Homemade chicken stock recipe

A perfect homemade chicken stock is clear, transparent and light toned and has fresh chicken aroma. It taste and smells good. There are few small step for best way to make a perfect healthy chicken stock. DIY chicken is healthier for it has low sodium, no monosodium glumate and no harmful preservatives.

Chicken stock has more of chicken flavor while chicken broth refers to more flavorsome chicken stock with herbs and other flavors and chicken broth can also be eaten as soup by itself. You can also check my sour cucumber soup with orange juice and toasted almond soup with cream.

You can always make chicken stock using chicken carcass / bones. Making chicken stock with chicken carcass /bones is easy and quick too as you don’t have to remove meat from chicken so one step less. I have also included instructions if using fleshy chicken for stock.

How to make a healthy chicken stock at home with chicken bones

Author: Mariam Sodawater

Recipe time:4 hour|Prep time:20 minutes|Cooking time: 3:40 min| Recipe type: DIY foods, healthy foods,condiments|Cuisine: non vegetarian

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken bones or carcass or chicken pieces
• 8 cups water
• 1/2 tbs garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tbs ginger, roughly chopped
• 1/2 small onion, sliced
• 6-8 pepper corn
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbs Vinegar

Other variations

• herb of your choice( like parsely, cilantro), optional
• Vegetables of your choice ( carrot, peas, bottle gourd, tomato, potato), optional

Method:

1. If chicken is frozen thaw overnight in fridge.See notes 3
2. Soak chicken or chicken bones or carcass in salt and vinegar water for at least 20 minutes.
3. After soaking chicken, discard the water and wash the chicken removing all fat layers and veins.
4. Now in a stainless steel skillet add onion, garlic, ginger, salt,pepper, herbs, vegetables and water. Bring it to boil.
5. Now add chicken. Cover it and cook on a low flame for 4 hour or until your stock has reduced to 4 cups.
6. If using fleshy chicken for making stock, after 45 minutes of cooking when chicken meat is soft, remove chicken from stock. Let the chicken cool and remove meat from the chicken.Transfer the bones of chicken back to stock and resume cooking.
7. Alternately you can also cook in pressure cooker to speed up the process.
8. When chicken stock is ready strain the stock, discarding all solid matters. Check notes or storage.

Step by step DIY chicken stock recipe.

In a large bowl take chicken and fill the bowl fully  with water. Add vinegar and soak chicken for 20 minute. After 20 minutes, wash the chicken thoroughly, removing fat layers and blood veins.

Put onion, garlic, ginger, water and salt in a stainless steel vessel and bring it to boil.

Add washed chicken to the vessel.Cover and cook your stock on low flame for 4 hours.

Strain the soup with the strainer.

Your chicken stock is ready.

Notes.

1. Always use stainless steel pot for soup as some metals will give darker tone to soup.
2. Soaking in vinegar helps washing as well as removes blood of chicken that can also give dark color to stock.
3. Always thaw your chicken in fridge overnight for making chicken stock. This stops slow release of blood while cooking which happens due to quick thawing in hot water bath.
4. This is basic chicken stock that can be used in any recipe without altering the original flavors of recipe.

Storage:

1. Add the chicken stock to ice trays and freeze. Once fully frozen put frozen cubes in zip lock plastic bags. Use as required.
2. You can also divide stock in two parts and store in two zip lock plastic bags. This method is good if storing stock to make soup.
3. The stock stays good in fridge for 3 days. Discard the stock if tastes sour or smells bad.