Homemade Chicken Stock
I am so excited fall is right around the corner! I love cozy sweaters and cold-weather comfort food! If you haven’t already it is time to restock our pantry with delicious homemade chicken stock for winter-weather meals.
Why make homemade chicken stock?
Have you noticed that store-bought stock sometimes falls a little flat? Would you like to add amazing flavor to your soups, stews, and pan sauces? You will be amazed at the difference Homemade Chicken Stock makes in the recipes you cook. This easy recipe will give you several quarts of homemade chicken stock to store for future recipes. This homemade chicken stock recipe is made even easier if you have a pressure cooker to speed the process along.
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Equipment
I have said this before and will say it again, get a pressure cooker if you don’t already have one! I use the Breville Fast Slow Pro Pressure Cooker (you can find it here) several times a week. A Dutch oven (like this one) or large stock pot works great as well. See below for tips to adjust this recipe to stove-top. Ingredients
Homemade chicken stock is a very flexible recipe, you can put any herbs and vegetables you have available into it. Most of us have the required ingredients in our refrigerator or pantry regularly. If you have a few carrots, ribs of celery, and a few pounds of bones, carcasses, or bone-in cuts of chicken, you have everything you need to make homemade chicken stock.
Bonus Tip for Homemade Chicken Stock
Save your vegetable scraps from day-to-day cooking in a zip-top bag. Pop it in the freezer until you have enough to use in a stock.
Homemade Chicken Stock Time-Saving Tip
*For a vegetable-rich flavor cut your vegetables in small to medium chunks. You can play with flavors by mixing up the herbs you use.
Roast your bones or chicken pieces!
This homemade chicken stock recipe uses roasted bones/cuts of chicken. Toss them in a little oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast on a baking sheet 400 until everything is golden brown and yummy smelling.
Personal Opinion Tip
Try to avoid using too much salt in the beginning. You don’t want overly salted stock for your finished dishes.
Combine and Cook
Now that the ingredients are prepped, just toss everything into the pressure cooker (or pot), cover with filtered water, and cook. I use the stock setting on my pressure cooker, or you can cook on high pressure for 45 minutes with a natural release.
Homemade Chicken Stock Cooking Alternative
If using a stock pot cook on your stove top at a low simmer for 4-10 hours stirring occasionally. Keep at a low simmer not boiling.
To keep the stock clear, avoid letting it come to a boil. In the pressure cooker, allowing it to naturally release prevents this. Boiling doesn’t affect the flavor but can make the stock cloudy. If clarity isn’t a concern, you can use a quick release. I mainly focus on this when preparing a clear broth-based soup.
Final Steps
Once your stock has cooled a little it is time to strain and store your liquid gold. In a large bowl use a colander lined with cheesecloth to strain the finished stock.
Affiliate Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you). For more information see my Legal page.
I just discovered these cheesecloths and use them all the time for various kitchen chores.
Allow your stock to drain and cool. Once cool enough to handle squeeze the last bit of stock out of the strained ingredients, and discard the leftovers.
Storage options
There are a few options of storage containers for homemade chicken stock. Mason jars are great for pressure canning and storing at room temp for up to 1 year. I have this pressure canner and have used it for low-acid contents like meat sauce and stocks. Kathi of Oakhill Homestead has a great post about pressure canning. Alternatively, you can contact your local extension office for classes on canning and preserving.
Plastic deli containers come in many sizes and are great for refrigeration storage or freezing. You can store homemade chicken stock in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or the freezer for 2-3 months.
I love using deli containers for storage because they come in various sizes, are easy to stack, and are reasonably priced. You can find my favorites here.
Now that we have a basic homemade chicken stock recipe, we can adjust it to meet different needs. I like to keep beef, chicken, turkey, and vegetable stock on hand. The combinations I use most often are listed on this printable for you.
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Homemade Chicken Stock
Equipment
- 6-8 Quart Mason Jars
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Bones, pieces or scraps You can use beef roasting bones for beef stock, chicken carcass or bone-in wings for chicken stock, and vegetable scraps for vegetable stock
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper Freshly ground
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil
- 2-5 sprigs Fresh herbs Bay, rosemary, thyme, and parsley are usually great with any type of stock. Use less Rosemary because it is a strong herb, a little goes a long way.
- 4-8 each Whole Peppercorns
- 3-4 each Carrots Medium cleaned and chopped into large chunks
- 3-4 each Celery ribs Cleaned and chopped into large chunks
- 1 each Yellow Onion Cleaned of dirt and quartered. Leave the dried skin on.
- 1 each Garlic Bulb Cut in half or crush individual cloves of one bulb
- 6 quarts Filtered Water When using tap water allow to sit at room tempature for 1 hour to allow chemicals in water to disapate.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and line a baking sheet with foil.
- Coat bones and chicken pieces in avocado oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer to the baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until everything is golden brown.
- Chop vegetables and aromatics into small to medium pieces and transfer to a cooking vessel with herbs, salt, and pepper.
- Allow bones and pieces to cool slightly then transfer to a cooking vessel. I am using a pressure cooker but you can use a stock pot or a Dutch oven. Scrape all browned bits off the foil by adding some water to the sheet while it is still warm and gently scraping browned bits of fond up.
- Pour water from the sheet pan and add enough water to the cooking vessel to cover all ingredients.
- Pressure cooker method: close the lid and set it to the stock setting or high pressure for 45 minutes with a natural/slow release. Stovetop method: Cover and simmer on low for 4-6 hours stirring occasionally. Do not allow to boil, this will produce a cloudy stock.
- Place a cheesecloth or fine mesh-lined colander in a large bowl that will accommodate all stock and ingredients.
- Once cool enough to handle strain pot contents and use cheesecloth to compress solid ingredients.
- Store in the fridge for 3-4 days, freezer for 2-3 months, or pressure canned for up to two years.
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