How do you make a gallon of homemade, super rich chicken stock for just pennies? Start with the leftover carcasses of two roasted chickens - skin, bones, pan dripping - the works! If you have neck bones and giblets, use them too, but no livers (they impart an off flavor). Rotisserie chickens work wonderfully as well. I'll spare you a photo of the carcasses, but put all the parts in a really big stock pot; I like a 12-quart, heavy duty stockpot.

Additionally, you'll need 3 peeled carrots, the leafy top 2 inches of a bunch of celery, 2 jumbo onions, 1 head of garlic (yes a whole head), 15-ish peppercorns (no salt yet), 2 large bay leaves (Turkish please, California bay is way too strong), and a good palm full of dried parsley; like 2 tablespoons (or a bunch of fresh parsley stems if you happen to have them). I'll also add the following if I have them on hand - mushroom stems, a few sun-dried tomatoes, scallion trimmings, parsnips, leek trimmings, etc.

Okay, time to prep the veg - chop the onions into big chunks, leaving the skins on (they add wonderful color). Cut the head of garlic right in half - skin and all. Use the top 2 inches of the celery bunch and the white inside stalks and leaves (lots of yummy flavor there). Peel and trim the carrots and chop into 1-inch piece.

Now throw everybody into the stock pot and cover with water. Crank up the heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to barely simmering (if you're making this with raw chicken bones, you may want to skim the scum off the surface after 15 or 20 minutes). Simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 hours, but you can let it go for as long as 10 or 12 hours; add more water if you need to, but if you're simmering on a low enough heat, and you're using good heavy stock pot, you shouldn't need to.  Warning:  Your house is going to smell amazing!

Note: Since the time I originally published this stove-top recipe, I’ve started making smaller batches in an Instant Pot, which is much faster. You can check it out here - Instant Pot Chicken Stock.

Mmmmm... see how the onion skins have turned almost a mahogany color? That color equals tons of flavor. Yum!

Now strain all the bones and veggies out of this rich, nutritious, delicious liquid gold (I spared you the photo of that step - you’re welcome). Now, here’s the most important part - if you’re going to use the stock right away, you must add salt to taste. I find adding 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per quart of unsalted chicken stock is just about perfect. Use within a week or freeze for up to a year. I like to freeze my stock unsalted - it just works out to be more flexible ingredient for me that way. Alrighty, that’s all there is to it - super easy and well worth the small time investment it takes to make.

Update: To save room in my freezer, I reduce the strained, unsalted stock to 1/4 the original volume before freezing. To use, just add 3 parts water to 1 part reduced stock.

You can easily cut this recipe in half, but why make a little when you can make a lot. Did I mention it costs mere pennies to make a gallon of this stuff? Literally, this huge batch of stock cost me less than a buck. You can't even think about buying a vastly inferior can of the grocery store stuff for less than a buck, forget about 8 cans. Stock your freezer, and you'll never have to settle for less again! Stay tuned for my quick and easy chicken noodle soup.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 12 quart heavy bottom stockpot https://amzn.to/3V4TreY

• deli containers https://amzn.to/3jbvpSd

• santoku knife https://amzn.to/3FXWW2A

Homemade Chicken Stock

makes 16 cups (1 gallon)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• leftover skin and bones from 2 roasted chickens (rotisserie chickens work very well)

• 3 large carrots, roughly chopped

• leafy trimmings and inner leaves from a bunch of celery (or two ribs), roughly chopped

• 2 large onions, roughly chopped (no need to peel)

• 1 head of garlic, cut in half (no need to peel)

• 15 whole peppercorns

• 2-3 large bay leaves

• a bunch of fresh parsley stems (or 2-3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes)

• optional: mushroom stems, scallion trimmings, leek trimmings, etc.

Directions

1. Place everything in a 12-quart or larger stock pot and cover with cold water.

2. Bring to a gentle bubble, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer for at least 2 hours, but up to 12 if you like (skim and discard any scum that forms on the surface).

3. Carefully strain all the solids from the stock and cool well before transferring to airtight storage containers (refrigerate for 7 days or freeze up to a year).

4. Add salt to taste before using (1 teaspoon kosher salt per quart of stock, or half if using table salt).

Notes

• Once you’ve strained all the solids out of the finished chicken stock, you can store the stock (unsalted) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freezer for longer storage. To save space in the freezer, I like to reduce the stock down from 1 cup to 1/4 cup. To use, just add 3 parts water to 1 part reduced stock (or see notes below to use for a beef stock substitution).

• When using for soup, I like to add about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to each quart (4 cups) of chicken stock (if using table salt, use 1/2 teaspoon per quart).

• To save room in my freezer, I like to reduce the stock down by simmering it util it’s 1/4 of its original volume. This concentrated stock can be used in its reduced form to make pan sauces, or to use in place of beef stock (1 cup of reduced chicken stock can replace 1 cup beef stock). The reduction can be restored to its original strength by adding 3 cups water to 1 cup reduced stock.

• Do not salt stock that you plan to reduce down to a concentrate - it will be way too salty.