Elevate your recipes with the Best Homemade Chicken Stock. Learn how to create flavorful and nutrient-rich stock using leftover chicken bones.
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Making homemade chicken stock is one of my favorite ways to use my kitchen scraps. Chicken stock is my go-to because I use it the most. I love taking the bones from my Roasted Whole Chicken and creating a beautiful, nutritious, and delicious stock. This homemade chicken stock takes your soups, stews, and various other dishes to the next level. This stock is richer in flavor, more nutritious, and incredibly delicious.
I love having chicken stock on hand, especially this time of year. I use my homemade chicken stock in soups, stews, sauces, and even rice. The richness of the broth really enhances the flavor of anything I use it for, and it adds loads of nutrients to my dishes.
Homemade chicken stock is robust and rich in flavor. The color and flavor differences were profound compared to store-bought chicken stock. The store-bought chicken stock was pale in color and didn’t have much flavor. The homemade chicken broth is golden in color, and the taste is rich with chicken, herbs, and vegetables. This difference was so noticeable that I don’t think you will ever want to buy stock from the store again.
Now, let’s get into the benefits of homemade chicken stock and how to make it!
Benefits of The Best Homemade Chicken Stock
I have heard chicken stock referred to as liquid gold, and that is because of all of the benefits and nutrients it provides. Below are some of the benefits!
Collagen for joint health: Chicken stock is rich in collagen, a protein that supports joint health. Collagen also benefits your skin, hair, nails, gut, and more.
Improved digestion: Chicken stock contains amino acids such as glycine and proline that promote gut healing and reduce inflammation.
Hydration: Primarily made of water, chicken stock is an excellent source of hydration. Chicken stock also contains small amounts of electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, which are crucial for your body to absorb fluids and maintain hydration.
Immune support: Why do you think everyone craves chicken noodle soup when sick? This could be because chicken stock helps improve our gut health and fight off inflammation. This homemade chicken stock is great to warm up, ladle into a mug, and sip like a hot tea.
Nutrient-rich: Chicken stock contains protein, vitamins, minerals, collagen, and amino acids. Some vitamins are: B6, C, Niacin, and thiamine. Some minerals are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. Collagen can aid in joint health. Amino acids can help your gut health, and protein helps our bodies absorb these excellent nutrients.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth?
Chicken stock is typically made from chicken bones that release gelatin and create a thicker, richer liquid. Chicken broth is generally made from chicken meat and is much lighter in color and flavor liquid.
Which is healthier: chicken stock or chicken broth?
Although they can be interchangeable in cooking, chicken stock is far more beneficial from a health standpoint. It contains more nutrients, including collagen, protein, vitamins, and minerals, than chicken broth.
What is chicken stock?
Chicken stock is a nutrient-filled, flavorful liquid made from simmering chicken bones with mirepoix(onion, carrots, and celery), herbs, peppercorns, garlic, and vinegar.
Ingredients For The Best Homemade Chicken Stock
Chicken carcass: I like to roast a whole chicken about once a week for dinner, so I use the leftover carcass to make homemade chicken stock. You could also use a rotisserie chicken carcass.
Mirepoix: is a combination of onion, celery, and carrots. I like to save and freeze my kitchen scraps from cooking throughout the week to make my stock. I save the carrot scraps from peeling my carrots, the tops and bottoms of my celery hearts, and the peels, tops, and bottoms of any onions I chop up. If I don’t have enough scraps, I will also throw in fresh onion, celery, and carrots!
Garlic: This is an optional addition to the stock pot, but I love garlic and its benefits, so I always add a few smashed cloves when making chicken stock!
Apple Cider Vinegar: Adding apple cider vinegar to the stock pot helps break down the chicken bones’ connective tissues. This process will give you a richer, more flavorful, gelatinous, and nutritious stock!
Herbs: Another optional addition. I think herbs give the stock a nice flavor, especially if you enjoy the chicken stock on its own rather than in a dish.
Peppercorns: I always have peppercorns on hand in my kitchen, and they add a nice spice to the stock. If you don’t have any, no problem—just skip them!
The Best Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 Chicken carcass
- 1 Onion chopped
- 2 Celery stalks chopped
- 2 Carrots chopped
- 4 Garlic cloves smashed
- 2 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- Herbs 4 Sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 5 parsley stems- this is my usual go-to blend
- 1 Tbsp Peppercorns whole
Instructions
Instructions:
- 1. Add the chicken carcass, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, apple cider vinegar, herbs, and peppercorns to the bottom of a large stock pot.
- 2. Pour 12 cups of cold water into the stock pot. Cover and turn the heat to medium. You want to bring the liquid to a low simmer. You don't want to boil the liquid.
- 3. Let the stock simmer on medium-low heat for 3-4 hours on medium-low heat.
- 4. After 3-4 hours, you will want to strain the stock. Set a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth on top of a large bowl. Ladle the stock into the strainer, pressing on the contents in the strainer to extract all of the stock. When you finish this step, you should have about 6-8 cups of chicken stock. This amount varies significantly due to the amount of evaporation during simmering.
- 5. To store the chicken stock, ladle it into glass jars and let it cool completely on the countertop. Once cool, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or you can freeze the stock for up to 6 months!
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Homemade chicken stock. A game changer! Husband approved.