Who doesn’t love having homemade chicken stock readily available for cooking? Here, I’m about to share with you my tried and true homemade chicken stock recipe! So keep reading!

I love, love, love making homemade chicken stock. First of all, do you know the difference between stock and broth? Stock uses the bones of the meat, whereas, broth uses just the meat. Secondly, homemade chicken stock offers many nutritional benefits, since you control what ingredients go in it, you can be sure you are getting a very wholesome product. Third, if you use leftovers like chicken bones and vegetables, you can feel great knowing that you didn’t waste anything.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK INGREDIENTS:

So for a quick and easy recipe, I get store-bought rotisserie chicken from Mariano’s. Otherwise, I also love making my own always perfect roasted chicken. I save the leftover bones and pan drippings, then I gather up the rest of the ingredients like: one whole garlic, one medium onion with skin on, three medium sized carrots, two stalks of celery and 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns. 2 tablespoon Cider vinegar and one dry laurel leaf (optional). That’s it!

LET’S GET COOKING:

In a Dutch oven, place chicken bones and pan drippings, garlic clove, whole onion, carrots, celery, whole black peppercorns, apple cider vinegar and laurel leaf.

NOTE: Using the onion with the skin on gives the stock a nice golden color. If you want clear chicken stock, then leave the skin off the onion. The carrots I choose to peel because I find that by peeling them, gives the broth a sweeter taste. But I have to say, there are lots of vitamins and minerals on the skin of the carrots, so there’s a benefit to leaving it on, especially if you’re using organic carrots. SO this is entirely up to you whether you want to leave the carrots skin on or off.

Now add enough water to the pot to cover all of the ingredients, leaving one inch from the top of the pot. Check out my photo.

Place the Dutch oven on medium high heat, uncovered, and let it boil. Using a strainer or meshed ladle, skim the foam from the stock, then lower heat to simmer, and cover the pot. Continue to skim the foam from the stock every few minutes for about an hour, until stock is clear off foam.

Let the stock simmer in very low heat for a minimum of 4 hours up to 12 or maybe even 24 hours. I’m old school and I let my stock simmer on top of the stove for 24 hours. I feel like I get all the vitamins and minerals from not only the vegetable but from the bones of the chicken too. And I love that smell when I wake up with the sick simmer all night. Just makes the house smell so homey. I guess that’s a word, right? There’s just something so wholesome about making your own stock which you can use for cooking, like in soups or gravy.

THE NEXT DAY:

So after your desired time of simmering the stock, you can let it cool then strain. I let mine cool in the fridge and this allows me to be able to skim the solidified fat which forms on the top of the stock. An added healthy benefit! Then I strain all the bones and veggies.

I divide up the stock in ziplock baggies and freeze for later use.

YOUR TURN!

Do you think you will try this recipe? Have you made your own chicken stock before? I would love to hear how you make them and what you use them for. Let me know and tag @JozMahal on Instagram.