Vegeta is a vegetable stock powder / seasoning is a “secret ingredient” used in some of my signature recipes such as a from-scratch Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s better than other brands of vegetable stock powder with a more rounded, less artificial flavour. These days, it’s widely available in everyday grocery stores, but I still regularly receive reader questions about it. So I decided it would make much more sense to write a brief post about it, answering the common questions!
What is Vegeta?
Vegeta is a European vegetable based seasoning that’s used to add flavour into soups, sauces and stews, or to make liquid stock/broth by adding water. Think of it as salt – but with flavour!
Nowadays, its widely available one very day grocery stores. It’s known by a few different names:
vegetable stock powder
all purpose or gourmet seasoning
granulated bouillon.
Whatever the various labels on the cans and jars, the one thing that remains consistent is the distinct blue label!
There are other vegetable stock powder brands but Vegeta is my favourite – for flavour, and also because you get little green “bits” in soup – it just looks right!
How do you use it?
Think of it as salt – but with flavour! Except unlike salt, it needs to be cooked in some form, as opposed to sprinkled raw onto things like you can with table salt. I use it as follows:
To add flavour into soup broths, stews and sauces – such as the soup broth for a homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and creamy sauce for Chicken Pot Pie (pictured below);
Sprinkle onto vegetables or proteins then roasted; and
to make liquid vegetable stock / broth, simply by adding water (per the can directions). It’s also an excellent substitute for most recipes that call for chicken stock/broth (but use it as a fall back, as it doesn’t have the same flavour as chicken stock).
I typically use it to give sauces and broths a flavour boost when it’s a vegetarian or chicken dish. I typically don’t use it for beef, pork, seafood or lamb dishes which I think typically suit stronger or more delicate flavour profiles.
Where to buy it
Sold in the herb and spice section of everyday grocery stores, no more expensive than other stock powders and granulated bouillons!
Links to online sources (these are not affiliate links): Woolworths Australia, Amazon US, Amazon Australia.
MSG Misconceptions
Vegeta contains MSG which is a food additive, and in years gone by, there has been a misconception that MSG is “bad for you”.
However, studies by government authorities, including the Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand, have scientifically proven this to be misconceptions.
MSG is one of the most extensively researched food additives and studies show that MSG does not contain anything that is specifically harmful to you. However, there are people who are sensitive to it. But it’s no different to people with allergies to other foods, such as peanuts.
Here is some more information on this topic from the Food Authority of NSW, Australia, and here is the study from the Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand.
Recipes using Vegeta
Some of my signature recipes loved by many readers around the world specifically calls for Vegeta. Here are few examples:
And now, let’s cook on – with Vegeta! – Nagi x
Hi Nagi. Love your recipes and love Vegeta. Vegeta has been available for many, many years here in Adelaide SA at Gaganis Bros, a wholesale grocer where you can buy all sorts of things
Nagi, I love your recipes.
I just need you to know that MSG is bad for many people because it is used way above what nature does. Nature is like a whisper of MSG, not tablespoons. I personally have issues hearing with it. My adult daughter is so allergic to MSG that she is now deaf in one ear from having it in packaged foods and restaurant food (confirmed by several excellent Doctors!). I feel awful for not knowing this truth earlier in her life. We have to read every label and it has many sneaky names. It may be safe for many, but it is not a safe ingredient for all. Just like people being allergic to peanuts (their natural too) or wool, or even pollen. It is not a hoax, a previously believed thought, etc. It is also an unnecessary additive. It in a shortcut taken in restaurants and in prepared foods to fool the tastebuds. It is dangerous and you shouldn’t ever say what you did about it.
Uhhhh, this is totally unhinged. But thanks for sharing your made up story Lois.
