What Is Consomme and How Can I Use It?
Here's everything worth knowing about consomme and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 8 recipes to cook tonight.
Key Points
- Consomme is a stock clarified until it is crystal clear and intensely savory.
- An egg-white raft coagulates as the liquid heats and traps the particles that cloud stock.
- Start with cold stock and never stir once the raft forms, or it clouds again.
- Serve it as an elegant clear soup or use it as a concentrated cooking liquid.
- Gelatin-rich consomme sets cold into a savory aspic; never boil the raft.
What is consomme?
Consomme is stock taken to its most refined form: a crystal-clear, deeply savory liquid you can read a newspaper through. You start with a good stock, clarify it until every speck of cloudiness is gone, and end up with a soup that is pure flavor and nothing else.
The clarity is the whole identity. A consomme should be brilliant and transparent, never cloudy, with a flavor far more concentrated than the stock it came from.
It is usually served as an elegant clear soup, sometimes with a few delicate garnishes floating in it. Beef and chicken are the most common bases.
How It Is Clarified
The classic method uses an egg-white raft. You whisk egg whites, often mixed with lean ground meat and chopped vegetables, into cold stock, then heat it slowly while stirring.
As the liquid warms, the egg-white proteins coagulate and rise into a floating raft. That raft traps the tiny particles that cloud a stock, pulling them out as it sets. The result strains out perfectly clear.
The rules are strict. Start with cold stock so the whites disperse, and never stir once the raft forms or you break it and cloud the soup. Hold a bare simmer for about an hour, then ladle the consomme out through a cloth-lined strainer without disturbing the raft.
There is a modern shortcut too. Freeze the stock solid, then let it thaw slowly through a cloth, and the gel mesh catches the cloudiness as it drips clear.
How to Use It
Consomme is at its best as a clear first-course soup, served hot with a scatter of fine garnish like julienned vegetables or a splash of sherry. A great beef consomme needs nothing more than itself.
Because it is so concentrated, it also works as a luxurious cooking liquid. It lifts a Royal Beef Bourguignon and adds clear, savory depth to Sopa Castilla la Vieja (Almond Soup).
A gelatin-rich consomme can be chilled until it sets into a savory aspic, as in this Molded Borsch. It firms up cold thanks to all the gelatin in the original stock.
Watch out for one thing above all. Boil the raft and you churn it apart, clouding the soup you worked to clarify and undoing the whole point.
Substitutes
In a pinch, a good unsalted stock or broth stands in for consomme in cooking, though it will not have the same clarity or concentrated punch. Reduce it a little to deepen the flavor.
Canned consomme exists and works fine as a base, just watch the salt since it comes seasoned.
For a clear soup served on its own there is no real shortcut. The clarity has to be earned through clarifying.
Buying and Storing It
Homemade consomme keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes well for a few months. Cool it quickly before chilling, and a good one will set firm and jiggly when cold.
Canned and boxed consomme keeps for months unopened, then behaves like any opened stock once you break the seal: refrigerate it and use within a few days. The general storage rules live on the stock page.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 清汤
- British (UK) term
- Consomme
- en français
- consommé
- en español
- consomé
Recipes using consomme
There are 8 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Meat Balls
An easy meatball recipe with ground veal and pork, enriched with barbecue sauce. The tender texture of the meatballs, thanks to the combination of veal and pork, is enhanced by the rich and tangy barbecue sauce, while the beef consomme and onion soup mix add a depth of savory goodness.
Molded Borsch
Molded borsch with diced beets set in a jewel-toned consomme gelatin ring, served cold with sour cream. A retro chilled appetizer that looks as stunning as it tastes.
Seafood Glace'
A retro Southern appetizer of boiled shrimp suspended in seasoned consommé aspic with lemon, green onion, and a kick of hot sauce. Unmold onto crackers for a showstopping starter.
Succulent Truffled Potato Stew
Truffled potato stew with new potatoes braised in white wine and vegetable consomme with leeks, garlic, and thyme. Finished with shaved fresh truffles and asparagus tips.
Mild Cheddar Soup
Creamy mild cheddar soup with grated carrots, parsnip, celery, and onion in a beef consommé base, finished with melted cheese and milk. A homestyle bowl of cheesy comfort, ready in 45 minutes.
Sopa Castilla la Vieja( Almond Soup)
Traditional Spanish almond soup from Castilla la Vieja: ground almonds blended into rich consomme, ladled over toast strips, broiled with Parmesan, and scattered with toasted almonds.
Royal Beef Bourguignon
Beef Bourguignon with cubed round steak braised in burgundy wine with crispy bacon, pearl onions, and mushrooms, plus a splash of sherry and tomato paste. The classic French bistro stew made at home.
Egyptian Rice
Quick one-pot ground beef and rice dish with mushrooms, soy sauce, and beef consommé. This easy weeknight dinner cooks in 15 minutes and gets topped with sour cream and toasted almonds.
