How to Make Chicken Stock
How to Make Chicken Stock can help you make delicious homemade stock, and this post has all my tips from many years of making stock.
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I wrote this post on How to Make Chicken Stock many years ago and I’ve been making homemade chicken, beef, ham, and turkey stock for more years than I can remember. If you come to my house, I’ll usually have at least 10 containers of stock in the freezer, despite the fact that I use it all the time. I’m religious about saving scraps, chicken carcasses and leftover veggies, and make stock at least once every month. If you ask me, homemade chicken stock is a wonderful thing!
And I love the way making homemade stock uses things that would be thrown away. But you can also buy pretty good chicken stock (the kind in the cartons at Costco is great), so if making stock is not in your schedule, no worries.
I’m not a purist, and I often use a little bit of chicken soup base to add more flavor to the stock. My favorite is Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (affiliate link) or the one in the photo, made by the same company. Do NOT use bouillon cubes, they are way too salty. (Edit: Shirley from Gluten Free Easily tells me that Better than Bouillon no longer guarantees their products are gluten-free, so that brand won’t work for people who have to avoid gluten.)
How to Make Chicken Stock:
(Scroll down for complete printable recipe.)
- Start with scraps of chicken or chicken carcasses, which I freeze until I’m ready to use them. (Save them up in the freezer until you have enough to make a big batch of stock.)
- You also need onions, celery, and carrots. If you have any veggies that are past their prime, this is the perfect use for them.
- If you’re going to make stock often, you might want to invest in a tool like this which is called a stock skimmer (affiliate link). It’s used for skimming off the foam from stock while it’s cooking. I also use it to scoop out the cooked vegetables when I’m discarding them.
- Put the chicken scraps, chicken base (if using), onions, celery, and carrots in a huge stock pot with water.
- Let it cook all day at a very low simmer, adding water whenever it gets low.
- After the stock has cooked all day (or at least for about 6 hours), I let it reduce it by about 1/3 before I scoop out the vegetables and discard them.
- When you’re through cooking it, remove the meat and veggies and strain the stock somehow.
- I use a yogurt strainer and a fat separator, which removes the fat by taking the liquid off the bottom. Any fine strainer will work.
- You can also remove the fat by cooling the stock and then scraping off the fat from the top.
- Now you have delicious chicken stock ready to put in the freezer and which can be used in a huge variety of dishes.
If you’re wondering why I don’t label the containers, it’s because I label my beef stock, turkey stock, and ham stock, and leave the chicken stock without a label, since I make it the most. Enjoy!
More Ways to Make Stock:
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
How to Make Chicken Stock
Homemade chicken stock is so much better than the kind you find in a can or a carton, and it's a good way to use chicken scraps that might get thrown away.
Ingredients
- chicken scraps or chicken carcass with bones
- 1 - 2 onions
- 4 stalks celery
- 2 - 3 large carrots
- enough water to cover the chicken and vegetables
- Better than Bouillon roasted chicken base (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- To make chicken stock, start with scraps of chicken or chicken carcasses. (Save them up in the freezer until you have enough to make a big batch of stock.)
- You also need onions, celery, and carrots. If you have any veggies that are past their prime, this is the perfect use for them.
- Put the chicken scraps, onions, celery, and carrots in a huge stock pot with enough water. to cover the chicken and vegetables by a few inches.
- I always use a little bit of chicken soup base to speed up the process a little. I like Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base, but there are a few good brands. (Do NOT use bouillon cubes, they are way too salty.)
- Let it cook all day (or at least six hours) at a very low simmer, adding water whenever it gets low.
- After the stock has cooked all day I usually reduce it by about 1/3 before I scoop out the vegetables and chicken.
- When you're through cooking it, remove the meat and veggies and strain the stock somehow. I use a yogurt strainer and a fat separator, which removes the fat by taking the liquid off the bottom. Any fine strainer will work. You can also remove the fat by cooling the stock, then spooning off the hardened fat.
- Now you have delicious chicken stock ready to put in the freezer and which can be used in a huge variety of dishes. (Taste to see if you want to simmer longer to concentrate the flavor.)
Notes
I like to freeze this in two cup containers, which is just slight more than one can of chicken broth.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This much-used recipe for chicken stock was first posted in 2006, and I had been making it years before that. It was last updated in 2021.
53 Comments on “How to Make Chicken Stock”
Just heard from Jennette that she has made a small change to the search code; would love to hear if that fixes it for people who have commented above.
Anonymous and Desertplantlady, Jennette has tested the search bar with every combination of browser and operating system, and we're not able to duplicate the problem. Can you e-mail me and tell me exactly what happens when you try to search? (kalynskitchen-at-comcast-dot-net.)
