Homemade Chicken Stock

I have been meaning to make homemade chicken stock for years now and have never quite gotten around to it. The convenience of the boxed chicken stock has always been too tempting for me and I just end up getting that instead! But if you have ever watched Ina Garten on the Food Network, you have heard her say (about 8 million times to be exact) that homemade chicken stock makes all the difference.

And she is right!

Seth made an awesome soup using this chicken stock last night for dinner, and it was sooo yummy.

And here’s the thing…it’s incredibly easy. There is really no reason not to make your own. It tastes SO much better and it is crazy simple to put together.

Making store bought stuff from scratch is one of my favorite things to do, whether it be food or other random things around the house. The other day I made homemade laundry detergent and felt pretty proud of myself for that ;). I just love anything made from scratch, and I find that it’s much more satisfying when you use it since you made it yourself! And you know exactly what goes into what you make so you aren’t ingesting a bunch of chemicals and preservatives.

This chicken stock, for example, has chicken, herbs, vegetables, and water. That’s it.

I took the chicken stock out of the fridge today so I could photograph it (it was too dark last night by the time the stock finished simmering), and I opened the Tupperware to find stock that had turned gelatinous. If this sounds gross to you, don’t let it! This means very good things for your stock. It comes from boiling bones.

In fact, if you are researching how to make any type of meat stock, you will find many articles talking about how to achieve this gelatinous texture. It is the sign of a truly well made stock. Don’t worry, when you heat it up it turns completely into an amazing, rich liquid again.

So with just a little bit of prep work, and several hours of simmering (which also requires no work for you), a delicious, complex, flavorful chicken stock is born!

I’m not sure I’ll ever buy store bought again!

Here is the recipe:

Homemade Chicken Stock

• Author: Annie Chesson
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 10 mins
• Yield: About 10-12 cups 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 5 lb whole chicken
• 3 onions
• 15 carrots
• 2 heads garlic
• 1 bunch celery
• 10 (or so) sprigs of thyme
• 10 (or so) sprigs of dill
• 3 (or so) sprigs of rosemary
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 30 cups water (or enough to just cover the chicken and vegetables)
• 3–3 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Instructions

1. Peel and quarter the onions, chop the the celery (include the tops) and carrots into large pieces (about 3 inches)
2. Cut the 2 heads of garlic in half lengthwise, leaving on the paper skin
3. Place the chicken in a large stock pot along with the veggies, herbs, peppercorns, and bay leaves
4. Add the 30 cups of water (or just enough to cover all the chicken and vegetables)
5. Bring the water to a simmer and let it simmer for about 4 hours
6. Using a colander, strain out all the chicken and vegetables above another large pot
7. Using a spoon, press the chicken and vegetables against the colander to extract any extra liquid and flavor
8. Strain the stock a second time back into your stock pot using a sieve to get a pure chicken stock
9. Add your salt to taste and stir in your turmeric
10. Store in the fridge

*Gluten Free*

If you make this or any of my other recipes, make sure to Instagram them and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!