Let’s just say this….I will NEVER buy chicken broth from the store again. It is simply a colossal waste of money. If you roast a chicken, you can make so many different things from it. Not only do you get delicious chicken for dinner, but you can save the extra chicken pieces for other meals, make gravy, and chicken stock as well. Here’s how I use my chicken carcass to make my own FREE chicken stock (broth). The best part….it couldn’t be easier!
How to Make Chicken Stock
1. Save your chicken carcass! If I don’t have time to make stock right away or if I want to wait until I have another one to make a really big batch, I will throw the carcass in a freezer bag and freeze it to use later. We usually don’t buy pre-cooked chickens from the store, but since we were so sick this past week, we needed something easy!
2. Put your carcass into a large stockpot. Add in several chopped up carrots, celery stalks (leaves and all), 1 or 2 onions (quartered is fine), parsley, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cover with water. Note- this is a great way to use those vegetables that are past their prime (not rotten of course), but haven’t been thrown out yet!
3. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to simmer.
4. Simmer uncovered at least 4 hours, occasionally skimming off the foam that comes to the surface.
5. Strain the stock.
6. If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce it by simmering a few hours longer to make it more concentrated and easier to store.
7. Pour cooled stock into gallon size freezer bags. Seal and lay flat on top of each other (takes up less room in the freezer!). Make sure you label each bag with how many cups it has in it! Store in the freezer for 6 months.
100% agree on the quality of store-bought chicken broth. It has no flavor, at all. Every time me and John go to the Sam’s club I get a rotisserie chicken, break it down into easy to use bites and then the carcass goes in the freezer. When I have three or four carcasses I make a big pot of broth and freeze the extra in gallon bags. And you know after you’ve had a few meals off a pot of soup and most of the chunks have been scooped out? I just refreeze that and use it to build the next soup.