Thanks!
Not sure about Desertplantlady, but I'm using Firefox and noticed the cursor does not blink at all in the white search box. Hope this helps your IT folks.
Kalyn: Thanks for the info on the BtB soup base. I guess I looked at the non-organic version. Good to know!
Desertplantlady, I had my web designer re-code it since the previous comment, and we had multiple people test and they all said it's working fine. I thought it was fixed, so now I'm confused when you say "It doesn't act like a link at all." The search bar shouldn't act like a link.
Can you write back and tell me exactly what happens when you click your curser into the white bar and then type in a word?
Thanks!
Kalyn
Sorry, should have mentioned, to answer your previous question about browser and OS, I use Google Chrome and have Windows XP professional with Service Pack 3 installed. And was able to search without issue on your previous design.
Hi Karen,
Re the the Search Function:
No, it's still a "dead" zone for me. The other links in the header work, but I cannot even select the search function to type out a word. It does not act like a link at all.
thanks
Diane, the Better Than Bouillon organic chicken base doesn't have hydrolyzed vegetable protein, dried whey, or corn syrup solids.
I'm a chicken soup fanatic too and also make it at least once a month, although I cannot imagine adding any chicken stock base to mine. Why add all that crap to great home-made soup? hydrolyzed soy protein? dried whey? Ummm…no.
I do always add chicken feet. they give it richness and body and tons of flavor. And no corn syrup solids.
But very good to have around – I'd be lost without it in my freezer!
I'm in your camp as far as saving all the scraps for stock. Whenever I have extra leek ends, parsley, celery tops, or vegetables I didn't get around to cooking, I freeze them for stocks and soups. I just make sure to wash them all so I can just throw them in the pot when I'm ready. Homemade stock is so much better than store bought.
Excellent post. I generally let the liquid reduce down so it's easier to store, and more concentrated too.
You can (as you know) always rehydrate the stock when you come to use it.
Elise's point about the fat layer on top. It's a 'top tip'!
Have you ever tried adding a little chilli powder and cumin to it? Tastes wonderful!
Homemade stock is the best! I don't freeze mine though ~ I can it so that I don't have to worry about thawing it when I need it.
I love making and having stock on hand. Chicken and turkey stocks are staples here. I treated myself to a pressure cooker and it makes the best beef stock.
Stock never lasts long here. It's soup or gravy base, for cooking rice or in sauces….it's always time to nmake another batch of stock.
@Elise- The fat trick works beautifully. I worked breifly for a restaurant and thier method was to bring the stock to a boil and then simmer it for 3-5 minutes. That reduces bacteria or any pathogens that might be found in the liquid.
ValerieAnne, thanks for the tips!
DesertPlantLady, my web designer has re-coded the search bar so if you see this I would love to know if it has fixed your issue. Thanks!
I usually save the bones, gristle and skin in the freezer. Using a crockpot works for me so I can let it cook 24-48 hours until the bones fall apart when I squish them. Then I use the solid matter for dog food after I strain out the broth. It is easier to let the fat rise to the top and skim it off later.
The chicken feet advice is fabulous! They provide more gelatin in the broth, which is a very beneficial nutrient. Some people get weirded out by chicken feet but I think it is respectful to the animal to use every part – especially when it improves the broth so much.
I read somewhere a long time ago that a little acid like vinegar or lemon juice in the beginning draws out more minerals from the bones. It doesn't affect the flavor.
I used to always save onion tops, onion skin and old celery in the freezer for broth. It was a tip from the 1980's PBS cooking show, Frugal Gourmet. Recently I have been making it with no vegetables at all. I like the flavor better. It is pure chicken.
Desertplantlady, can you tell me what browser and operating system you're using so I can tell my web designer. (I'm able to search just fine, so it must be an isolated problem but we definitely want to fix it.)
Off chicken stock topic, but am leaving a post about the re-design, which looks very nice by the way.
The problem I've just had is not being able to search the site. Wanted to look for some ideas but the search function was non-responsive.
thanks for everything. Love your blog.
Sheryl, great tip about the chicken feet. I've heard that but haven't tried it.
I love homemade chicken stock. If you can find some chicken feet (the Korean and Middle Eastern markets that I go to both carry them) they make THE BEST stock!
I throw them in with all of the rotisserie chicken carcasses that I save up in the freezer.
I've had the yogurt strainer for about 15 years, and there is no brand name on it, so I can't tell you that. I think I bought it at one of those kitchen discount stores but can't remember for sure. I would work to strain the yogurt for Taztziki too, but most people probably don't have one.
Glad you are enjoying the blog.