Homemade Chicken Stock

My own version of liquid gold

Here is why I always buy two rotisserie chickens:

I know what you’re thinking- I’m busy, why would I take the time to make chicken stock when its pretty cheap to just buy…

You need to just trust me on this one. I just had the busiest five years of my life. So busy that I hardly had time to shower, and I still made this regularly. There is nothing that compares to the flavor this has. It is so much richer and smooth than anything you’ll find at the grocery store. Plus, even though it needs to boil for a couple hours, you can basically set it and forget it during that time.

There are also so many health benefits from a homemade stock vs a store bought broth. If you do make this, or as you can see in the recipe I’ll post tomorrow, when this cools, it becomes more of the consistency of jello than soup. This is a sign that you did it right! It comes from the collagen of the bones and connective tissue. I know, thinking that far into kind of grosses me out too… but bone broth can help with digestion, improve joint pain and stiffness, help to maintain your immune system, improve skin tone and health, among many other things. Bonus: you also get nutrients from whatever vegetables you add to the pot.

I’m telling you, just trust me and make this one time…

(I used the meat from one of the chickens to make the chicken salad pitas the other night. The other the kids used for lunches and snacks throughout the week.)

I starting making our own stocks maybe 10ish years ago and I swear, once you start, you will never want the store bought, carton stuff again. This will come in even more handy the closer we get to fall and winter, aka, soup season, but I like to keep some on hand year round.

Best part of the recipe- you can make it with whatever you want. Here are the basic ingredients I’d recommend no matter what spin you put on it:

Ingredients:

• Bones and what not from two rotisserie chickens. (I use the skins and meat I don’t want to eat too.)

• 1 to 2 onions- no need to cut this down too much, a few big chunks will work.

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

Additional/optional things I like to add:

• Garlic- I used half a bulb this time, each clove peeled and cut in half

• A couple bay leaves

• A few sprigs of rosemary

• A few sprigs of thyme

• A few shakes of hot sauce

Instructions:

• Put everything in a pot and boil for a couple hours. I’d recommend a minimum of 2, but you can do longer. The longer it boils down, the more flavor it gets. When its about finished, it will have a dark yellow color. You can always do the taste test to see if its ready, and you will know!

• Use a colander and large bowl to separate the bones from the stock. Discard the bones once the liquid is fully drained off of them.

• Store stock in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze in desired serving sizes.