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Quick Easy Chicken Stock

Don’t wait hours for your chicken stock to cook! Sounds too good to be true, but I promise this rich and flavorful stock is ready after just 1 hour on the stove using a nonconventional method that includes small pieces of chicken. Makes about 2 quarts.

overhead view of homemade chicken stock in plastic container with spoon to taste

My usual method of making chicken stock has typically been to using a leftover chicken carcass in a slow cooker with celery, onion, carrots, some bay leaves, and of course, water, and then slow cooking the stock for several hours. And that’s a fine method, which can often be convenient, but sometimes you just want or need to speed things up!

I was really surprised to find this method of making quick and easy chicken stock, which produces a very collagen rich stock that is extra flavorful. The flavor and richness come from the browning of the meat, and the resulting fond that is left in the pot after browning.

Have you ever hear of fond? Plus, this method uses small pieces of chicken that are cleaved or cut into smaller pieces allowing for the bone marrow to expeditiously contribute to enhanced collagen content of the stock.

There is nothing like homemade chicken stock! On a cold, day, use this to make a soup like a yummy chicken tortilla soup, chicken pot pie soup, or alone as a cup of golden warm comfort!

front view of pint sized glass jars filled with fresh chicken stock

Chicken broth vs chicken stock

What is the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself too! This recipe is a chicken stock, which is richer than a broth and is made from boney parts that allow more collagen to be produced. By contrast, if you use meatier parts like a whole chicken, you will produce more of a chicken broth, which is lighter in taste.

Best bones for this stock

For this stock, the best bones to use are going to be drumsticks or wings, with the small amounts of meat for added flavor. During the browning stage, the bit and pieces left in the pan will add good flavor to the stock and chopping the chicken into small pieces will allow for the bone marrow to more easily add protein (collagen) and nutrients.

Chicken stock ingredients

Not surprisingly, the major ingredient here is chicken! The other ingredients simply enhance the flavor, but are important to include.

  1. Chicken drumsticks
  2. Onions
  3. A bit of oil (I used olive oil but you can use any oil you like.)
  4. Salt
  5. Bay leaves

and of course, water!

photo of chicken stock ingredients including oil, salt, onion, bay leaves, and chicken drums

Overall process:  (see numbered notes below photo) 

steps 1 2 and 3 to making chicken broth

1. Chop: Cut the chicken legs into small pieces to expose the bone marrow. I didn’t completely cut the pieces but made sure to cut through pieces of the bone where I could – I used a meat cleaver, which in my opinion is a good spend if you plan on making stock fairly often.

2. Chop: Peel your onion and chop (rough chop is fine)

3. Saute: Pour 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil into your pot, set over medium high heat, add onions and saute until translucent

4. Saute: Remove onions from pot, add chicken and brown on both sides for several minutes

5. Sweat: Add onions back to pot along with any juices and sweat over low heat to allow for chicken to release additional juices

6. Add the remaining ingredients: 8 cups water, bay leaves, salt

7. Simmer: Cover and simmer for another 20 minutes on low heat

8. Strain: Remove large pieces if easier and strain into a large bowl using a fine mesh strainer

9. Skim: Allow stock to rest for at least 10 minutes or chill overnight allow fat cap to form on top (shown in photo above), which can be more easily skimmed using spoon

Top tips to make this stock

  • Use small chicken parts: wings or drumsticks are good.
  • Do not boil the stock; instead, use a gentle simmer to extract flavor and avoid emulsification of fat.
  • Make sure to brown the chicken – don’t skip this step! It’s an important part of building the flavor.
  • If you don’t have a fine mesh strainer to strain the broth after it is finished, you may use cheesecloth to strain the stock.
  • To skim the fat, let the stock rest after cooking for at least 10 minutes or ideally overnight in the refrigerator to develop the fat cap.

Easy ways to skim fat

My method for skimming fat from the chicken stock is to simply let it cool overnight in the refrigerator allowing a fat cap to form. Thereafter, it is much easier to skim the fat cap off the top.

There is also some information that suggests keeping the fat cap will help preserve the chicken stock, but you may need at least 1/2 inch fat cap (mine is always less, maybe my chickens are too skinny).  Also see ideas for what to do with the fat if you’re interested in making use of this.

Also check out 3 easy ways to skim fat from stock by America’s Test Kitchen.

Storing homemade chicken stock

This stock with keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for one month.

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📖 Recipe

overhead view of finished chicken stock in plastic container with spoon to taste

How to make quick chicken stock

An easy and quick yet nontraditional method to make rich flavorful chicken stock in about 1 hour.
5 from 4 votes
Author: Marie
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting time 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 8 cups
Calories 54 kcal

Equipment

  • meat cleaver
  • fine mesh strainer
  • cutting board
  • large dutch oven or other pot with thick bottom

Ingredients
 

  • 3 pounds chicken drumsticks may use chicken backs or wings instead; cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 8 cups water

Instructions
 

  • Cut chicken drumsticks with meat cleaver (into 2 inch pieces); this step facilitates the release of the bone marrow into the stock giving you a rich and nutritious stock (if you don't have a meat cleaver you can skip this step but you won't get the maximum amount of collagen)
  • Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large pot over medium high heat and then lightly brown chicken on both sides (do this in two batches if necessary). When lightly browned, remove chicken from pot and place in a large bowl.
  • Next, place onion in the now-empty pot and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. There should be fat in the pot from cooking the chicken, but you can add 1 tablespoon of oil if needed
  • Return chicken to the pot with the onions along with any juices that may be in the bowl, turn heat to low, and cover pot. Simmer on low for 20 minutes to allow chicken to release its juices.
  • After simmering, add water, salt, and bay leaves to the pot and then bring to a boil. Then immediately turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cover the pot to prevent evaporation.
  • Optional: if you would like to add chicken breast meat to your stock, add it now.
  • After 20 minutes of gentile simmering, strain the stock carefully through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Do you this is two batches if necessary or remove the large pieces of meat to make this easier.
  • Let the stock sit for about 10 minutes and then skim fat from top. I like to refrigerate overnight which produces a fat cap that can very easily be skimmed off.

Notes

  • Use small chicken parts: wings or drumsticks are good.
  • Do not boil the stock; instead, use a gentle simmer to extract flavor and avoid emulsification of fat. 
  • Make sure to brown the chicken – don’t skip this step! It’s an important part of building the flavor. 
  • If you don’t have a fine mesh strainer to strain the broth after it is finished, you may use cheesecloth to strain the stock. 
  • To skim the fat, let the stock rest after cooking for at least 10 minutes or ideally overnight in the refrigerator to develop the fat cap. 
  • This stock can be stored for up to 4 days refrigerated or up to 1 month in the freezer.

Nutrition

Calories: 54kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 582mgPotassium: 27mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 4mgIron: 1mg
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Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, Cooking School Cookbook (one of my favorites)

2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Chicken legs are the way to go since wings and even chicken feet are costing more per pound than drumsticks. I essentially poach the legs until the meat is just done, remove the meat after cooling, place the bones and skin back into the liquid and continue simmering as desired. One can roast the bones and skin at this point to add additional flavor to the stock. The chicken meat can be added later to whatever recipe you are making or just save for chicken sandwiches/salad.

    Thanks for sharing!!!!

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