Description
Homemade rotisserie chicken stock brings rich, deep flavors from leftover roasted chicken bones simmered with aromatic vegetables and herbs. Straining this liquid gold creates a nutrient-packed base for soups, risottos, and countless culinary delights you’ll savor.
Ingredients
Scale
Protein:
- 1 rotisserie chicken carcass (including leftover meat, bones & skin)
Vegetables:
- 1 onion (halved or quartered, peel on)
- 2 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
- 2 carrots (unpeeled, roughly chopped)
- 2 celery stalks (with leaves, roughly chopped)
Seasonings and Liquids:
- 12 bay leaves
- 1 sprig fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, or parsley or dried herbs)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 0.5 teaspoons ground black pepper (or whole peppercorns)
- 4 quarts (15.14 liters) water (or enough to cover)
- 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon (Roasted Chicken Flavor, optional)
Instructions
- Position the picked-over rotisserie chicken frame in a capacious cooking vessel, ensuring all remaining meat fragments are minimally disturbed.
- Layer aromatic vegetables including quartered onions, crushed garlic cloves, roughly chopped carrots, and celery stalks around the chicken skeleton.
- Sprinkle fragrant herbs like thyme and parsley across the ingredients, complementing them with cracked peppercorns and two bay leaves.
- Gently cascade cool water into the pot, submerging all ingredients completely, creating a liquid depth that exceeds the solid components by approximately two inches.
- Position the vessel on medium-high heat, allowing the liquid to transition from a tranquil state to a gentle, rolling bubble without aggressive turbulence.
- Immediately reduce thermal intensity to a minimal setting, creating a soft, languid simmer where occasional bubbles emerge but do not violently rupture the surface.
- Allow the mixture to extract flavors slowly, maintaining a consistent low temperature for four to six hours, periodically skimming any accumulated foam from the surface.
- Remove the pot from heat source, permitting the liquid to cool and settle for approximately 30 minutes.
- Position a large mesh strainer over a clean container, carefully pouring the entire contents to capture solid ingredients while allowing rich, golden liquid to pass through.
- Execute a secondary filtration using a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth to ensure a crystal-clear, impurity-free stock.
- Transfer the completed stock into sterilized glass containers, leaving sufficient headspace for potential expansion if freezing.
- Refrigerate the stock for immediate usage within four days or freeze for extended preservation up to three months.
Notes
- Boost flavor by roasting vegetables before adding to the stock, which caramelizes their natural sugars and intensifies the overall taste profile.
- Skim off any foam that develops during initial simmering to ensure a clearer, cleaner-tasting stock without cloudiness or impurities.
- Customize the stock by experimenting with additional aromatics like fresh ginger, lemongrass, or whole peppercorns for unique international-inspired variations.
- Reduce sodium intake by omitting added salt and letting natural chicken and vegetable flavors develop during the long, slow simmering process.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 25
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg