Which leads to making a lot of homemade chicken stock.
Once a week, usually on Sundays, we roast a whole chicken. Or, if we are too busy during the week most likely you will see me grabbing a whole, cooked rotisserie chicken to go at our local market. On a whim we'll grab bone-in chicken breasts, legs, and thighs and throw them on the grill for an impromptu BBQ dinner with friends.
A (good, make that GREAT) habit that we got into over the last few years was saving the bones and whole carcasses after finishing meals. We'll grab one of those over-sized, resealable plastic bags, toss in whatever is left of the bird, and throw the bag in the freezer. Over the next few weeks, we'll add the new bones to the bag.
When you are ready - grab a large stock pot, simply throw the bones in the pot with onions, garlic, carrots, herbs, and water; let it simmer for a few hours. The end product is healthier and tastier than the boxed or canned broth on market shelves. Plus, it will freeze for up to 6 months. Make it your new (good) habit to save the leftover bones and carcasses of chicken for future use instead of throwing them out!
It's all too easy. REALLY. Think about the "whole" chicken the next time you eat one - save your bones, and, most importantly, make this stock. Your taste buds will thank me.
Ingredients:
(note - this recipe has been doubled for the photos)
- 2 pounds chicken bones (saved and frozen or ask your local butcher for chicken bones to make stock)**carcass/bones from whole chicken amount to roughly 30% of the total weight at purchase**
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped (does not need to be peeled)
- 4-5 carrots, roughly chopped (do not need to be peeled)
- 7 garlic cloves, smashed (do not need to be peeled)
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 2 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme (with stems)
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley (with stems)
- approx. 14 cups cold water (enough to cover the ingredients)
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| Yep, that is one full plastic bag of chicken bones! |
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| About 4 pounds of chicken bones - would have been trash, now is the base for incredible stock! |
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| Placing the chicken bones in the pot |
- In a large stock pot, add the reserved chicken bones
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| Mis en Place - Onions, Carrots, Garlic, Thyme, Parsley, Peppercorns, and Bay Leaves |
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| My little kitchen buddy, Lucy, loves her chicken, so she had to check out what was going on in the kitchen from her "perch" |
- Roughly chop up the carrots, onions, and garlic - no need to remove the peels - it's an unnecessary added step
- To the chicken, add the carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, parsley, peppercorns, and bay leaves
I was doubling my recipe, so I split it up into two pots!
- Add 14-15 cups of cold water to the pots, enough to cover the chicken and the other ingredients; bring to a boil and quickly reduce to a rolling simmer over a low heat for at least 4 and up to 6-8 hours
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| Stock reduced after 2 hours |
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| Stock reduced by 4 hours |
Whether it's been 4 hours or 6-8, turn the heat off on the stove and let the stock cool for about 20 minutes. Strain into a large bowl and then divide into containers to store. One genius way of storing stock is in ice cube trays - it makes for easy defrosting in smaller sizes. Dominic LOVES his Talenti Gelato, so we save the containers to re-use for many purposes, most commonly for stock (above).
Cheers and enjoy!
