Making homemade chicken stock is the best way to add a lot of flavor to dishes and homemade soups, along with cutting down on food waste and saving money!
My favorite thing about making chicken stock from scratch outside of the depth of flavor, is that it’s a good way to really cut down on food waste. Normally we make herb roasted chicken for one dinner or grab a rotisserie chicken to shred into chicken bacon ranch casserole. Then we save the chicken pieces and other veggie scraps to make our broth.
Ditch the store-bought chicken stock, and use your homemade broth with green chicken chili, creamy chicken tortilla soup, or chicken curry with coconut milk. This stuff is literally like liquid gold when made from scratch.
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🍗 Ingredients:
- Bones of a whole chicken – most of the meat removed (leftover herb-roasted chicken)
- Yellow onion – chopped into large pieces.
- Celery stalks – leaves and stems included
- Carrots – tops and greens are fine
- Rosemary sprigs – could use other fresh herbs if desired.
- Kosher salt, coarse black pepper, dried oregano, and/ or fresh parsley and other herbs
- Water – you’ll need at least 2 quarts of water. You may use more or less depending on the amount you are making.
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Optional Garnish:
Use homemade chicken stock in any clear soups, soup recipes that call for store-bought stock (or any other recipe for that matter), and even gravies.
Substitutions and Variations
- Instant Pot – Place all of the ingredients into the pot with 8 cups of water. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, allow the pressure cooker to release naturally once the cooking time has ended. If you have a small Instant Pot, do not fill above the max fill line. If you need more broth, cook in batches or use the stove top instructions instead.
- Chicken Cuts – We recommend using a whole chicken for the best flavor versus only chicken wings or chicken breast. Some like to add chicken feet for an extra flavorful chicken stock, but using those only will make an extra fatty stock.
- Turkey stock – Follow the same instructions but replace the chicken with turkey.
- Rotisserie chicken – if you didn’t use a whole raw chicken to make a dish beforehand, you can use rotisserie chicken from the grocery store once you have taken the cooked chicken off the bones.
- Crockpot – simmer all of the ingredients on high for a few hours or on low for up to 24 hours in the slow cooker. This is my favorite way to make homemade chicken broth when I am trying to cook other dishes, or want to make it ahead of time.
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Chop all of the veggies in large pieces and shred the cooked chicken from the bones.
Step 1: When preparing your roast chicken, save the carrot tops and extra trimmings from your vegetables. Set aside or store in a freezer bag for later. Proceed to roast your chicken and veggies as usual. Once you have finished your chicken dinner, remove any excess meat from the bones. Leftover juices or uneaten veggies can go into the stock pot for making the broth.
Step 2: To a large pot, add the onion, celery, and carrots.
Step 3: Add the bones on top of the veggies (along with any skin, gristle or cooked juices, then pour in the salt, pepper, and other seasonings or fresh herbs.
Step 4: Fill the pot with as much water as possible.
Pro Tip: Keep the pot covered while simmering so that the water doesn’t evaporate. You can also add additional water while simmering if needed.
Step 5: Bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for at least 1 hour. Stock can be simmered for several hours. Once the bones are soft enough that you can squish them between your fingers, the stock would be considered bone broth.
Step 6: Pour the homemade stock through a fine mesh strainer and discard the veggies and bones.
SERVE: Use the homemade chicken stock in your favorite recipes or store for later.
Recipe Tips for Homemade Chicken Stock
- You can use any vegetable scraps you have on hand to make your own stock. It adds extra flavor and reduces waste.
- We recommend saving your vegetable pieces, leftover chicken bones, and chicken carcasses from other meals in the freezer. That way you always have ingredients on hand to make stock.
- Don’t have a fine-mesh strainer? Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the large pieces of bones and veggies.
- I have found that fennel does overpower the broth, so I wouldn’t add that.
- After storing you will find that it becomes a gelatinous stock. Before using again you may see a fat layer on top, it will liquify again once it comes in contact with heat. If desired, scrape the fat layer off the top and discard.
- Souper cubes are freezer-safe containers that come in really handy not only for storing stock but soups as well.
- My favorite method, if I am cooking other things, is using the slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Fun Fact
Chicken broth and stock is full of collagen, which is one of the most important nutrients needed for skin elasticity. – Medical News Today
Recipe FAQs
Once the stock has cooled to room temperature, transfer to an airtight containers or divide between mason jars. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Store in freezer safe storage containers for up to 6 months. You can also store in ice cube trays if you need smaller portions of stock.
Basic chicken stock is made with chicken bones (meat not necessarily included), carrots, onions and celery, and garlic. Usually simmered for a long time to really infuse the water with nutrients from the bones, to get a deeper flavor from the aromatics as well as a darker, richer color. Stock is not usually seasoned. Chicken broth is made from the meat and not necessarily the raw bones. Bone broth is made when you simmer a combination of bones, meat and seasonings for an extended period of time (up to 24 hours), until all of the nutrition is extracted into a flavorful nutrient dense, protein and collagen filled cup of broth. It is used as a restorative tonic and an immune booster, and meant to be sipped on its own.
Recipes To Use Homemade Chicken Stock In
If you tried this Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
- bones of a whole chicken most of the meat removed
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 celery stalks leaves and stems included
- 2 medium carrots tops and greens are fine
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, parsley other herbs
- 8-12 cups water
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken bones for use. Remove leftover meat. Any discarded pieces from a cooked chicken can be thrown in the pot to make the broth/stock (skin, grissle, fat, and bones).
- Place roughly chopped onion, celery stalks, and carrots in a large stock pot. You can use any of the trimmings from vegetables that you used for other dishes. Wash the vegetables first, but carrot peelings, carrot stems and greens, celery greens, or any other vegetable trimmings can be added to the stockpot.
- Layer vegetables and herbs in the stock pot. Layer the chicken bones on top of the vegetables.
- Add salt, pepper, oregano, and any other herbs or seasonings.
- Fill the pot with water. You can make as much broth as you'd like so fill it up!
- Bring the pot of water to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and cover with a lid.
- Simmer for at least 1 hour, but up to 24 hours. 3-4 hours is a good amount of time to infuse a lot of flavor and nutrients into the broth. Keep the pot covered while simmering so that the water doesn't evaporate. Add additional water while simmering if needed.
- When the broth is done simmering, pour it through a strainer to remove all of the vegetable and bone pieces.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
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Notes
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