Homemade Chicken Stock Recipe (Bone Broth)
Published October 11, 2019. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Learn how easy it is to make a homemade chicken stock that will help enhance the flavor of all of your soups and sauces.
In the restaurant industry, we would use stock in so many different recipes that it’s seriously one of the most coveted things in the kitchen. From risotto to heating up vegetables to sauces and, of course, making delicious soups, this is a must-have in any kitchen, and it’s incredibly easy to make.
What Is It?
Chicken stock is a chicken-flavored liquid that consists of chicken bones and parts, vegetables, herbs, and water that is slow-cooked together for 4-6 hours. It’s then drained and reserved for any cooking occasion.
Here is a traditional ingredient list:
- Chicken Bones – This can be from carcasses, leftover bones, gizzards, or feet.
- Mirepoix – A combination of 50% onions, 25% carrots, and 25% celery.
- Herbs and Spices – Fresh thyme sprigs, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
There is no comparison between homemade to store-bought. It is significantly more flavorful!
Chicken Stock Vs. Broth
There is actually a big difference between stock and broth.
- Stock – a roasted chicken bone base slowly simmered in water with herbs and vegetables. The bones from the chicken cause it to be gelatinous and extremely rich in flavor.
- Broth – a thin chicken-flavored liquid that has chicken meat cooked into it with vegetables and herbs. This is often seasoned with salt and pepper and most certainly what is in those boxes at the grocery store.
Both stock and broth are delicious, but you will get a much richer flavor in stock due to the bones.
How Can I Make It Taste Better?
You can make it taste better by roasting up the bones and vegetables in the oven ahead of time and using an assortment of vegetables. Here are a few things you can put into it in addition to a traditional recipe:
- Mushrooms
- Leeks
- Parsnips
- Green onions
- Vegetable peelings
- Herb sprigs with no leaves
- Shallots
- Zucchini
- Squash
Do not use bell peppers, spicy peppers, tomatoes, vegetables from the radish family, or any overly strong flavored vegetables.
How to Make Chicken Stock
1. Add the chicken and vegetables to some roasting pans and rub them down in some olive oil. I prefer to use a couple of different pans so that they can all get roasted.
2. Roast the pans in the oven at 425° for 45-60 minutes or until they are browned.
3. Transfer the roasted chicken and vegetables in the pans to a large pot and place them on the stove. Just as an FYI, a large stockpot that has a spigot is known as a marmite!
4. Add the thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns to the stock.
5. Fill the pot up with cold water until it is 6 inches over the ingredients into the pot.
6. Simmer on low heat for 4-6 hours, skimming the impurities off of the top every 45 minutes or so.
7. Strain it and store it. I believe that it cannot extract much more flavor past the 6-hour mark.
What Is a Remouillage?
A remouillage is a stock that is made from the bones and vegetables that have already been used in a stock. Essentially after you strain the first stock, you 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 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.
How to Reheat: To reheat it, add your desired portion to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot.
How to Store: Once it has cooled in the refrigerator, you can place a lid on it and hold it there for up to 5 days. Once it’s cooled in the refrigerator, I place a lid on it, then store it in the freezer for up to 6 months if you don’t plan to use it immediately.
CHEF NOTES + TIPS
- Any vegetable peelings, or if they are starting to go bad, please put them in the freezer to make this chicken stock as economical and delicious as possible.
- This can easily be made using all leftover ingredients. It’s important if you often fabricate a whole chicken to use in your cooking to freeze the chicken carcasses. Any leftover bones at all should be frozen.
Awesome Recipes Using Chicken Stock
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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
- 2 cups each button and 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 or so.
- Strain entirely and reuse the bones and veggies for a remouillage or discard.
- Cool the stock completely and store it.
Like the beef stock recipe – this is fabulous. I have shared with so many of my friends and it has elevated their chicken soup!
Excellent!
Made this and got about 7 quarts of stock. Froze some and it is delicious.
Everything I have tried has beyond incredible. I have learned so much from Chef Billy Parisi and he has put joy back into my kitchen when it comes to cooking. I was at the point I dreaded fixing a meal, I dread even eating it wasn’t because the food was bad, it was just ok and I wanted out of the kitchen as fast as possible. Now I feel like I am cooking 5 star meals and much easier than I thought possible. Thanks Chef Parisi!
Where can you buy 5 lbs chicken bones?
Ask the butcher or start saving raw bones and carcasses.
Stock is simmering on my stove right now. My house smells SO GOOD! I’m trying to get a jump start on Thanksgiving prep. Thank you for your help!
Delicious! Great recipe! I always roast bones for beef stock but, never thought to do it for chicken stock. I will admit the color through me for a bit but, looks like that deep rich color is what we are going for!
Happy Cooking
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I absolutely love this recipe. Chef Billy, I love the way you cook and your techniques that you share. I am no where near a professional chef, but family has approved your recipes.
Love this recipe. I’ve been making stock for a while, mainly for a gravy base on thanks giving snd Christmas dinner and I never realized the difference roasting the veggies would make.
I also never thought to save veggie peels but now it’s common to see a half a dozen zip locks in my freezer.
I still save any chicken carcasses I may have and roast them too but I did merge this recipe with another and got good results. If I’m looking to make a large pot of stock I’ll follow everything on this recipe but I’ll also add a full uncooked chicken to the pot at the beginning. I found you get a more flavorful stock.
And this might be odd but rather than do the second boil for more stock I take all of the boiled down veggies, all the meat from the boiled chicken and shred up and make little patties for my dogs. They love it. And it’s healthy. I had to devise a way to separate out the onion though as that’s not healthy for dogs but that’s just a matter of roasting them separate and then boiling them in a strainer at the top of the stock pot.
If I roast a chicken tonight and save the bones and carcass in the freezer, can I just use that in the future while skipping the step of roasting?
you could
Hi Billy,
So happy to have found your website and blog! I live near St. Louis and I’m a hopeless foodie and a good cook, always looking to improve. In fact, tonight I’m going to have a zoom cooking lesson with one of our area’s top chefs. His name is Rick Lewis, owner of Grace Meat + Three and a James Beard nominee. I too make my own chicken stock and roast everything first. A couple of variations I do on your recipe is that I add a bunch of dill along with the parsley, and I use three parsnips. I’ve never used mushrooms but I’ll add them next time. You’re so right that nothing compares to the homemade version.
Love how easy this is.
This is so simple, but makes all the difference – so good!
Homemade stock is really the best! Thank you for the tips!
This a fantastic stock recipe. I love all the rich flavors in it. Thanks for the tip about remouillage. I’ve always wondered if you could make a second batch of stock.
There’s nothing better than homemade stock! Love this recipe!