Basic Chicken Stock
- Total Time
- About 2 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 15-pound fowl or the necks, backs, wing tips, gizzards and hearts of four to six chickens; two small whole fowl may also be used
- 1leek, trimmed and scrubbed
- 1onion
- 2carrots, scraped
- 2stalks celery including the tops
- 1bay leaf
- 5whole peppercorns
- 10 to 12cups cold water
- Sprig of fresh dill and sprig of fresh parsley, tied together in a piece of cheesecloth
- Salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
6 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 0 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 0 grams protein; 26 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place all ingredients except water, parsley, dill and salt in a kettle. Add water (it should cover the ingredients) and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes.
- Step 2
Lower heat to a simmer and during the next five to 10 minutes carefully skim the top of the soup. When the soup seems to be simmering without additional scum collecting on top, add the parsley, dill and season with salt. Allow the soup to simmer for about two hours, adding a little additional water if necessary to keep the ingredients covered.
- Step 3
Remove chicken, vegetables and herbs and strain soup through a strainer lined with a linen napkin or several thicknesses of cheesecloth.
- Step 4
Return soup to a clean pot, return to a simmer and taste carefully for seasoning, adding additional salt if necessary. If the soup is too weak, continue simmering it to concentrate it until the desired intensity of flavor is reached. Chicken soup will keep in the refrigerator up to five days or it may be frozen.
Private Notes
Comments
I've tried a lot of chicken stock recipes, and they almost always come out tasteless for me. This one, although I had to use 24 cups of water to cover the chicken and vegs in my giant pasta pot, became super flavorful in about 2 hours of simmering. I ended up with 8 quarts of really good stock--so happy! I had no parsley so used extra dill--a mistake, it's a shockingly dominant flavor in the broth. Don't be tempted to use more than 1 sprig of dill, folks.
Necks, backs, and trimmings can be left to simmer. If using whole chicken, remove after it poaches for 1 hour, cool until it can be handled, and separate the meat, returning the rest of the carcass to the stock pot. Refrigerate the cooked meat and use for chicken salad, creamed chicken, soup, chili, etc.
What do you do with the cooked chicken?