Thank you so much for recognising Vegeta. I worked with a Croatian girl many years who introduced me to Vegeta. She gave me a recipe for stuffed capsicums (with mince) and then putting tomato purée in the water you cook the capsicums in and Vegeta and flour to thicken. I’ve lost the recipe. Do you have any suggestions or are you able to come up with one 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 I can’t thank you enough. My husband has always cooked and now we’ve retired I’m cooking from your recipes 😀
Hi Deborah, I’m Croatian and I grew up on stuffed capsicums 🙂 Maybe try this recipe https://balkanlunchbox.com/baked-stuffed-peppers-zapecene-filovane-paprike/
These are actually baked in the oven, not cooked on the stove, but I think still pretty good. Good luck!
Oh my goodness, thank you thank you thank you. This looks very much like the lost recipe. I didn’t know about the arborio rice though. I’m going to cook these this week
Hopefully you’ll enjoy it. Let me know how it goes!
I love this stuff, I buy + use this all the time for some years. I get always a 1kg bag from a Turkish Grocery nearby when my other Grocery nearby out of some unknown reason stop selling simple veggie stock cubes anymore but instead offer some veggie stock powder in jars for twice or triple the price and I never looked back.
If I ate anything with MSG in, I would be very very sick indeed. Good food should not need MSG to make it taste better
Fyi – its everywhere. Make sure t isn’t some other ingredient bothering you. Plus, Vegeta makes an MSG free version.
https://www.ecowatch.com/foods-containing-msg.html
Naturally-occurring MSG is very different from added MSG. People do not seem to understand that MSG sensitivity IS very real for those of us who become very ill (digestively speaking). I wound up in the hospital from dehydration caused by MSG overload in restaurant food.
My mum and my grandmother always said “If it’s not tasty, add Vegeta!”
+1 for Vegeta, No doubt some people are sensitive/allergic to MSG, so just like peanuts as long as it’s listed on the restaurant menu’s it shouldn’t be an issue, I sympathise with those that have an issue with it but the media driven hysteria that surrounds this product is IMHO unwarranted. Just because a tiny percentage of the population has a problem with nuts/gluten/seafood etc doesn’t mean we should ban these foodstuffs or underestimate them.
I couldn’t agree more Grahame, I think it’s just a misunderstood ingredient!! N x
Misunderstood? You should watch “The Taste That Kills.”
Unfortunately, it appears there is no peer reviewed scientific data to support his claims.
Just received my Amazon container of Vegeta! Was ~$7 USD. I have made a few of your recipes that call for it, but haven’t had it in the pantry, so substituted “Better than Boullion” instead. I get headaches from MSG, but if I hydrate by drinking an insane amount of water, and pop some extra strength Tylenol as I eat, I can avoid a massive headache. Good food is worth the inconvenience! Can’t wait to try it with the Tuna Mornay recipe (which we actually make with rotisserie chicken, as I’m allergic to Tuna – this is my son’s favorite Nagi recipe!).
While it is true that it is perfectly harmless for most people, for those who suffer from migraines it can bring on a terrible migraine. I have 16 years of first hand experience with this.
Nagi, would you suggest adding some to your buttery seasoned rice recipe?
Dear Nagi,
Thank you for your recipies:). I come from Croatia (Europe) which is homeland od Vegeta.:) Vegeta is the most frequently used seasoning of our main dishes. I was very happy to read you like it.
I love it Mimi!!! A great way to add flavour! N x
Hi Nagi,
First of all, congratulations on your great blog, which I admire a lot 👏
I come from Slovenia (former Yugoslavia) and I rememmber Vegeta from almost 50 years ago 😊. Here, you can get Vegeta as “Vegeta natur” version as well and it doesn’t contain any Msg, only sea salt. But I also make my own Vegeta natur sometimes (wet version or dry version) out of vegetables and sea salt.
That’s awesome Polona! N x
Hi Nagi, I’m cooking one of your recipe now. I just read your opinion about MSG and I must tell you I have done my due diligence on MSG and indeed it is BAD for you. It’s a neurotoxin. If you’re interested I’d look at reputable non-govt research for further knowledge. I was a bit disappointed to see your take on MSG and I’m sure many viewers would feel the same.
Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I disagree with you Susan, so no I don’t feel the same! I am almost 50 , my mom used Accent (msg) in everything and I still use it occasionally and I am fine! I order Vegeta off Amazon was so pleased to see someone actually using it. You don’t see it recommended enough. Thank you Nagi!
Hi. Here’s a very interesting read on the history of MSG. Personally I have no aversion to it but live and let live.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/jul/10/foodanddrink.features3
Hi Nagi! Long time recipe hog but first time questioner😁 We absolutely love so many of your recipes that my hubby asks (with hope in his eyes) if my experimental dinner is “one of Nagi’s?” It is more often than not based on yours…but I am a shocking tweaker 🤣 Given that days off might be up-coming, I thought I might chuck out all the old unused herbs, spices etc in my overflowing pantry. Do you have a list anywhere of your basic staples? I had a ferret about on the website but couldn’t find an actual list. By the way…love the new favourites function. Trouble is choosing! Thanks always to you & Dozer for brightening our dinner table & lives xxx
Oh wait! One more – garam masala! That goes in my Group 1 most used spices – because I love curries!! Secret ingredient 🙂 N xx
YOU, my girl, are amazing! Now I can just chuck out the dusty old things and continue to cook up a storm😁 Tried one of your couscous salads last night as a trial run for Xmas. Had to take the leftovers off hubby! He just kept saying “one more spoon”😂
Hi Aunty Lou! Send my regards to your hubby, he has a new fan here Down Under 😉 Flattery gets you far around here!!😂 I don’t have a list of basic staples but it’s on my list of things to do!! Sitting here at the kitchen bench, I can see the spices I use a LOT – I’m so predictable – here is what I spy: coriander, cumin, paprika, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, cayenne and chilli powder (pure chilli powder, not the US spice mix). They are the spices that appear the most in my recipes! Then next would be: cinnamon, all spice, ginger, mustard (I use this in dressings and Mac and cheese), followed by sage powder, cloves, all spice, Chinese five spice, basil, parsley, cardamom (this is a secret ingredient in Middle Eastern spice mixes). And that’s it, really! I could make 95% of my recipes with that lot! N x
It’s worth noting that MSG occurs naturally in so many foods most of us eat regularly. From tomatoes to oysters, if it has that umami flavour that’s the MSG. It makes me shake my head when someone says “ oh I’m allergic to MSG” yet they eat tomatoes, mushrooms, walnuts, vegemite, fish sauce, etc etc all of which contain significant amounts of MSG naturally.
Naturally-occurring MSG is very different from added MSG. People do not seem to understand that MSG sensitivity IS very real for those of us who become very ill (digestively speaking).
Hi Nagi, what a surprise to see you use Vegeta as well! It originates in Croatia (much like myself), and a large percentage of Balkans just can’t live without it! My Mum now lives near Koprivnica, a small town where Vegeta is produced, and has met the lady who developed the recipe. Her name was Zlata Bartl and she told my Mum it took quite a while to create The secret recipe: it was largely down to trial and error, until she was happy with the formula. Sadly Mrs Bartl died recently, and her maxim of “mix, cook, taste, repeat” rings in my ears whenever I see Vegeta logo
Love this history! Thank you.
I have used it for years and love it! Sorry to hear of Mrs. Bartl’s passing.
As someone who is affected by msg let me assure you that it’s real, but very dose dependant. The VERY low amount in those natural foods is nothing compared to even a tiny amount added to food. Luckily I find that Nagi’s recipes are always absolutely delicious without the need for Vegeta!
Vegeta is the best!
It’s a must for a homemade chicken soup and numerous other dishes. We even add it to 2 minute noodles. 🙂
I grew up in the country where Vegeta is made and I still can’t believe it can be found in regular supermarkets here in Australia. 🙂
I’ve used this for years – it’s fabulous.
Adds a definite ‘tickle to the tastebuds’ – I mix it in with dried herbs to toss through roasted vegetables, as a base for a cheats wonton soup, sprinkle over a crumb topping – the uses for it are limited only by your imagination.
Yes! It’s so good!
I agree 100% love Vegeta!