It’s easy to make chicken stock with this homemade chicken stock recipe. This makes a great base for soups and other dishes. Use in any recipe that calls for chicken broth or turkey broth. Here is a step by step process to make homemade chicken stock with leftover chicken.
Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe
Homemade chicken stock is super simple and basically free to make. Today, I’m sharing our easy homemade chicken stock recipe so you can make your own.
Lots of recipes, especially soups, stews and some casseroles call for chicken broth. There’s no need to buy pre-made chicken broth in the cans or boxes at the store. It’s super easy to make your own chicken stock with the leftovers from chicken you already buy. You can also use this chicken stock for any recipe that calls for turkey broth.
Since we eat a lot of chicken at our house, I always have leftover chicken bones. I used to throw away the bones, but now I have everyone save their chicken bones during dinner. Then I just throw the bones in a stock pot and fill it up with water. Sometimes I throw in an onion, a carrot or some celery. Then I let it simmer overnight on low and in the morning I have yummy chicken stock. Really, that’s it!
Make This Chicken Stock Recipe And Freeze For Later!
I always seem to have more chicken stock than I can use so I put the extra stock in the freezer in 2 cup portions and then save it for later. You can freeze the chicken stock in plastic containers, but I prefer to store it in quart-size ziplock bags.
To do that, pour 2 cups of homemade chicken broth into a quart-size ziplock bag. Make sure to seal it securely so it does not leak. Then lay the bag on a baking sheet in the freezer until it freezes. When you freeze the homemade chicken stock this way, it is super easy to stack them in the freezer so they’re easy to grab and use when you need some for a recipe that calls for chicken broth.
This is a great way to freeze and store soups and other liquids in smaller portions for use later.
If you don’t have time to make the easy chicken stock recipe right after dinner, you can just throw the bones in the freezer and make it later. Again, I just put the bones in a ziplock bag and freeze. If I know I will be making the chicken stock the next day, I will usually just cover the baking pan with the chicken bones and toss it in the freezer.
When I was using up the food from the freezer as we were preparing to move I found some chicken stock that I had frozen so I have them on the stove now cooking away. I will use the broth to flavor my rice for dinner. It’s so simple to make this homemade chicken stock recipe that even a cook like me can do it! -Tawra
How To Make The Homemade Chicken Stock
(For more specific details, be sure to check out the homemade chicken stock recipe below.)
- Step 1 – Save chicken bones. This is the leftover bones from two large chicken breasts we ate for dinner.
- Step 2 – Add flavoring. I used onions but you can add, garlic, carrots, celery or anything else you would like.
- Step 3 – Simmer on the stove at least 4 hours. I simmer mine overnight on low.
- Step 4 – Remove the bones and other solids, including the onions and other things you used to make the seasoning.
- Step 5 – Enjoy your chicken stock. My two chicken breast bones make about 2 1/2 cups of concentrated stock. I usually dilute mine down with half water and half stock.
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Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe
Ingredients
Leftover chicken bones
Flavoring of your choice, optional (onions, garlic, carrots, celery or other flavorings)
Instructions
- Place the chicken bones and your desired flavorings into a large stock pot.
- Fill the stock pot to the top with water.
- Place on the stove and cover with the lid.
- Simmer on low temperature for a minimum of 8 hours, up to 48 hours. I simmer mine overnight on low. You can also simmer in the crockpot on low. If the water starts to evaporate, add more.
- Remove the bones and other solids, including the onions and other things you used to make the seasoning.
- Strain the homemade chicken broth so only the liquid remains.
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Do you put in just enough water to cover? I tried to make stock once, and it was SO watered down; I also put in carrots to help season. The end result was a water-y very carrot-y ickiness that I had to throw away.
i love the pics .. thanks for sharing :D :D ..
Easy Peasy! But the best thing about this recipe is that it is VERY nourishing for your TEETH!
Well, I suppose the VERY BEST thing is that it would taste DELISH! You could also add a dash of poultry seasoning if you have some on hand.
Thanks for all your great tips and ideas!
For Claire: I also have made stock that wasn’t as flavorful as I wanted. Just add a boullion cube (they come in low salt varieties of you need them, or in packets of powder).
I don’t generally like to name a product, so Tawra and Jill if you need to delte this comment, I understand and apologize in advance.
I use something called “Better than Boullion”. it’s a soup base paste that comes in a jar. It’s a little pricey here in New Jersey, but a $5.00 jar makes 32 cups of broth. It’s carried in most grocery stores.
It comes in beef, chicken, mushroom, chili, lobster and I think vegetable varieties. I use it alot when I want to make gravy. It’s quite flavorful, and handy to have when you’re in a bind.
