This simple homemade chicken stock is a classic recipe and the perfect base for a wide variety of soups and stews, and a simple kitchen skill that anyone can master.

 

When I first began making my own soups I always opted for the convenience of store-bought broth or stock cubes. I’m all about keeping things simple and opening a container always seemed so much easier than making it myself. I mean, you have to put things in a pot, add water and then boil it – it was just too much work! (Voice of heavy sarcasm.) But the more I read and researched about stock and broth, the more I realized I was doing myself a disservice by not making my own.

You see, as with most pre-packaged goods, the ‘natural’ store-bought versions are not really natural at all. Most of them either contain added preservatives, added sugars and salts, and who knows what else! Plus, as any good cook knows, a good stock is the key to any recipe and the flavour in the boxed variety is just not there.

What most people don’t realize, or have forgotten, is that bone broths have been used as nutritional and healing remedies for years, and the store-bought versions just don’t make the cut. When properly prepared, bone broths are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals present in the bones, cartilage, marrow, and vegetables as electrolytes. Homemade stocks are rich in minerals that the body can easily absorb, including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, and many trace minerals. So, the old adage of chicken soup when you are sick is actually all it is cracked up to be, but only when you make the real deal.

What is the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth?

One small area of confusion is the difference between broth and stock. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, it can be explained like this.

The words ‘broth’ and ‘stock’ are used interchangeably in many cookbooks, and for good reason, because the differences are hair-splittingly small. In general usage, ‘broth’ is a home-cooked version, while ‘stock’ is the province of professional kitchens. Broth is made from spits and spots of leftovers, and its nature changes according to what’s on hand. Stocks follow a prescribed formula. There is yet another distinction. The meaty element of stock is dominantly bone, while broth is typically made with meat. The difference changes the finished product in two significant ways. The large proportion of bones gives stock a more gelatinous texture and greater clarity. Broths tend to be thinner and cloudier.

How to Make Chicken Stock

The good news is that both are incredibly easy, and dirt cheap to prepare! If you cook a whole chicken or turkey, you can use the whole carcass to make stock, or simply collect bones and veggies scraps as you go and freeze them in a container until you are ready to cook.