Homemade Chicken Stock
Published September 3, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Learn how easy it is to make homemade chicken stock, enhancing the flavor of your soups and sauces. You can immediately taste the difference between this recipe and a store-bought one, and there’s no going back.
Stock is used in so many different recipes in the restaurant industry that it’s seriously one of the most coveted kitchen tools. From risotto to heating vegetables to sauces and making delicious soups, stock is a must-have in any kitchen and is straightforward.
Chicken Stock
Chicken stock is a chicken-flavored liquid made from chicken bones, meat, vegetables, herbs, and water, slow-cooked for 4-6 hours. It’s then drained and reserved for any cooking occasion. This is often the base for most soups and many sauces.
Roasting the bones and vegetables to make a “brown stock” can further enhance the flavor of a basic stock. While I do it in this recipe, it is not necessary. You can alternatively add everything to a pot, cover it with water, and cook it.
Chicken Stock Vs. Broth
Stock is a roasted chicken bone broth slowly simmered in water with herbs and vegetables. The bones from the chicken make the broth gelatinous and extremely rich in flavor.
Broth is a thin chicken-flavored liquid that has chicken meat cooked into it with vegetables and herbs. It is often seasoned with salt and pepper and is most certainly what is in those boxes at the grocery store.
Both stock and broth are delicious, but the bones give stock a much richer flavor.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken – This can be an assortment of chicken parts, including feet, skin, necks, carcasses, bones, breasts, thighs, drums, or wings. For this to be a correct stock, chicken bones, in some way, need to be included. I find it best to use carcasses.
- Vegetables – The most common vegetables are onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. However, other great vegetables include mushrooms, leeks, parsnips, vegetable peelings, shallots, zucchini, and squash. Do not use turnips, beets, or bell peppers. These things can significantly alter the flavor and, at times, cause the stock to be bitter,
- Fat – Butter, ghee, chicken fat (schmaltz), or olive or avocado oil will work. This is used to coat the bones and veggies for roasting to intensify the flavor.
- Herbs — I use thyme and flat-leaf parsley. However, the stems of these herbs are also great. In addition, I also add a few bay leaves to it,
- Spices – Whole peppercorns are used to flavor the stock as well.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock
- Add the chicken and vegetables to some roasting pans and rub them down with olive oil. I prefer to use a couple of different pans so that they can all be roasted.
- Roast the pans in the oven at 425° for 45-60 minutes or until they are browned.
- Transfer the roasted chicken and vegetables from the pans to a large pot and place them on the stove. When there’s a large stockpot with a spigot, it’s known as a marmite!
- Add the thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns to the stock.
- Fill the pot up with cold water until it is 6 inches over the ingredients into the pot.
- Simmer on low heat for 4-6 hours, skimming the impurities off the top every 45 minutes.
- Strain it and store it. After 6 hours, it will not extract much more flavor.
Can I Reuse the Bones and Vegetables?
A remouillage is a stock that is made from the bones and vegetables that have already been used in a stock. After you strain the first stock, add the bones and vegetables back to the pot, refill it with water, and make a second stock.
While the flavor of a remouillage is much more subtle than the original chicken stock, it’s an affordable option for people or restaurants looking to extend the amount of chicken stock they need.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: This can be made up to 3 days ahead of time for freshness.
How to Store: Once it has cooled, cover it and keep it in the refrigerator for five days. Cover it and freeze it for up to six months. Thaw it in the fridge for one day before reheating.
How to Reheat: To reheat it, add your desired amount to a saucepot and heat over low to medium heat until hot.
CHEF NOTES + TIPS
- This can easily be made using all leftover ingredients. If you often fabricate a whole chicken to use in your cooking, it’s important to freeze the carcasses. Any leftover bones should also be frozen.
- I like to freeze these in 32-ounce containers, which makes it easy to pull out what I need and allows for quicker thawing.
- It is okay to eyeball the sizes of the onions, celery, carrots, leeks, and herbs. These details won’t affect the recipe.
Recipes Using Chicken Stock
Video
Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 pounds chicken bones
- 4 roughly chopped medium size onions
- 4 roughly chopped carrots
- 1 roughly chopped bunch of celery
- 2 roughly chopped leeks, green parts ok
- 2 cups button mushrooms
- 2 cups cremini mushrooms
- 6-8 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 10-15 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley
- 3-4 bay leaves
- 15-20 peppercorns
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Add the chicken, onions, carrots, celery, leeks, mushrooms, and garlic to a large pan or 2 roasting pans.
- Evenly drizzle the oil over the ingredients and mix until coated.
- Roast in the oven at 425° for 45-60 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Transfer the ingredients to a huge stockpot and place them on the cooktop.
- Add in the thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and fill it with water until the ingredients in the pot have been covered by 6 inches.
- Simmer on low heat for 4-6 hours while skimming the impurities off of the top every 45 minutes.
- Strain entirely through a chinoise or fine mesh strainer. Cool the stock completely and store it.
What about using 5 lbs. of chicken wings for the bones? Maybe add a few thighs?
Since I use chicken broth/stock a lot, I decided the make this. It was a winner! I plan to make it again soon.
I love to make my own stocks and broths when I because, you are right, there is no comparison to store bought. I also like that I can control the amount of sodium (I personally never add salt.
I’ve fiddled with many recipes for chicken stock, but this recipe is, hands-down perfection. Well done, Chef Parisi! The flavor is amazing.
Thank you for sharing. I no longer have to “fiddle” with other recipes that are good, but not great.
At 76 years young, I’ve been making broth for decades, yet Chef Billy taught me how to make remouillage! Got 2 more quarts of delicious broth by using my slow cooker.
His method for stock is excellent, roasted vegetables and bones make for the richest taste, excellent Chef Billy!
I made a case of jars for a friend with tummy troubles. They were in heaven. Doesn’t compare to anything you can buy pre-made. Over been following your and my mamas advice and saved all my leftover peels and cores and I used a rotisserie chicken core to boil. Thank you as always.
Didn’t use this specific recipe, but similar, using leftover *everything*. My severely immuno-compromised friend from a lifetime of RA (before today’s treatments and medications) was the main recipient of them, as she was battling an infection from a knee replacement (her third). She accredits her recovery in part from these rich fluids and cannot stop thanking me enough for gifting her with them. THANK YOU, BILLY P!
Thank you for giving it a try!
Thank you ChefBilly live these recipes much taste 😋😁🙏👏
Can I use a whole chicken with the meat on? If no, why not?
sure
I make it with a whole chicken. Why not? Chicken is chicken! 😉 🐓🐔🐥🍗
Came out perfect, Love it! It’s a keeper….thanks Chef!
Thank you for this recipe. I love following you, as I’m not a great cook, but your techniques are helping me to improve.
Question on simmering the stock, should the lid be on or off?
yes
It taste is amazing and fresh. So much better than store bought. Thanks chief.