Easy Chicken Stock

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

This chicken stock is the perfect way to use up the remnants from deboning your own chicken legs and thighs. Deboning your own dark meat is way easier than it looks and will save you a lot of money. All you need is a sharp knife and you can trace along the bone to remove the meat. Then just peel the skin off by trimming with the same knife or grabbing firmly with your hands to peel it away. You’re going to end up with a pile of bones, fat, and skin that you are likely not going to want to eat but it also feels like a waste to throw it away. So how to turn all of that into a flavorful stock?

Simply take the bones, meat pieces, skin, fat, and any excess that you wouldn’t want in another recipe and throw it into a big pot. Then, take all the vegetable scraps you have from all your other cooking and throw that in as well. I’m talking celery ends, mushroom stems, onion skins, wilted green onions, carrot peels, anything edible but not the most appetizing by itself. You can add as little as you have or up to 2 cups of it. Don’t go out of your way here, we’re just making this recipe at the end of a big cooking day to make a little less waste.

You will want to avoid certain vegetables that will overpower the stock. Asparagus will make it bitter and strong, jalapenos or other peppers will make it too spicy. If you want a spicy broth though, go ahead and add peppers and ginger! This works really well for asian style soups and stews. Of course, the peppers won’t be used for an elimination diet chicken stock but ginger is fair game.

Next add as many cups of water as you have bones of chicken. So if you have 8 thigh bones use 8 cups of water. I recommend 6-8 for a medium batch of stock but if you want to make in bulk feel free to add more. Just up all the other ingredients as well and make sure that there is room in your soup pot! You really don’t want this one boiling over.

Lastly, season. Always season! You’re going to add way more salt than feels natural to add to a pot but you want this stock to be alive with flavor! That’s the base for a great soup or any other dish! Seriously, don’t skimp on the salt. Your taste buds will thank you later. If it’s seasoned well you won’t need to add as much salt later on in your recipes it’s already in the easy chicken broth!

For this recipe you’ll need a nice big cooking pot, check out this one on Amazon:

Chicken broth or chicken stock?

Getting into semantics here. Technically this recipe is more of a stock than a broth. A stock means that the bones of the animal are used. I basically always use the bones when making this simple chicken broth because that’s when I have scraps! I never just have meat scraps lying around, I cooked those!

I’m not the kind of purist who is going to say you need broth for one thing and stock for another. I think that the bones add more richness to the flavor of this broth or stock and you should go ahead and use them. Use this recipe anytime you need chicken broth or chicken stock, there should be absolutely no difference in how the recipe comes out. Just know that homemade is always better! Better flavor and much better ingredients! Especially when minding your elimination diet.

You can use this same recipe to create a much richer bone broth by simmering it for much longer. For chicken, simmer for 21-24 hours to break down the bones into gelatin. This provides a really nourishing and healthy base for other recipes or even to be enjoyed on it’s own. In general, a longer simmer will mean more flavor so if you have longer than an hour go for it!

Ingredients

• 6-8 chicken thigh, leg, or breast bones and assorted scraps (skin, meat, fat)
• up to 2 cups vegetable scraps (ends, skins, leftover pieces)
• 4 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 6-8 cups water, 1 cup for each chicken bone

Instructions

1. place all ingredients in a large soup pot
2. bring to a boil
3. reduce heat to a high simmer
4. simmer for 1- 1 ½ hours, liquid will reduce
5. skim any bubbly fat off the top as necessary
6. pour contents through a colander or sieve into a heat safe container
7. refrigerate and use within a week or freeze and use within 6 weeks

rate this recipe!