How to Make Chicken Stock from Whole Chicken Carcass

Learn how to stretch your whole chicken further by cooking the leftover bones and meat to create a wonderful, flavorful chicken stock.

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We raise our own chickens here on our homestead. It is a really amazing feeling to be able to raise your own meat, knowing exactly how it was raised and what went into the finished product.

After harvesting chickens, we’re left with whole chickens to work with. Of course, they could be parted out, but we always do whole chickens, and I have a reason why! One of the best parts of cooking a whole chicken is the amount of meals it can provide for your family. With one whole chicken, I am able to feed our family at least three different meals.

On night one, we usually roast a whole chicken and eat that roast chicken as our main meat. After dinner on that first night, I shred the rest of the chicken remaining, and will use that on night 2 for our family’s meal (usually in another form, such as chicken fajitas, chicken noodle soup, garlic chicken pizza, chicken and rice casserole, etc.). Once that task is done, I take the remaining bones and meat left on the carcass and make chicken stock.

Table of Contents

• Stretch Your Dollar Further with Chicken Stock
• Ingredients for Chicken Stock
• Tools for Making Chicken Stock
• How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock
• Printable Recipe
• More to Check Out
• Pin this Post!

Stretch Your Dollar Further with Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is a wonderful way to utilize the leftover meat and bones, stretching your dollar further. While many people often throw the chicken carcass away, there is another great use for that leftover meat and bones that can actually serve as a base for another whole meal for your family. In uncertain times (and even certain ones!), it’s always a good feeling to know you’re getting the most out of your money, and chicken stock offers a way to do that. Plus, creating the chicken stock is actually a really simple, easy, and hands-off process that leaves you with a healthy, delicious product.

Ingredients for Chicken Stock

All you really need for creating chicken stock is a chicken carcass (with meat already mostly removed or not), salt and pepper to taste, and water. That’s literally it!

When we are ready to use the carcass for chicken stock, I’ve already picked off most of the meat that I could from the chicken. Of course, there’s always going to be a few bits of meat that I can’t get off and remains on the carcass. And then you have the bones, which also release flavor.

If you want, you can also add in vegetables (and even vegetable scraps) to make the chicken stock. Carrots, onions, and celery are all options of vegetables that add great flavor to your homemade chicken stock. But they’re not necessary. Chicken stock can be made deliciously without those ingredients, too.

Tools for Making Chicken Stock

There aren’t many tools required for making this easy chicken stock! All you’ll need is:

• Crock Pot
• Strainer (Fine mesh work wonderfully)
• Quart Jars

How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock

To make your own homemade chicken stock (sometimes called chicken bone broth) at home, there are only a few simple steps:

1. Place your chicken carcass into the crockpot. If you’re adding any vegetables, add those now as well.
2. Fill your crockpot with water until chicken carcass is mostly covered.
3. Place your crockpot on low and allow the carcass and water to cook together for 8-12 hours.
4. Strain your chicken stock into a large bowl.
5. Transfer your chicken stock from the large bowl into quart jars, making sure to leave at least 2 inches of air space.
6. Freeze chicken stock until you’re ready to use it.

That’s it! The entire process is pretty fast, easy, and creates a wonderful base for soups, stews, and casseroles. Before you throw out that leftover chicken carcass, be sure to make the most of your bird by creating a delicious chicken stock.

Printable Recipe

More to Check Out

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• HOW TO START SOURDOUGH STARTER FROM SCRATCH (IT’S JUST FLOUR AND WATER!)
• HOMESTEADING SKILLS THAT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY
• CAN I MAKE A PROFIT OWNING CHICKENS?
• THIS IS WHAT AND HOW MUCH TO PLANT FOR A SELF-SUFFICIENT GARDEN THIS YEAR
• WHY IS SIMPLE LIVING SO HARD IN TODAY’S MODERN WORLD?
• TOP 5 BEST CHICKEN BREEDS FOR EGG PRODUCTION

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