Avoid This Store-Bought Beef Stock. It Tastes Like Spoiled Onions

Beef stock can serve as a rich and delicious base for a plethora of recipes, and for that reason it's a great staple ingredient to keep on hand. But, we've come to find that some beef stocks really miss the mark and are better left at the grocery store than in your pantry.

When we ranked nine store-bought beef stocks, the Meijer brand Beef Cooking Stock came in last place. Not only did this stock fall flat when compared against its competitors, it had an actively unpleasant flavor that we likened to a bitter, nearly spoiled onion. Definitely not the kind of flavor you want making up the base of your next soup or sauce. The Meijer Beef Cooking Stock also hits the palate with an off-putting combination of sweet and acidic that clashes rather than creates an interesting flavor profile and lingered long after our taste test. On top of it all, the price point for this stock is just okay, coming in at $2.97 per carton. While that is about average for grocery store beef stock prices, our top pick in our rankings was notably one of the cheapest stocks on the list. The fact that you could easily get something better for even just slightly less money is all the more reason to avoid the Meijer Beef Cooking Stock.

While we overall found the Meijer Beef Cooking Stock to be unappetizing, we were still able to appreciate the short and sweet ingredient list. Beef stock should be a simple combination of hearty and naturally flavorful ingredients, and the Meijer beef stock did deliver in that aspect with only ten ingredients total. However, we suspect the addition of onion puree may be the cause for that rancid onion flavor that ultimately turned us off from this stock.

Luckily, there are plenty of delicious beef stocks at the grocery store, including out top-ranked Good & Gather brand beef stock. Beyond that, there is a case to be made for reconsidering buying beef broth and stock at the grocery store altogether and just making your own at home. The process can be a bit of a time investment as you'll want to simmer your ingredients very slowly to extract all those precious flavors and nutrients, but the effort is well worth it. So, next time you're whipping up a meaty, creamy beef stroganoff or an easy French onion soup, be selective about the beef stock you choose and avoid the Meijer Beef Cooking Stock at all costs.