ingredient lists and are marketed as UPF-free. They contain water, bones, vegetables, vinegar, seasoning and herbs. Kallo Yeast Free cubes are a simpler dry alternative, but their vegetable extracts make strict classification less certain.
Are Kallo Stock Cubes Ultra-Processed?
It depends on the variety and the interpretation used. Kallo’s standard organic vegetable cubes contain yeast extract and several formulation ingredients. The yeast-free version has a shorter recipe but includes concentrated extracts. Read the exact packet rather than treating the whole brand as one product.
Are Marigold Stock Cubes Non-UPF?
Marigold Organic Yeast Free Stock Cubes avoid yeast extract and artificial flavourings, but they contain maltodextrin. Under a strict NOVA approach, that makes them an uncertain or likely ultra-processed option rather than the clearest non-UPF cube.
Are Oxo Cubes Ultra-Processed?
Many conventional Oxo products contain ingredients used for concentrated flavour and industrial formulation. Recipes vary by flavour and can change, so check the current label. If your aim is to avoid UPFs, a short-ingredient frozen broth or homemade stock is easier to assess.
Can You Make Stock Without a Cube?
Yes. Water, browned vegetables, herbs, pepper and the cooking juices already in a dish may provide enough flavour. Homemade stock can be frozen in small portions, and meat dishes can often be loosened with water before being reduced again.
How Long Does Homemade Stock Last?
Cool homemade stock promptly and refrigerate it in a clean covered container. UK food-safety advice commonly recommends using chilled leftovers within two days unless the specific recipe guidance says otherwise. Freeze it if you will not use it promptly, label it with the date and reheat until piping hot.
Can I Freeze Stock in an Ice-Cube Tray?
Yes. Cool the stock completely before filling a clean freezer-safe tray. A lid is helpful because it limits spills and protects the stock from freezer odours. Transfer the frozen cubes to a labelled container if you need the tray for something else.
Is Bone Broth Healthier Than Ordinary Stock?
Bone broth can provide protein and collagen, but it should not be treated as a miracle food. The useful differences for this article are its simple recipe, concentrated flavour and frozen convenience. Choose it because it suits the dish and your budget, not because of exaggerated health promises.
Non-UPF Stock Cubes
Borough Broth’s frozen chicken and beef cubes are the clearest non-UPF stock-cube alternatives currently available from mainstream UK supermarkets. Their recipes read like concentrated homemade stock, and each cube is ready to stir into a hot dish from frozen.
Kallo Yeast Free Vegetable Stock Cubes are the most convenient cupboard option, although their extracts leave a little room for classification debate. Marigold’s yeast-free cube is useful for some shoppers but contains maltodextrin, so it is not my first recommendation for somebody following a strict non-UPF approach.
Homemade stock remains the cheapest way to control every ingredient. Make it when you have time, freeze it in small portions and keep a sensible backup for the evenings when you do not. Reducing ultra-processed food should make everyday meals feel better, not make cooking unmanageable.