Easy Homemade Chicken Stock

I make chicken stock almost every weekend. Impressed? Don’t be. This is the easiest thing to make at home, and you will use it for almost every meal. I bet you have most of the ingredients already in your pantry. The most important ingredient is time. But, if you’re home cleaning or watching a movie or writing a food blog, you have time to make homemade chicken stock. Yep, it’s on the stove as I type.

Technically, this is broth because I make it with meat. Stock is make from just bones, but I like this method better, and its easier. You don’t have to prep the meat or bones beforehand. All you need is chicken, veggies, herbs, peppercorns (or freshly cracked pepper, water, and you have stock. You can change out the chicken for fish or just the veggies to make a different type of stock, but that’s a different post.

I use chicken thighs, but you can use any chicken on sale, even a whole chicken. With the thighs, bone in, I remove the skin (because it’s cheaper than buying skinless thighs, thank you butcher, but I’ll take it from here) by pulling off the skin and cutting off the ends if needed. You don’t have to remove the it all, just most of it. I don’t like all that fat in my stock.

Grab everything you need. I use an onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, parsley, black peppercorns and salt. Peel the carrots, break them in half. Take the paper skin off the garlic and cut it in half. Take the paper skin off the onion and cut it in half. Break the parsley in half. Break the celery in half. Throw everything in the pot, then add the chicken on top. Salt the chicken a little. Fill the pot with water. Cover, and bring it to a boil. Then lower the temperature to a simmer, and simmer for 4 to 6 hours. Wow. That took about 15 minutes to prep. You deserve a break. Time to watch a good movie, or two, at home.

The aroma in your house will be amazing! It’s like you’ve been slaving over the stove all day. Well, not this time. When your cooking time is over, take the pot off the stove and let it cool. Get a colander and line it with cheese cloth (if you don’t have cheese cloth, you can use a mesh strainer. Or if you only have a colander, strain the large ingredients, then line the colander with paper towels and strain again for the little bits.  Strain the liquid into another pot, then cool completely. Then transfer the stock to a container and put it in the fridge. I use mine weekly, but it can stay up two weeks in the fridge. You might see a thin layer a fat floating on top of the liquid in a day or two. Just remove it with a spoon.

You can use this delicious chicken stock to cook anything you would use water for, like rice or pasta or potatoes. And of course homemade chicken souo. The options are endless, and it will taste so much better. And, don’t throw away the chicken. You can add this to soup or rice.

Prep time 15 min | Cook time 4-6 hours

YOU’LL NEED

• 2 large pots (1 with a lid)
• Colander
• Cheese cloth (or mesh strainer, or paper towels)
• Peeler

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken (thighs)
• Onion
• Carrot
• Celery
• Garlic
• Parsley
• The

STEPS

• Get a teaspoon of whole peppercorns or freshly cracked pepper, set aside
• Remove skin from the onion and garlic, cut both in half
• Peel the carrot
• Break in half the carrot, celery, and herbs
• Remove skin from chicken (optional)
• Salt the chicken with a pinch of salt
• Add the peppercorns, vegetables and herbs to a large pot, then add the chicken
• Fill the pot with water and put it on the stove. Cover
• Bring it to a boil, then lower the temperature to a simmer
• Simmer for 4 to 6 hours
• Take it off the stove and cool
• Remove the chicken and set aside for another meal
• Line a colander with cheese cloth  (or paper towels, or use a mesh strainer)
• Strain the liquid into another and cool completely (you might have to strain a fee times).
• Pour the cooled liquid into a container and put it in the fridge
• Note: you might have to skim the fat off the top of the liquid before using with a spoon

Did you make this? Wasn’t it easy? And, how did you use this stock? Like this post and leave me a commit.