Homemade Chicken Stock, Clear and Flavorful
Homemade chicken stock with chicken and vegetables: clear, flavorful, and natural. The base for risottos, soups, broths, and tortellini in brodo.
Want chicken stock that’s clear and flavorful, natural and free of bouillon cubes, to use as a base for risottos, soups, and tortellini? Then follow this recipe: a few ingredients, cold water, and a slow, quiet simmer.
Chicken stock is one of the most precious bases in the kitchen: it flavors risottos, warms soups, cooks tortellini, and becomes a cure when you need one. It’s made with few ingredients and asks only for patience.
It has at least three real advantages: it’s budget-friendly and uses even carcasses and humbler cuts of chicken, it’s far healthier and tastier than a bouillon cube, and it keeps and freezes easily.
The most important tip involves two moves: start from cold water and cook at a very gentle simmer, barely bubbling. A hard boil emulsifies the fat and makes the stock cloudy, while slow cooking keeps it clear and clean. And skim the surface in the first few minutes.
To degrease it effortlessly, chill it in the fridge: the fat solidifies on top and you just lift it off with a spoon. Then freeze it in ready-to-use portions.
Ready? Let’s make chicken stock.
Steps
- Put the chicken and the cleaned, roughly chopped vegetables into a large pot, with the peppercorns.
- Cover with the cold water: starting from cold helps extract the flavor and gives a clearer stock.
- Bring slowly to a boil and skim off the foam that rises to the surface in the first few minutes with a slotted spoon.
- Lower the heat and cook at a very gentle simmer, barely bubbling, for about 2 hours. Salt only toward the end.
- Strain the stock through a fine sieve. To degrease it, let it cool and remove the layer of fat that rises to the surface.
Helpful tips
Always start from cold water and cook at a very gentle simmer: a hard boil makes the stock cloudy.
Skim the surface in the first minutes: it removes impurities and gives a clearer stock.
To degrease easily, chill it in the fridge: the fat solidifies on top and lifts off with a spoon.
Freeze it in portions or ice cube trays. It's the base of risottos, soups, broths, and tortellini in brodo.
Average nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 30 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 1.0 g
- Sugars
- 1.0 g
- Protein
- 4.0 g
- Fat
- 1.0 g
- Saturated fat
- 0.0 g
- Fiber
- 0.0 g
- Sodium
- 250 mg
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