Go Back
–+ servings

Chicken Bones & Veggie Scraps Stock

NovelFoodie
It's easy to make stock or broth out of scraps and leftovers! You can use it to make soup or even as a flavor boost when cooking rice or quinoa!
No ratings yet
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 6 People
Calories 40 kcal

Equipment

  • Instant Pot, or large soup pot.
  • strainer I use both a pasta strainer to strain out the large pieces, then a fine strainer later.

Ingredients
  

For the Stock

  • 1 chicken carcass Use as many as you can fit in the stock pot with the rest of the ingredients. They can be frozen or thawed.
  • 1 *Bag of kitchen veggie scraps AKA "veggie garbage" *See notes! (onion, celery, mushrooms or stems, parsley stems, peppers...) They can be frozen or thawed.
  • 1 tbsp Whole peppercorns ~or a good pinch or two of ground pepper
  • 5 Garlic cloves Unpeeled (If garlic is not your thing, just use a few cloves.
  • 2 tbsp White vinegar White wine, rice wine, any white vinegar.
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp Turmeric Optional, omit if you don't like it!
  • ½ tbsp Sugar Optional - white, or turbinado
  • 6 cups water Or enough water to cover, or to the fill line of pressure cooker.
  • 1 tbsp dehydrated onion Optional, adds some extra flavor! Also could use dehydrated garlic or cellery.
  • 2 tbsp Parsley Dehydrated or a bunch of fresh, including the stems.

Instructions
 

For the Stock

  • Add all ingredients to a large soup pot or your pressure cooker/Instant Pot then cover with water. If the veggies or bones are frozen, add some water and simmer until you can push it down into the pot.
    If you are using a pressure cooker, be sure to stay below the max fill line!
  • Place the lid on your pressure cooker and set it to seal. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 1 to 2½ hours. The longer the better if you are using carcasses or bones!
  • After the timer goes off, allow it to naturally release pressure. (If you don't have time, wait five minutes and go ahead carefully with a quick release.)
  • Set the Instant Pot to simmer for thirty minutes over medium heat with the lid off to reduce the broth. The more the broth reduces the more flavor it will have. You may have to set it to simmer a couple of times if your pressure cooker has a simmer time limit.
  • Place a large colander, over a large stock pot or container. When the soup has reduced, carefully ladle the bones and scraps into the colander in batches to strain. Set the garlic cloves aside. Use a large spoon to mash the broth out of the veggies. Continue until the stock pot is lite enough to pick up and pour through a colander into another large soup pot to finish straining. Careful! It will still be hot! Use oven mitts! The colander will be hot too!
  • Clean out your empty pot. Place a large fine strainer over it and strain the broth back into the Instant Pot. This will get out any residual scraps and make the broth a bit clearer.
  • For a more clear broth, pour the stock through a strainer back into the stock pot to build the soup. Taste and adjust for salt, and pepper. If it's a bit watery, continue to simmer until it's reduced and more flavorful.
  • Defat the broth with a defatting cup, or for easy cleanup, use a paper plate and skim off the fat that is collecting at the top.
  • FLAVOR BOOST! If you are a fan of garlic, squeeze the garlic out of the peels and smash it with a fork until smooth. Add it back to the pot and stir. If you don't like a lot of garlic, save it for something else, or just use a couple of cloves!
  • At this point, I like to divide it into several two-cup storage containers. I like the vented-lid two-cup storage containers. I cool them quickly by putting them outside in the winter, or filling the bottom of the sink with cold water and ice and gently placing the containers inside, being careful not to get sink water in the soup.

Notes

Turmeric will turn the soup yellow. I hear it has anti-inflammatory properties, so I add it to all my soups and stocks. It doesn't have a ton of flavor, but you might want to make sure you like it first!
* Veggie Garbage is the scraps, trimmings, and unused veggies that you toss in a freezer bag in the freezer until you make stock. Some of the best "Veggie Garbage" consists of mushroom stems, peppers, carrot peels, onion peels, parsley stems, and the nubs of the onion when you are dicing and get to the end...

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 40kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 405mgPotassium: 179mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 121IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 1mg
Keyword bones, broth, carcass, chicken, leftovers, scraps, stew, stock
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!