Figuring calories in homemade broth

Owlfan88
Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
its coming into fall and I know I will be making soup soon. I make my own stock whenever possible and have some in the freezer already. But even if I try to measure as I make it, I don't really know how. I usually use bones and a bunch of vegetable bits and simmer for hours, but all the bones and veggies then get strained out. Should I just go off a commercial broth and ignore the salt content (I add salt later if needed)?

I was thinking about this as I had homemade soup from the freezer for lunch and just guessed at calories based on database entries.

Replies

  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    I was just contemplating this myself. I got to the point of thinking about weighing the solids before and after, but worried about the water that the solids would absorb, then realized I was overthinking it, we are talking about something with 10-15 calories per cup. So I use a commercial low sodium entry. I'm pretty confident my homemade broth is virtually fat-free, I refrigerate it overnight undisturbed to let the fat and water separate then scrape off the solidified fat.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    I too use the sodium free or low sodium broth entries when I build a recipe in the MFP recipe builder even though I make my own broth. As mentioned above the calories are negligible in broth and my interest has always been the sodium content. Herb Ox salt free or Trader Joes' Organic low sodium are my "go to" database selections for making homemade broths/soups.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    edited September 2015
    I make my own, too. That store stuff...yuck. I'm not sure why they can't make it as good as we can, but it appears that they cannot, lol.

    I log a sodium-free, store-bought one for the calories.

    There are so few calories, anyway. If you took the onion and thyme and divided them up by how many calories-per-ounce of water...please. It's next to nothing. But I do log one. :)
  • Owlfan88
    Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
    Thanks to all. I'll use a standard low sodium fat free entry when I build my soup recipe. I'm glad to see others make their own broth - I tend to get strange looks if I mention it. But it's easy and so much tastier.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited September 2015
    Homemade stock is better, not to mention cheaper. I freeze bones and veggie scraps so I always have stock fixings on hand :)

    After I make a batch, I freeze the leftovers in containers ranging from 1/2 C to 1 Qt.
  • momoharuno
    momoharuno Posts: 141 Member
    I agree it tastes way better, I need to make more now that I'm thinking about it lol I usually just use a low sodium store entry too :)

    *Practical Tip* I always use a 1/3 measuring cup to fill a muffin tin and freeze them into little pucks and then put them in a baggie, it's convenient to not have to measure and takes up less space :)
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited September 2015
    .
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    I make my own and use a sodium free to log.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Making me antsy to start that first pot of soup....
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    Soup, home-prepared <-- Search for that. It'll bring up the USDA entries for chicken, beef and fish stock. There's no way it's going to be accurate but it'll be a lot closer than a commercial broth.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    momoharuno wrote: »
    ...*Practical Tip* I always use a 1/3 measuring cup to fill a muffin tin and freeze them into little pucks and then put them in a baggie, it's convenient to not have to measure and takes up less space :)

    Ooo I like that idea!

  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    As @AlabasterVerve said, here is a screen capture for a current search for "soup home-prepared."
    7vy7txyvse6r.jpg
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