What to do with this broth?

I made beef in the crockpot just so I could have taco meat. the juice is left over. The broth consists of cumin, dried Guajillo and California Peppers, fresh garlic, onion, bell peppers, celery, 2 oranges, juice from one lime, chilli powder, thyme, rosemar, mexican oregano and dehydrated onions. Hate to just throw it away.

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Can I ask how much you have? I’ve been in the same position and a lot kind of depends on what it’s made of (which you said) and how much you have. Also, what’s the salt level like? For example, is the salt level as you’d like it at its current volume or would you add more salt? Would it be too salty (or too any of the flavors) if you reduced it?

I would say about 8 or 9 cups. not too salty at all, has more lime and orange taste. Thanks for getting me to taste it. I was thinking of enchiladas sauce but it too citrus tasting for that.

Oh, yeah, that’s a lot! Well, I don’t know if there’s any one application for a particular liquid like that but I guess is the decision tree I tend to use for that kind of thing:

Is it fatty or have particulates?

  • Strain off particulates
  • Chill and skim/scoop off the fat
  • Reserve fat for other cooking use (that’s a whole other decision tree)

Is it okay to use it as it is? (eg, salt and flavors not too strong, viscosity fairly thin, etc.). If so, use a lot of it as in the below applications

  • Jook - uses ~10:1 ratio of liquid to rice depending on what you use. This is useful on more neutral applications like regular stock so maybe not for this application
  • Soup - maybe tortilla or posole in this application since it can frequently be citrus heavy? I know it won’t be traditional but there might be some overlapping complementary flavors
  • Reuse it: Braising liquids continue to build flavor the more you use them so it’s not beyond the pale to save the liquid and use it for the same application. Then again, that’s a lot of liquid so


It’s a lot of liquid? If so, reduce it

  • This works better for a more neutral liquid. For example, a while back I had some pork stock which didn’t have a ton of flavor but a lot of body so it was great reduced and used as a sauce from a Modernist Cuisine recipe
  • If it’s too much flavor, balance it or mute it. If it’s too acidic it can be balanced with sugar to a degree but in this case I might suggest trying to mute it by cooking it down. The actual amount of acidity won’t really change but the punchier flavors will be less present- usually that’s an unwanted side effect which is why acid is often added at the end but in this case it may be helpful

From there I would either taste the reduction to see if it’s something that would be useful as a sauce either as is or with some further additions in flavor/thickening/etc. and loop my way to the top of the tree again.

I’m sure there are other approaches but the TL;DR for me is looking at the limiting/outstanding features of an ingredient you have in excess and try to isolate it, use it, dilute it and/or transform it. There are some limiting factors like too much salt or flavor or gelatin but you’d be surprised how often you can wangle something out of something as fundamental as broth.

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Also, I should add that at this time I think we’re all trying to find ways of using up leftovers, pantry items, old jars of stuff in the back of the fridge so
 go easy on yourself.

It’s very admirable to not want to waste anything but one unavoidable outcome of experimenting and learning new things is that not everything you try will come out great 100% of the time. This is doubly true if you’re trying to use an ingredient originally destined for discard. Give yourself and break and be okay with tossing something if it didn’t come out right the first time because you’re working your way towards a better dish next time.

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Make soup or stew. Simmer whatever vegetables, soaked beans (or unsoaked if they cook quickly, like orange lentils), and/or grains such as rice or barley in the broth until done. You might need to add them at different times, e.g. carrots and potatoes take longer than cabbage. Add sautéd vegetables and/or canned beans and/or any leftover meat or tofu or whatever.

I make that kind of thing on average a couple of times a week.

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Thank you so much! This is probably the best way to use it. I was thinking of a soup too like robert suggested. but I can’t think of a citrus-ie soup I like.

Good luck with it! Sorry for the long answer, I’ve been thinking about leftover braising liquids for a while ever since a buddy made a large batch of braised beef for a catering gig and we also weren’t sure what to do with the liquid.

We ended up tossing it which has haunted me ever since. If nothing else I suggest skimming off any fat and using it to cook eggs, put on bread before toasting it in a skillet or oven, maybe making mayonnaise if you’re so inclined


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just about everything except the orange could be part of my chicken tortilla soup. or if you have a pressure cooker, you could use that liquid to infuse those flavors into black beans and the beans would absorb just about all of that liquid. then mash the beans with some ground up pretzels (which i prefer to bread crumbs) and either form patties with them or use it as filler in a vegetarian burrito or tacos.

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Some variation on this might work.

Sounds to me you have a great base for a modified Shakshuka.

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I recently made a low/slow pork shoulder that produced a wonderful ‘jus.’ I put it in the fridge overnight and removed A LOT of fat. I then put it in a muffin tin and froze. Then removed, wrapped in plastic wrap, put in a big bag and froze. We’ve had a couple of lunches of a “French dip equivalent” and it was great. I’ve been making this particular recipe for years and likely wound up throwing out the just at some point. This has been great.

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i hope you’re saving the fat. I use the rendered fat for things like mirepoix, slow cooking beans, browning potatoes (if i don’t have goose/duck/beef fat), etc.

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Isn’t that crazy?!? I haven’t been and should have been. Thanks.

I run into this issue when making pork shoulder spud vide. I now use the resulting liquid to make the rice that goes with the meat. My family loves it because it’s super flavorful but the rice tones down the sharper aspects of the liquid.

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That’s brilliant!

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I second the brillance of this.