Do you mean that after everyone eats their chicken, you use those bones that were on their plates and eaten off of? Isn’t that gross? Or, do you take all the meat off, save the bones, and then serve the meat?
They take the meat off and then we save the bones but honestly if they did eat off it it’s going into boiling water so everything would be dead anyway.
Even better – take your chicken bones (left over, already cooked – from one to two chickens, the carcass and whatever else bones are remaining), add two onions (leave them whole), one carrot (leave whole), 1-2 celery (leave whole) – put all in a crockpot and put water to almost the top (about 1-1/2 inches less) and make in crockpot for about 10-12 hours. Then strain – you’ll get more gelatinous stock the more amount of bones you have in there. If you put the chicken in raw, there will be unwanted scum and it isn’t the same. It is better to have already cooked bones and skins. So if you are deboning chicken thighs or breasts, cook the bones and skin and then save them (including the grease!) in (freezer) or use right away in your crockpot to make stock.
L
Just a question? Do you blow on your babies food to cool it? do they come up and want a drink of your glass of milk or soda. Do you take a nibble of their spoon full of veggies to convince them how yummy it is? Those certainly transfer a lot more germs than a chicken bone that has been boiled for hours. I don’t happen to use nibbled on chicken for stock as I have a lot of pets waiting breathlessly for any leftovers but if not for that I probably would and not see a thing wrong with it.
Sometimes we need to rethink our definations of “gross”. If you had ever been to a chicken slaughter house you would really know what “gross” is! Yet we happily eat out fried chicken by the ton. And we that tout the “green movement” happily pour cow poop on our vegetable plants, talk glowingly of our organic (plant enough so you can have enough left that are not too wormey to use), extole the virtues of composting (rotted vegetable matter and manure), and dig our hands lovingly into “worm castings”, sounds a lot nicer than worm poop doesn’t it? Yet we think there is something unhealthy about putting a 1/2 drank sippy cup of milk back in the fridge to use a couple of hours later or reusing the meat off a chicken breast Jr has taken one bite out of. Fortunately thoroughly cooking food kills about any “bug” you can name. Otherwise we would all have died from food poisoning years ago.
VERY well said! :)
donna b .. i use that too .. esp the organic vegetable base for hubby ..
and last nite i made a really good broth (my son even complimented me on how good it was) …
2 boxes of chicken broth (college inn brand) .. 3/4 box of water from each box … a small bag of carrots (the little peg sizes already peeled) and a few of those frozen chicken breasts from walmart (for $6.87/bag) .. cooked on high for 6 hrs ..
when done, strained out the chicken and carrots and all i had left was broth.. took a tblspn of jiffy biscuit miz, with some water in a cup .. mixed thoroughly to make sure lumps were gone .. added to the broth .. and cooked on high another 30-45 mins .. stirring every so often .. and well it wasnt thick but a bit thicker than not adding the biscuit mix … and then served over the chicken, carrots and i did make some of those jiffy biscuits .. and yummo .. and also served a small cup of broth to drink (if anyone wanted some) .. it was good ..
and today .. we have broth for lunch/dinner …
The way I do this is somewhat similar, although I got tired of buying veggies to put in my stock. Here’s what I do now: Keep a “chicken stock bag” in the freezer. When we have chicken bones, I throw them in the bag. When I chop an onion, I take the top part that I would have simply thrown away and throw it in the bag instead (I don’t use the roots, of course). I’ve used the ends of bell peppers (sans stems), an extra carrot, corn cobs, zucchini ends, etc. Once my bag is full (last time it took me a month, sometimes it just takes a week or two), I just make the chicken stock (adding salt, garlic) and freeze–like you–in 2 cup portions! I figured it up last time: my main cost was just freezer bags for storing (5 cents ea since I bought them on sale). Much, much cheaper than buying it in the store.
Keep the great tips coming!
For Rose:
Don’t know if you’re a chili lover, but they also carry a base to make chili with, VERY flavorful (NOT just hot/spicy). Mushroom base we love also! We really like it alot. Homemade stock is so good for you though, especially so you can control the salt (for those of us with a salt fetish LOL). Vegetable is good for a split pea soup also. I just love homemade soup in the fall/winter!
The soup paste also makes a super gravy! Make 2 cups broth as directed on the jar, put 1 1/2 cup in a saucepan. Take remaining 1/2 cup and mix about 3 tablespoons of flour til there are no lumps (patience is a virtue!). Heat the broth to a boil and stir in your flour/broth paste. It thickens beautifuly!
What do you do with the chicken stock once you have it? I have some going in my crockpot right now but I am not really sure what to do with it in the morning? I’d like to make some chicken noodle soup but don’t know if I start with broth or stock…what is the difference anyway?
