Easy Homemade Chicken Stock
- PREP 20min
- COOK 4hrs
- TOTAL 4hrs 20min
This homemade chicken stock will knock the socks off of anything you can buy at the store. It requires minimal effort, and you can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months!
We will often use chicken wings when making stock — they are cheaper than other cuts of meat. Other chicken parts will work nicely, such as whole chicken, bones, breasts, and legs.
Depending on how rich you want the stock, use more chicken parts. For example, four pounds of chicken parts will do for a light but flavorful stock, or use more for a richer stock.
You Will Need
4 to 8 pounds chicken parts, such as whole chicken, bones, wings, breast, and legs
1 pound onion, peeled and chopped (2 large
1/2 pound carrots, chopped (4 to 5 medium)
1/2 pound celery, chopped (3 to 4 celery ribs)
6 medium cloves garlic, crushed with the back of knife
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs fresh thyme
Small bunch fresh parsley or dill
2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
2 teaspoons sea salt, or more to taste
12 cups cold water
Directions
Place the chicken, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, parsley or dill, peppercorns, and salt in a large stockpot.
Add 12 cups of water and bring to a boil. If the water does not cover the contents of the pot, add a cup or two more water.
Reduce the heat to low and cook at a gentle simmer, uncovered, for about 4 hours. As it simmers, it is normal for some foam or scum to rise to the top; we use a spoon to remove it.
After three hours, taste and adjust the broth with more salt.
To strain the stock, we use a slotted spoon to remove the larger pieces of bone and vegetables. Then we pour the stock through a fine-mesh strainer to catch all the smaller bits.
Transfer to containers and refrigerate for up to five days or freeze for up to 3 months.
After the stock has chilled, fat will rise to the surface. We usually leave this, but you can remove the fat for a leaner broth.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. It was difficult to estimate actual numbers for this recipe, but we have done our best.
Recipe updated, originally posted September 2009. Since posting this in 2009, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne