Homemade Rich and Flavorful Chicken Stock
I’m going to teach you how to make rich and flavorful chicken stock at home with my easy slow cooker chicken stock recipe. I started making my own homemade chicken stock about 6 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. A friend introduced the concept of making homemade chicken stock vs store-bought, and I’ve never looked back. This recipe is so easy!
Friends, let me just tell you, homemade chicken stock is a game changer in the kitchen. By making your own, you can quickly add nutrients to meals without spending any extra money.
This chicken stock is incredibly easy to make, and it is also made with “free” ingredients. Yep, you read that right. This recipe is FREE as long as you have all your kitchen stock ingredients on hand. You’ll be using leftover bones and fat from a whole cooked chicken, veggie scraps, some seasonings, vinegar, and water.
This recipe is naturally gluten free as well and safe for anyone with gluten sensitivities.
I use apple cider vinegar in my recipe. It’s an ingredient in my kitchen stock list. When you make homemade chicken stock, the apple cider vinegar helps extract extra nutrients and collagen from the bones making the stock more nutrient-dense and flavorful.
Check out my full kitchen stock list I use in all my recipes to save time and money.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock
Let’s dive in. So, how is chicken stock “free” you ask. When I say it’s “free” I mean you don’t have to go to the store to purchase anything extra. Let me walk you through my process.
Some stocks use uncooked chicken. As a busy mom, I don’t prefer that technique for two reasons. 1) I don’t want to “waste” meat. 2) I avoid cooking with raw chicken any chance I get. So, if you’re like me, this might be a great process to try!
Anytime I cook a whole chicken, after I pull off the meat, I save the carcass (such a gross word for a food blog but it is what it is) along with the fats and skin of the chicken. I put all of that into a freezer bag until I’m ready to make stock. It will last 2-3 months fine in the freezer.
At the same time, I’m saving all my celery, carrot and onion scraps in another bag.
Once I have both bags full, it’s time to make some homemade chicken stock in my slow cooker.
I start by adding my chicken carcasses to the bottom of a slow cooker. I usually use two. Then I top it with as many vegetable scraps as I can fit in. Next I add all my seasonings and apple cider vinegar. I fill the cooker with water until it’s about 1″ from the top of the rim. I turn my slow cooker on high and cook for 4-6 hours.
Once it’s done, I strain it directly into a large casserole dish. You may need two! I like to put all the scraps in a ziplock bag before throwing them away to keep them from leaking and smelling in the trash.
Start with frozen vegetables and chicken bones once you have enough stored up in the freezer.
Add frozen chicken bones and fat to a crockpot.
Add frozen onion peels, celery and carrots to a crock pot on top of chicken.
Add seasonings on top of the chicken and vegetables in the crockpot.
Fill the crockpot to top with water.
Cook the stock on high for 4-6 hours.
Strain stock into a large casserole dish to cool in fridge.- Cover chicken stock and place in the fridge to cool overnight.
After the chicken stock has cooled in the fridge overnight, there will be a layer of fat on top. You can skim this off to make the stock have a less oily texture. I leave it if I plan to use the stock in a hearty casserole with rice. If you’re planning to use the stock to make soups to stews, I recommend skimming this layer of fat off before freezing.
Storing Homemade Chicken Stock
Oh, and I didn’t even mention the best part: it freezes marvelously! I have several bags of chicken stock ready to go at any time in my freezer. I use it to cook rice, make soups, stews, chicken and dumplings and so much more. The possibilities are endless.
Scoop 4-6 cups of chicken stock into gallon sized freezer bags. Lay it flat to freeze. It will last in the freezer for 6 months!
Variations
I keep my recipe very simple to use in a variety of recipes. But if you want to add some variation to your recipe, here are some ideas.
- Add lemon peels for a touch of citrus. Lemon works really well with rosemary and thyme.
- Add mushrooms for some earthiness and depth of flavor.
- Add additional apple cider vinegar to break down the bones even more for extra nourishment.
Give this recipe a try and share it with your friends! Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Equipment
- Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Small Chicken Carcasses Bones and fat
- 1 Gallon Bag Frozen Vegetable Scraps Onions, Carrots and Celery
- 2 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Dried Thyme
- 1 tbsp Dried Rosemary
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- Water as needed
Instructions
- To a crockpot, add chicken carcasses and top with frozen vegetables.
- Cover chicken and vegetables with seasonings and apple cider vinegar.
- Fill crockpot to top with water and cook on high for 6 hours.
- In a large casserole dish, add a strainer and strain contents of crockpot into casserole dish. You may need a second casserole dish.
- Pour contents that remain in strainer into a Ziplock bag, close and discard.
- Cover the casserole dishes with plastic wrap and very carefully move the casserole dishes once they have cooled some to the refrigerator and let cool overnight.
- The next day, remove the casserole dish. If you wish to remove the layer of fat from the top, you can skim the fat off the top. I keep the fat on mine when I'm using my stock for a casserole with rice. If you're using this recipe for a soup or stew, I recommend skimming the fat off.
- Spoon out 4-6 cups of stock into freezer size gallon bags. It will be very gelatinous which is good for you! Don't worry, it reduces back to a liquid state when warmed.
- Lay freezer bags flat in freezer.
- To thaw, you can either move the bag to your refrigerator one day prior to use, run the bag under room temperature water or add the contents straight to a stock pot to heat up. Use it just as you would a regular stock or broth.
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Hi, Friends! Welcome! I’m Julia, the creator of Sweet Tea Meals. I’m a stay-at-home mom of two and a self-taught home cook. I’m on a mission to bring joy back to your kitchen with simple, low-cost and well-organized recipes. I’m so glad you’re here.
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