Jana most people use the terms interchangeably. Technically broth usually has a little more salt and sometimes is seasoned more which means broth is highly seasoned stock and it is sometimes a little richer because of this.
Like I said even a lot of chefs use the term interchangeably. All you need to do is remove all the bones from the liquid (or broth) and season to taste. I like to use onion and garlic pwd., salt and pepper. Often I add a bouillon cube or two depending how much I have – usually 1 cube for every 4 cups broth. This is to taste.
I then just bring it to a boil add a handful of spaghetti or any noodles you want and then turn it down to a simmer until the noodles are cooked. You could also add rice instead or any veggies you want. This is a great way to use up those leftover veggies. You can also mix up a batch of dumplings and drop those in. We have all the recipes for broth, chicken soup, dumplings and many more things in Dining on a Dime if you have a copy you can check in there for more.
Thanks, Jill!
It has been 24 hours and my crockpot of stock/broth still looks very thin. Also, the turkey leg bones haven’t dissolved at all. I wonder if I messed up with not starting with water. I cooked a chicken in the crockpot, pulled out the chicken and 8 cups of the broth for other meals. I then threw all the bones back in along with the bag I had been saving of bones in freezer (it also had, edammame shells, carrot ends and turkey bones in it). Should I have drained the broth and started fresh with water or is what I have good…it looks a bit greasy. Not sure whether to start over or throw noodles in it:)
I made the Basic Chicken Soup recipe from the cookbook yesterday and it’s so good! Will have some wonderful soup all this week. I used pasta in some bowls of soup and rice in others. So nourishing. Made the house smell good too.
This is an easy and tasty recipe to use for stew, pasta, and more! You might also like to check other chicken broth recipes at www.chickenbrothrecipes.com.
When I make stock or broth, I try to do it at least a day ahead of when I will need it. I strain the broth through a sieve, and then cover and refrigerate the broth, once it is cool. The next day, I am able to skim off any congealed fat that has risen to the surface. Then, just reheat and use for whatever you like, or freeze it for another day, without reheating. Also, extra stock can be canned in appropriately sized jars for future use. Just use a pressure canner (or pressure pan for smaller jars) and can as you would for most meats.
A really good way to make stock, with great flavor, is to cook the bones in a pressure cooker. Add water to cover and cook at 15# for 1 1/2 hours. Take out the bones, refrigerate, and in the morning, remove the grease, that will settle in top, with a spoon. It will be jelled. Nice thick stock.
The difference between broth and stock is how it is made. Stock is made from bones, broth from the meat. I was always cautioned about adding salt to my stock or broth when I make it. As the liquid cooks down the salt will concentrate. When you use the stock in a recipe that’s when the seasoning should go in. Also, one of the reasons stock won’t have a rich taste is because it isn’t reduce enough. If you use a crock pot, the lid stays on and you end up with just as much liquid as when you started.
I save bones and trimmings – gizzard, neck, etc in the freezer until I have at least a large zipper bag full, preferably 2 or 3. I have a huge stock pot and everything goes in – still frozen – along with carrot, celery, onion and garlic. Cover all with cold water. It simmers on the stove, with the lid ajar, all day – at least 14 hours. I put it through a strainer and then chill it in the fridge overnight. The next day I skim the fat, put it on the stove just long enough to liquify and then divide it up in freezer bags. I usually only get about a quart of stock but it is strong and very flavorful. You can thin it out for soup but just a little will go a long way to flavor other recipes.
Thank you for all the tips, ladies. You do a wonderful job – keep up the good work!
I also save my chicken bones. I buy bone-in skin-on chicken breasts (which are cheaper than boneless skinless), cut the meat off to use in my recipe. Then put the bones in a zippered plastic bag till I have about a 2 gallon bag of them. Put them in a large stock pot with a quartered large onion, 2 celery stalks cut in 3’s, 2 large carrots cut in 3’s and a bouquet garni (double thickness cheese cloth with herbs in it, tied up into a little bag with butcher’s twine) with 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and 1 tablespoon black peppercorns. I do not add salt to the stock when cooking it. I wait until I use it in a recipe. Fill to within 2″ of the top with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let cook for about 2 hours covered. Watch so it doesn’t boil over. Remove vegetables and chicken bones, leave bouquet garni bag in pot. Continue cooking uncovered for about another 2 hours to reduce down the liquid to about half, to concentrate the flavors.
I pour it into quart canning jars and leave 2″ room at top of jar for expansion during freezing. Cover with canning lids and for extra protection in case of cracking, put each jar in a zippered plastic bag, and freeze.