Chicken stock is such a handy thing to always have because it’s used in everything. Sauces, soups, stews, pasta recipes… Chicken stock is always in demand and learning to make your own is a fun way to put your own stamp on the food you cook and make sure the stock you use is only full of the good stuff!
Making chicken stock from scratch might seem daunting if you’ve never done it before, but trust me it’s not. It’s perhaps one of the most satisfying things ever and will fill your kitchen with the most delicious smells. If you’re ever roasting a chicken or even chicken pieces like drumsticks & thighs and not boiling the leftover bones, you’re truly missing out. It’s also a great way to clear out your crisper, using up leftover herbs & veg that might be destined for the bin. In short, making your own chicken stock will not only taste amazing – it will also save you money on store-bought stocks or stock cubes and prevent food waste.
I typically buy a whole chicken more often than pieces these days because I’ve come to find that it’s cheaper in the end. Sometimes a whole chicken is cheaper than 2 or 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts. It seems silly not to since roast chicken is one of the greatest pleasures in life and it can stretch out for more than one meal. There’s probably a lot more meat on those bones than you might realise. Next time you roast a chicken, be sure to flip it upside down after dinner – there is some incredibly succulent and flavourful meat on the bottom of that bird clinging to its bones.
If you find yourself too exhausted after roasting (and eating) a chicken, it’s ok. You don’t have to make stock straight away. You can freeze the carcass and make that stock another time when you’re up for it. If you have the energy, pick any leftover meat off that bird first and freeze that as well. You can use the leftover meat for soups or pastas later on or stick it in the fridge for sandwiches, soup or a salad the next day. Then pop the carcass into a large freezer-proof container or freezer bag along with any juices or bits from the roasting tin and keep it there until you’re ready to make your homemade stock.
About this recipe…
This is not a hard and fast recipe. If you want that, there are plenty of those out there for you so just have a look online. There will be thousands of options with very hard and fast rules that I’m sure are worth following if you can be bothered. I’m afraid that I’m sometimes not that bothered. I have never really found that skimming a stock or monitoring the temperature relentlessly makes much difference, but it does take time and energy which are often in short supply. This is a recipe that’s a lot of ‘good enoughin’ and more of a guide than a dictation of how to make the most of your leftover roast chicken alongside what’s in your fridge already to eliminate waste and to turn tonight’s dinner into something beautiful for tomorrow.
If you’re cooking for one or two, you might not have a lot of opportunities to boil a whole bird. But any time you have chicken on the bone, save those bones in a freezer bag. When your bag is full, you have enough to make chicken stock. Alternatively some butchers or restaurants will sell or even give you chicken bones or carcasses, so don’t be afraid to ask. My local butcher sells a chicken carcass for like £2 or something like that, but some will just give them away.
You don’t have to peel your vegetables or be precious about how you cut them. You also don’t have to have them to make a bone broth, but they will add flavour. Simply use what you have, if you have it. If you don’t, it’s ok. This recipe is flexible and all about using what you can to get the best result.
Ingredients
- Chicken carcass (or any chicken bones you can salvage)
- 2 to 3 carrots cut into 3 inch pieces
- 2 sticks of celery, chopped into 3 inch pieces
- 1 or 2 onions or shallots, quartered
- Fresh Herbs such as Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary or dill – whatever you have to hand
- 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns (if you don’t have these, just use ground black pepper)
- Sea salt flakes to season
- 2 litres of water
Sometimes I don’t have a lot of these ingredients to hand, but here are some other things I like to add to my stock if I have them. They can go in with the above or without… I basically use making stock as an opportunity to empty my fridge from time to time. To be clear, I don’t think I ever have the same stock twice and that’s part of what makes it so much fun!
- Quartered or sliced lemons or limes
- Sliced fresh chillis
- Sliced leeks
- Smashed cloves of garlic
- Spinach
- Ginger
- Dried chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (if you like it spicy)
Method
- Put everything into a large stock pot or casserole with a lid and pour over 2 litres of water, or enough to mostly cover everything. Turn on the burner to high.
- Bring to the boil. Once it starts to boil, turn the temperature down to medium-low or low and put the lid on the pot. Carry on cooking with the lid on for at least 30 minutes, but I normally leave mine for 2 1/2 to 3 hours if I have time.
- After the time is up, remove the pot from the heat and allow the stock to cool a little bit if you have time before straining it.
- Using a large fine mesh strainer, pour all your stock through the strainer into a large bowl or likely two because there’s so much of it. Discard the carcass and all the veg, herbs, etc. from the pot. The liquid is what we want here. If you plan to use your stock straight away, then you can use it now.
- If you plan to store the stock, allow it to cool and then transfer the liquid to whatever containers you’re using. It can be refrigerated or frozen, but be sure to use the appropriate storage. I usually keep mine in glass jars or bottles in the refrigerator, but put it in freezer bags when I freeze it.
