Homemade Chicken Stock
Its comfort food season! I love cozy sweaters and cold-weather comfort food. If you haven’t already, it’s time to restock your pantry with delicious homemade chicken stock for winter-weather meals. Once you’re comfortable making chicken stock, the same basic process can be adapted for beef or vegetable stock with a few adjustments.
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’ll 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 meals. It’s made even easier if you have a pressure cooker to speed the process along.
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 several times a week. A Dutch oven or large stock pot works just as well. See below for tips on adjusting this recipe for the stovetop.
Ingredients
Homemade chicken stock is a very flexible recipe. You can use whatever herbs and vegetables you have available. Most of us have the required ingredients in our refrigerator or pantry already.
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 vegetable scraps from day-to-day cooking in a zip-top bag and store them in the freezer until you have enough to use for stock.
Homemade Chicken Stock Time-Saving Tip
For a more vegetable-rich flavor, cut your vegetables into small- to medium-sized chunks. You can also change up the flavor by mixing and matching the herbs you use.
Roast Your Bones or Chicken Pieces
This homemade chicken stock recipe uses roasted bones or cuts of chicken. Toss them with a little oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast on a baking sheet at 400°F until everything is golden brown and smells amazing.
Personal Opinion Tip
Try to avoid adding too much salt at the beginning. You don’t want an overly salted stock when using it in finished dishes. Stock is meant to be a neutral building block, with final seasoning added as your dish comes together.
Combine and Cook
Once the ingredients are prepped, add everything to your 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.
Cooking Alternative
If using a stock pot, cook on the stovetop at a low simmer for 4–10 hours, stirring occasionally. Keep the stock at a gentle simmer and avoid boiling.
Bonus Tip!
To keep the stock clear, avoid letting it come to a boil. In a pressure cooker, allowing a natural release helps prevent cloudiness. Boiling won’t affect flavor but can make the stock cloudy. If clarity isn’t a concern, a quick release is fine.
Final Steps
Once your stock has cooled slightly, it’s time to strain and store your liquid gold. Place a colander lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl and carefully strain the stock.
Allow the stock to drain and cool. Once cool enough to handle, gently squeeze the solids to release the remaining liquid, then discard.
Storage Options
There are several ways to store homemade chicken stock.
Mason jars are great for pressure canning and can be stored at room temperature for up to one year. I use a pressure canner for low-acid foods like meat sauce and stock. Your local extension office is a great resource for canning safety and classes.
Plastic deli containers work well for both refrigeration and freezing. Stock can be stored in the refrigerator for 3–4 days or frozen for 2–3 months.
Most recipes call for anywhere from ½ cup to a few cups of stock, so I store mine in a mix of ½-cup, 2-cup, and 4-cup containers.
There is something so satisfying about having homemade chicken stock in your pantry, ready to use. It is a simple kitchen staple to have on hand that makes everything you make richer, deeper in flavor to every dish you make. Use it everyday or save it for special meals in the future, either way it is a joy to have on hand.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker
- 6-8 Storage Contaniners Mason jars, deli containers, freezer zip top bags
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Chicken pieces Bones, wings, scraps
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper Fresh Ground
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil or any flavor neutral oil
- 2-5 stems Fresh Herbs Bay leaves, Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley. Use less Rosemary due to its strong flavor.
- 4-8 Peppercorns Whole
- 3-4 Carrots Medium
- 3-4 Celery Ribs
- 1 Yellow Onion Medium
- 5-6 Garlic cloves crushed
- 6 quarts Filtered Water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and line baking sheet with foil
- Coat bones and chicken pieces in avocado oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to baking sheet and roast in oven for 45-60 minutes or until everything is golden brown.
- Chop vegetables and aromatics into small to medium pieces and transfer to cooking vessel with herbs, salt and peppercorns.
- Allow bones and pieces to cool slightly before transferring to cooking vessel with vegetables and herbs. Scrape browned bits off foil left from roasting chicken pieces by adding a little water to sheet while it is still warm, gently scraping with a wooden spoon.
- Transfer water and fond from sheet pan into cooking vessel with everything else and add enough filtered water to cover all ingredients.
- Pressure cooker method: close lid and set to the stock setting or high pressure for 45 minutes with natural/slow release. Stovetop method: cover and simmer on low for 4-6 hours stirring occasionally. Do not allow to boil, this will produce cloudy stock.
- Place cheesecloth or fine mesh lined colander in a large bowl that will accommodate all the stock and ingredients.
- Once cool enough to handle strain pot contents and use cheesecloth to compress solid ingredients and squeeze out remaining liquid.
- Store in fridge for 3-4 days, freezer for 3-4 months or pressure canned for up to two years.
