Cook Well for Less

Simple Chicken Stock

Don’t throw away your roast chicken carcass. With an onion, a carrot and a little time, you can turn it into delicious homemade chicken stock for soup, gravy, risotto, casseroles and sauces. The best time to make it is straight after you’ve picked the chicken: the carcass is already there, the kitchen is already in use and getting the stock started only takes a few minutes.

Prep
5 mins
Cook
120 mins
Total
125 mins
Difficulty
easy
Makes
approximately 1–1.5 litres
Illustration: Clear amber homemade chicken stock in a glass jug and storage jar
Cook Well for Less · AI-generated pencil and watercolour illustration

Get ready

Ingredients

  • 1 picked roast chicken carcassbroken into a few pieces if needed to fit the pan · One picked chicken carcass is the fixed batch input.
  • 1 medium onionquartered
  • 1 medium carrotroughly chopped

Optional extras

  • 1 celery stickroughly chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 black peppercorns
Equipment
  • large saucepan
  • chopping board
  • knife
  • sieve
  • heatproof container or bowl

Cook

Method

  1. Fill the pan

    Put the picked chicken carcass into a large saucepan. Add the onion and carrot, plus the celery, bay leaf or peppercorns if you are using them.

  2. Add water

    Add enough cold water to just cover the carcass and vegetables. Don’t fill the pan with more water than you need, because too much will make the stock weaker.

  3. Bring to the boil

    Bring the pan to the boil, then turn the heat right down so the stock is gently simmering.

  4. Simmer

    Simmer gently for about 1½–2 hours. Check it occasionally and add a little more water if needed so it does not boil dry.

  5. Strain

    Carefully pour the stock through a sieve into a clean heatproof container. Discard the bones and cooked-out vegetables.

  6. Cool and store

    Cool the stock and refrigerate it promptly. It may turn jelly-like when cold; that is normal and it will become liquid again when heated.

For later

Storing and using leftovers

Storage

Let the stock cool, dividing it between smaller containers if needed, then get it into the fridge within 2 hours. Keep refrigerated and use within 48 hours.

Freezing

Freeze any stock you won’t use within 48 hours. Smaller portions are handy because you can defrost only what you need. Defrost in the fridge, or use the microwave if you’re going to use it straight away. When reheating, heat until steaming hot throughout and only reheat once.

Ideas

Use the stock for chicken soup, gravy, risotto, casseroles, sauces, cooking rice or anywhere you would normally use chicken stock.

Community

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