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It’s Uncle Sam(wich) week here at Sporked! All week long, we’re celebrating Independence Day by highlighting the best regional sandwiches and all the ingredients you need to make them at home. For more tasty sandwich fixins, see the full collection of rankings, product recommendations, and more.

Beef consomme: Is it a soup, a broth, or just fancy French beef stock? Where can you buy it? What should the best beef consomme taste like? These are excellent questions, reader, and I’m so glad you’ve asked them. Allons-y, mes amis!

What is beef consomme? beef consomme is a deeply savory soup (or broth, depending on how you use it) made by simmering a mixture of beef, aromatic veggies, and egg whites. The egg whites magically clarify the consommé, leaving behind a clear broth. When we say “clear,” we don’t necessarily mean light in color—the broth just needs to be pristine as a mountain stream and not cloudy. Thanks to this purification process, the crème de la crème of beef consomme should taste smooth, elegant, and richly savory. We only tasted brands that you can find at nationwide supermarkets or through Amazon. But if you’re feeling particularly posh, you can always snag this French delicacy at specialty grocery stores or upscale supermarkets, too. 

Now, here’s where Uncle Sam(wich) comes in. You can use beef consomme as an ingredient in a beloved regional sandwich hailing from Buffalo, New York: beef on weck. To give the sliced roast beef that bold, savory flavor, some sandwich artists cook the roast beef in consomme or even use it as a base for the weck’s flavorful au jus. Like the kummelweck roll, the au jus is a huge part of a beef on weck’s allure. While I didn’t have a true beef on weck sammie on hand during this taste test, I did try all of these consommes with a classic roast beef sandwich instead. Here are the three best beef consommes to buy (including a beef consomme substitute). 

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Best Substitute

Osem’s Beef Flavor Soup & Seasoning mix is really a beef consomme substitute—it’s completely kosher and meat free, yet packed with savory flavor. With cornstarch and an array of seasonings, you can really taste the mirepoix: garlic, onions, scallions, celery, and of course, an inordinate amount of sodium that had me sippin’ on this broth like a salt fiend. For kosher powdered consomme, somehow Osem was the best beef consomme we tried in terms of overall flavor It almost feels like cheating to call this beef consomme, but you know what? It’s too yummy to simply toss aside. Now, all of that said, there are a couple of downsides: First, the package arrived opened. I’ve seen a couple other comments on Amazon about this happening, so I would recommend buying this from your local grocery store if possible. Second, I tried a couple of times to get the powder to fully dissolve in boiling water, and I still had crumbly bits left over. This might have been user error (or the fact that it came to us…opened), but you’ve been warned! 

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Basic

With a sharp, fragrant, deep flavor (emphasized by the dark broth color), Campbell’s beef consomme has a clarified beef broth taste with no cloudiness in sight, just as the French intended. This soup also has that signature Campbell’s satiness, which the French probably don’t intend as much, but I, a salt queen, can still appreciate. Overall, true to consomme, this is one bold note. It’s not very complex, but it is very robust—it absolutely enhances the roast beef.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Fancy

Why is Baxter’s beef consomme soup considered luxury? That would be the addition of one fancy ingredient: sherry. Like Campbell’s, this broth is sharp and piquant, with a deep, clear color and lightly seasoned flavor. Unlike Campbell’s, you can taste (and smell) that wine. It’s a lovely complement to the savory beef without overpowering the clarified taste. For me, it adds a note of complexity that makes it perfect as an au jus base for any beef on weck sandwich. And hey, I also appreciated how easy this consomme was to open and prepare. The can comes with a tab on the lid—just pop it open, pour it in a saucepan, and let it simmer. No extra water or can opener required. 

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

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