Homemade Chicken Stock Made With Kitchen Scraps

This easy homemade chicken stock uses ingredients that you would likely throw out. With this recipe, you will be saving money, reduce your kitchen waste, and make a delicious and super nutrient-dense stock to use in soups or your favorite recipes. This recipe can be used for turkey, so it is a great way to use your

I love cooking for my family.  It’s one of my favorite ways to unwind.

I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I place a meal on the table with ingredients fresh from my garden, and meat from a bird that we raised in our backyard from the time it was a cute little nugget. (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

No kitchen waste here

There is something so gratifying about creating a meal completely from beginning to end, and when you put so much time and love into growing fresh ingredients, you want to be sure that every part is utilized. My favorite way to do this is to first make my recipe for roasted whole chicken and vegetables. This dish is a one-pot meal that roasts a whole chicken and fresh vegetables. This was our second year raising meat chickens, and I love to cook a whole bird, and then make more meals from it. We ate on the roasted chicken for a couple of days, then I picked the rest of the chicken meat off the bone and used it to make a delicious creamy chicken & potato soup (recipe coming soon!).

So, I was left with the carcass and the vegetable scraps which I had saved from the original meal. I had onion ends, carrot peels, kale stalks, potato peels, & rosemary stems.  I added salt and some dried herbs from the garden as well.  You can use just about anything that will infuse the stock with flavor.  I love that I can use my kitchen scrapes from one meal and then make something totally different and nutrient dense! Plus, the flavor of a good homemade stock always beats the flavor of anything from the grocery store. 

How to save kitchen scraps

If I am making my roasted chicken recipe, I will plan ahead and save all of the scraps in a large bowl in the fridge, just as I outlined above. Another great way to reduce kitchen waste is to start saving your veggie scraps in freezer bags in the freezer. You can start collecting the veggies, and once you have enough to fill up your pot, you can make a new batch with the frozen scraps! You can also make your own vegetable broth this way too. Follow the instructions and just leave out the bones or carcass, add all of your scraps to a large stock pot, and simmer. 

Vegetable scraps to save

The best part of this homemade chicken stock is that you can get creative with the veggies that you add, or just use what you have on hand! Feel free to play around with different combinations to get a flavor you enjoy most! 

• Onions- You can save onion skins or the ends of the onions that are cut off when chopping. Any type of onion can be used! However, red onion may tint the broth, so just keep that in mind!
• Garlic- You can save garlic skins or any ends trimmed off. 
• Herbs – You can add any herbs you’d like! This is a really great way to use herb stems such as the parsley stems that would normally be cut off. You can use fresh herbs, or dried herbs from your kitchen cabinet like bay leaves.
• Carrots – You can use the carrot skins or the carrot tops that are trimmed off. 
• Celery – Celery leaves, ends, or trimmings can all be used in this stock recipe. 
• Mushrooms – Mushroom stems or any part of the mushroom
• Tomatoes – Skins, flesh or pulp from tomatoes can be used 
• Corn cobs – Adding the cobs to stock is a great way to use something that would otherwise be thrown out
• Asparagus- the woody ends trimmed off of asparagus are not great to eat but add a lot of nutrients to a stock!
  Kale stems – Or chard stems work great too!
• More scraps and vegetable peels to use: leek, parsnip, green onions, potatoes, green beans, squash, bell peppers

Vegetable scraps to avoid

There are some kitchen scraps that aren’t the best to add because the flavor is too powerful or will create a bitter flavor. Some examples include Brussels sprouts, broccoli stems, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, artichokes, or beets. It is best to use these scraps in your compost or even give them to your chickens!

Ingredients for Homemade Chicken Stock with Vegetable Scraps

• Chicken bones – You can use a whole chicken carcass or other chicken bones or chicken scraps. Make your own roasted chicken or use the carcass from a rotisserie chicken. You can also use turkey bones, so this is the perfect way to use up your turkey carcass from Thanksgiving!
• Vegetable scraps – Use any scraps you’d like! (Refer to the list above for which veggies are best to use!) 
• Apple Cider Vinegar – Adding in the vinegar helps draw out all of the minerals in the bones and vegetables. 
• Water- I don’t measure the exact amount of water, I just fill up the pot about two inches from the top. 
• Optional: You can add salt to the broth to taste. You can either do it while cooking the stock or just wait to add salt when you use the stock for recipes.  

How to make Homemade Stock

I tossed all of this in my trusty Dutch oven and filled it with water until it was about 2 inches from the top. (You can also use a large pot if you do not have a Dutch oven.) Then added about 1/2 cup of vinegar to draw out all of those wonderful, healthy minerals!  

I brought this concoction to a boil, then turned it down on a low & let it simmer for 24 hours.  

Once it cooled, I poured it through a fine-mesh strainer it to get all of the big chunks out & was left with beautiful, mineral rich stock. I then poured the stock into ziploc bags & stuck them in the freezer. I pull them out anytime I want to make soup or cook rice.  It’s even great by itself for an extra healthy kick when I’m feeling a little under the weather. There’s nothing better than having a freezer filled with homemade stock when you are sick! I love to sip on it plain or make chicken noodle soup. If you plan on using it right away, store the stock in large glass jars and use it within 3-4 days. 

Can this recipe be made in a slow cooker?

If you do not want to leave a pot on the stove for 24 hours, you can also make it in your crock pot! Just add all the ingredients in and set it to low and leave it to simmer for 24 hours before straining. 

Save those scraps

My favorite part about making my own stock is that I am using ingredients that most people throw away! Why not get the most out of your meal? This recipe is a wonderful way to save money and reduce your food waste!

Do I have you convinced to save your scraps yet?