Beef Consommé
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Feb 10, 2025 
How to Make Beef Consommé – A richly flavored, crystal-clear broth that’s perfect for soups, sauces, or enjoying on its own. This recipe uses simple ingredients and a traditional clarifying method to create a gourmet staple that’s as versatile as it is delicious.
Why We Love This Beef Consommé Recipe
Raise your hand if you’re ready to upgrade your cooking game with a bowl of beautifully clear, richly flavorful beef consommé! This timeless classic isn’t just for fancy French restaurants; it’s a game-changer for homemade soups, sauces, and so much more. And the best part? You can make it right at home with just a handful of ingredients and a little patience. Trust us, the effort is worth it when you taste that first spoonful of silky, aromatic broth.
This recipe is all about simplicity and versatility. While we’re sticking to a traditional beef consommé, you can easily adapt it to suit your needs. Swap the beef for veal, adjust the seasonings to your taste, or use it as a base for everything from ramen to French onion soup. Plus, making your own means no preservatives, just pure, clean flavors.
What is Beef Consommé?
Before diving into the delicious world of (easy) French cuisine, let’s first cover the basic “what is beef consommé?” question. The word consommé in French comes from the term for concentrated or completed.
So, what does that actually mean? Basically, beef consommé is a clarified version of condensed beef broth. It has less fat, but a stronger more intense beef flavor. It’s a great option for soups and dishes where you want the broth to be very clear (not opaque or cloudy), or when you want to give a recipe an extra beefy robust flavor. In fact, you can use consommé in any recipe where you would use beef stock or beef broth!
Ingredients You Need
- Beef stock – cold
- Lean ground beef – or veal
- Egg – just the whites (speaking of French cuisine, use those leftover egg yolks to make Steak Tartare and Chocolate Raspberry Pots de Creme)
- Onion – diced
- Tomato – diced
- Celery – diced
- Carrot – diced
- Seasonings – bay leaves, thyme, salt
Pro Tip: Other ingredients you can add to the beef consomme include beef bones, peppercorns, garlic, and other spices that will float into the raft.
How to Make Beef Consommé
- Place the beef stock in the refrigerator while you are prepping the vegetables. Finely dice the onions, tomatoes, celery, and carrots.
- Set a 6 to 8-quart tall soup pot on the stovetop (leave the heat off.) Add in the ground meat and mirepoix (diced vegetables.)
- Add the egg whites to the pan.
- Then add bay leaves, dried thyme, and salt.
- Stir to combine until the egg whites are mixed throughout all the meat and vegetables. Then gently pour the cold beef stock into the pot. Stir well.
- Turn the heat on medium-low. Continue to stir the mixture for several minutes until the liquid is hot and the consommé is about to boil. Then STOP stirring, and do not stir the pot again. Keep the beef consomme at a low simmer and continue to simmer for 90-100 minutes.
- The egg and meat mixture will rise to the top and create a “raft” that collects debris and helps to clarify the consommé. Try not to disturb the raft. Sometimes it will stay in one whole circular piece, but sometimes it might break into several larger pieces. Just leave it alone and allow it to flavor and filter the consommé as it simmers.
- Once the consommé has simmered for at least 90 minutes, place a piece of cheesecloth in a large mesh strainer. Carefully pour the consomme into the strainer to remove the raft and any other pieces that have loosened as it simmered. Discard the raft and herbs caught in the strainer.
- Use immediately, or cool at room temperature.
- Once the consommé has cooled, pour it into jars and store.
Pro Tip: If you plan to freeze the consommé for later use, make sure to leave 1-inch of air space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer.
Get the Complete (Printable) Beef Consommé Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Suggestions for How to Use Beef Consommé
Homemade consommé is terrific to use in any recipe that calls for beef broth! For deliciously deep flavor, add to any of these dishes:
- The Best Beef Stew
- Smoked Prime Rib with Au Jus
- Rustic Hungarian Goulash
- Tuscan-Style Beef Cassoulet
- Espagnole Sauce (Demi Glace)
- Instant Pot Italian Beef
Frequently Asked Questions
Beef broth is a savory liquid made with a combination of red meat and veggies. The ingredients are cooked together so that the liquid is infused with flavor; the remaining large pieces of meat and veg are removed before serving or preserving.
The beginning process for broth and consommé are similar. However, consommé also includes egg whites to create a “raft” to which the debris clings. Everything is poured through both cheesecloth and a metal strainer, so (ideally) there isn’t a single bit of debris remaining and all that remains is a completely clear liquid.
Another difference in beef consommé vs beef broth is that beef consommé has a more concentrated flavor!
Yes, you can. It is common to serve as a light and flavorful soup course for elegant multi-course meals.
No. We only use cold beef stock in this classic recipe. You can mix in water to the concentrated liquid before adding it to recipes in place of regular beef broth, but it isn’t necessary to do so and this will greatly dilute the flavor. Beef consommé vs beef broth is not even a competition, beef consommé will always have more flavor!
Store the room-temperature liquid in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 7 days.
It will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Looking for More Classic Must-Have Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Creamy Pesto Sauce
- Turkey Gravy
- Beef Bacon Recipe
- Buttermilk from Scratch
- Italian Seasoning
- Pizza Dough
Get the Complete (Printable) Beef Consommé Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Easy Beef Consommé
Ingredients
- 5 quarts beef stock cold
- 1 pound lean ground beef of veal or finely chopped beef or veal
- ¾ cup egg whites about 5 eggs
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced fresh tomato
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Place the beef stock in the refrigerator while you are prepping the vegetables. Finely diced the onions, tomatoes, celery, and carrots.
- Set a 6 to 8-quart tall soup pot on the stovetop. (Leave the heat off.) Add in the ground meat, mirepoix (diced vegetables), egg whites, bay leaves, dried thyme, and salt.
- Stir to combine until the egg whites are mixed throughout all the meat and vegetables. Then gently pour the beef stock into the pot. Stir well.
- Turn the heat on medium-low. Continue to stir the mixture for several minutes until the liquid is hot and the consommé is about to boil. Then STOP stirring, and do not stir the pot again. Keep the consommé at a low simmer and continue to simmer for 90-100 minutes. The egg and meat mixture will rise to the top and create a “raft” that collects debris and helps to clarify the consommé. Try not to disturb the raft. Sometimes it will stay in one whole circular piece, but sometimes it will break into several larger pieces. Just leave it alone and allow it to flavor and filter the consommé as it simmers.
- Once the consommé has simmered for at least 90 minutes, place a piece of cheese cloth in a large mesh strainer. Carefully pour the consommé into the strainer to remove the raft and any other pieces that have loosened as it simmered.
- Once the consommé has cooled, pour into jars and store. If you plan to freeze the consommé for later use, make sure to leave 1-inch of air space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer.
Is there any purposeful use for the “raft” after making the consomme?
Hi Clyda,
Well, technically the raft is made up of beef, fat, and veggies, so it could be repurposed for sure. It would be great to throw in chili or meat sauce!
Great easy recipe that delivers quality consommé.
Thank you, it was the first time making it. It’s very tasty 😋, will make it again but double the amount.
I’m new to this beef consommé and I’m very satisfied with the outcome! So yummy and flavorful.
If i had known how easy this is to make I would never buy from the store. The flavor is amazing! Thank you so much.
I am SO glad that I found this recipe! It has come in so handy and I’ve used it a ton now!