I use the Better than Bouillon soup base. It's good- flavor is much much deeper than cubes.

I like Better than Bouillon as well.
You could also try making your own soup base with this recipe from Heidi Swanson:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/homemade-bouillon-recipe.html

Yes - Better Than Bouillion is great. Keep in mind, though, that it is pretty salty, which just means not to add salt to whatever you're making. It is much, much better than the cubes. You can also buy boxes of stock/broth at the grocery store...Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have the best. Make sure it is marked low sodium, however. If you want to make the store bought stock richer and more homemade, you can also try boiling it with some carrot, celery, etc...I think Mark Bittman has a recipe for this.

If you're comfortable making chicken stock, you can also reduce it to a demi-glace and freeze it in ice cube trays. The cubes don't take up much space and taste way better than bouillon. You can just reconstitute them in warm water to the dilution you prefer.

has anyone tried the better than bouillon vegan, no chicken, base? i'm curious to know how "chickeny" it tastes. i'm not a vegetarian but i've recently choosen to (hopefully) only eat humanely raised/killed animals. it would be nice to not always have to make my own stock from scratch, especially since i have not tried making mine from scratch yet ;)

I thought the kitchn had done a post about Heidi at 101cookbooks.com. She makes her own boullion: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/homemade-bouillon-recipe.html

It would certainly be less to freeze.

karen2980, it's good, but pretty salty. I prefer Edward and Sons bouillon cubes. They're more like better-than-bouillon than traditional bouillon cubes, in that they're soft. I can cut one in half with kitchen shears if I only need a cup of broth. But they're much less salty.

@karen2980 I use the vegetable flavor Better than Bouillon all the time. I add a dab of it to anything that needs a little "something." ;) It's pretty tomato-y, but I like that.

I use Better Than Bullion. I'm not sure what constitutes "good stock" for the person who asked the question, but Swanson organic chicken broth is pretty decent, and it's usually available at non-specialty grocery stores.

@karen2980 - sorry, I realized I didn't answer your main question. I don't think the vegetable version really tastes like chicken at all.

@CristenL, I just made the homemade boullion this weekend and it's brilliant! I forgot the celeriac in the market bag and guessed on proportions due to not understanding UK ounces for normal kitchen cooking and possibly added way too much salt (which will get absorbed in the dishes I use this stuff in + if you add enough salt to preserve IT WILL NOT FREEZE!) but it was so amazingly delicious! I mixed up a tsp with a cup of hot water and drank it up and was just amazed at how good it tasted.

There is no real nutritional substitute for actual, home made bone broth, however. If you just need flavour, a bouillon will do the trick but it won't confer the health benefits of real broth (not store bought).

That demi-glace gold that comes in a little cup is good too, especially if you're making a reduced sauce. Otherwise I use Better than Boullion too.

Definitely Better Than Boullion. Karen2980....I've used the vegetarian "chicken" stock and although it's not exactly like chicken stock, it's good and I'd use it again in a pinch or for vegetarians.

I've used Penzey's chicken base and I like it fine - Doesn't seem overly salty

My favorite boxed stock is Kitchen Basics. I usually get the unsalted variety. Here's a link to it on Amazon for a picture of the box. http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Basics-Chicken-Stock-32-Ounce/dp/B0046H312W/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1298914636&sr=8-13

I'm probably going to draw no end of boos and hisses for this, but I've been using chicken bovril. A teaspoon or two dissolved in a litre of hot water gives me something cheap and chicken-flavoured to use in recipes - to be honest, my primary driving force has been cost, but it works!

Buy a low sodium stock or broth. I consider Bouillon a salt replacer/seasoning, never stock!

In my opinion, the best alternative to chicken stock is regular old water.

I second Corydon's suggestion of reducing home made stock to a demi-glace.

I like the Penzey's line of soup bases. It's definitely less salty than many comparable products.
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyssoupbase.html

Trader Joe's sells these inexpensive concentrated chicken broth pouches that I really like. I think it works out to 12 pouches for $4-ish. One pouch makes one cup of broth which works well for when I can't finish those larger containers of boxed broth.

Better than Bouillon is way too salty. We usually roast a chicken once a week and make stock from that which we reduce and keep in the freezer. (It takes no time if you let it do it's thing on the stove top while you go about cleaning the house or watching a movie with the fam) But if I'm in a pinch I like Pacific brand of stocks. I don't mess around with bouillon

I like Penzey's as well. I'm on my third jar of chicken this winter.

Better Than Bouillon has both salt *and* sugar in it, so if you are not looking to add sugar to your dish (or to your diet), stay clear of this stuff.

I second fairiestates's recommendation for the pouches from Trader Joe's. As you may know, Trader Joe's does a lot of private labelling of name brands, and I'm pretty sure this one is made by Savory Choice. Savory Choice also makes a number of other flavors.

Yup- Better Than Bullion (veg style) for me too. It happens, though, that all the soups I've been making lately contain beans- since cooking dry beans takes an hour anyway, I've found that I can make stock at the same time in the same pot (with sad veggies), and start feeding the liquid into another pot where I am sweating the veg...

Penzey's has delicious soup bases in 7 flavors. I've been using them for several years and love their authentic flavor.

Better than Bouillon (both chicken and beef) rocks. It's much less chemical tasting (maybe because it has less chemicals) than cubes. It's wonderful for when you need a small amount of broth. For large amounts (over a cup) I use either the Swanson's reduced sodium broths, or Trader Joe's reduced sodium broths, both in a box. The problem with them is that once opened, they stay fresh only a week or so, and the boxes hold a full quart, so unless you need a lot, or will be using it again quickly, you may end up throwing some away. That's why I like the Better than Bouillon for small amounts.

I really love Rapunzel Veggie bouillion with Sea Salt and Herbs. It's organic, salty (but you can get it WITHOUT the salt), and when I read the ingredient list I wasn't alarmed. I think it's delicious :)

Better Than Bouillon makes a low odium version for those who say it's too salty. And, you can buy the larger jars of it at Costco for the price of the small jars at regular stores. I love the stuff and use it all the time. Bonus- it's organic.