Beef Stock

Why beef stock is rated high

Beef stock is high FODMAP, and the beef has nothing to do with it. Ordinary beef stock, whether it comes from a carton, a cube or a pot simmered at home, is built on onion and garlic and often leek bulb, and all three are rich in fructans. Fructans dissolve in water, so over a long simmer they move out of the vegetables and into the liquid you go on to use. This rating is estimated from what the stock is made of rather than from a measured serving, and it holds at "Any typical portion". There is no lower rung on the ladder, so a smaller ladle is not a way around it. The fix is a stock made without onion or garlic.

What changes your risk

• The aromatics in the pot Onion, garlic and leek bulb are the whole reason this stock is high. Beef stock made without them is a different food on this diet, so the ingredient list matters far more than the cut of beef or the bones.
• Straining does not rescue it Lifting out the softened onion at the end leaves the fructans behind, because they have already leached into the liquid. A clear, strained beef stock carries the same load as a cloudy one.
• Long simmering does not break fructans down Heat does not destroy FODMAPs, so an eight hour simmer is no better than a quick one. Reducing stock into a gravy, jus or glaze concentrates whatever fructans it holds into a smaller volume.
• Cubes, powders and pastes Concentrated beef bases very often list onion powder or garlic powder, sometimes near the top. Read the full ingredient list rather than the front of the pack, since "reduced salt" or "rich" tells you nothing about onion.
• Stacking with other fructans Beef stock rarely travels alone. A stew thickened with wheat flour, a beef and barley soup, or a gravy poured over a wheat bread roll all add more fructans to the same meal on top of the stock.

Swaps

The direct swap is beef stock made without onion or garlic. At home, roast beef bones until deeply browned, then simmer them with leek leaves, the green tops of spring onions, carrot, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns, and finish with garlic-infused oil for the savoury depth the garlic would have given. A low FODMAP bone broth recipe follows this approach. If buying, look for a stock labelled onion- and garlic-free and check the ingredient list for onion powder, garlic powder and leek. Watch the lookalikes: ordinary vegetable stock and ordinary bone broth are built on the same onion and garlic base, so they are not a gentler choice, and mushroom-based stocks are not a safe route to that meaty flavour either.

How to lower the load

Browning is where low FODMAP beef stock gets its flavour back, so roast the bones and a few chunks of carrot hard before they go in the pot, and add leek leaves and spring onion greens to the water. Skim, simmer gently, strain, then stir garlic-infused oil into the finished stock or use it to sear the meat for the dish the stock is going into. Cool it quickly, freeze it in labelled containers, and keep it clearly separate from any ordinary stock in the freezer so the two never get mixed up. When eating out, assume gravies, braises, pho and French onion soup are built on ordinary beef stock unless the kitchen confirms otherwise.

Common questions

is beef stock low fodmap

No. Ordinary beef stock is high FODMAP at "Any typical portion" because it is made with onion and garlic, which bring fructans into the liquid. The rating is estimated from what it is made of, and only a stock made without onion or garlic avoids it.

is beef stock high in fructans

Yes, when it is made the usual way. The fructans come from the onion, garlic and often leek bulb simmered in it, not from the beef or the bones.

does straining out the onion make beef stock low fodmap

No. Fructans are water-soluble and leach into the liquid during simmering, so removing the onion pieces afterwards leaves them in the stock. Only leaving onion and garlic out from the start changes the rating.

what can i use instead of beef stock on low fodmap

A homemade stock of roasted beef bones simmered with leek leaves, spring onion greens, carrot and herbs, finished with garlic-infused oil, or a product labelled onion- and garlic-free. Ordinary vegetable stock and bone broth are not swaps because they share the same onion and garlic base.