Slow Cooker Chicken Stock

Slow Cooker Chicken Stock is the easiest way to make homemade chicken stock with just a few simple ingredients!

What’s better than homemade chicken stock?  Slow Cooker Chicken Stock obviously!  I’ve been an advocate for homemade stock ever since I went to cooking school and discovered how it elevates any dish.

The gelatin from the bones is gives homemade chicken stock a silky mouthfeel, which makes all the difference in the world.  

It’s also more flavorful and even more fresh, which will take your soups, stews, and sauces to the next level.

I’ve got an Homemade Turkey Stock recipe that’s made on the stove top, so you can always check that out if you’d rather have your stock ready faster.

This Slow Cooker Homemade Chicken Stock is the hands-off approach and cannot be easier.  

Chicken stock ingredients

There are only a few simple ingredients in homemade chicken stock.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Chicken parts
• Onion
• Carrot
• Celery
• Bouquet garni, which consists of a bay leaf, 6 peppercorns, a sprig of parsley and a sprig of thyme

How to make a bouquet garni

The purpose of a bouquet garni is to add flavor to soups, stews, and in this case stock.  Add it to anything you’re cooking to add a nice depth of flavor.  

You can wrap it in cheesecloth as shown below, or just dump the ingredients in and strain it out after cooking.

How to make Slow Cooker Chicken Stock

• Place all ingredients in the slow cooker
• From there, add enough water to cover the ingredients by about 2″.

• Cover and cook on low for 8 hours to 24 hours, skimming the scum occasionally.  The longer you cook your stock, the more flavor it will have!
• When it’s done, let it cool completely and skim the layer of fat off of the top.  
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve and chill or portion and freeze!

You’ll notice a huge difference when you use homemade stock, and since this method is so easy, you may never want to buy it again. 🙂

Recipe Notes:

• You can use a rotisserie chicken carcass or bones from cooked chicken to make a dark chicken stock, which is even more flavorful.  If you’re not ready to make stock right away, simply freeze the carcass/bones in a zip top bag.
• You may notice that my chicken parts look icy, and that’s because I’ve been buying whole chickens, breaking them down, and reserving the backbones and various other parts for stock.  I place them in zip top bags and freeze them until I’m ready to use them, which makes things really convenient for me.
• Any chicken parts will do, but be aware that if you use wings or other parts with the skin on, you should skim the scum from the top more often.  Even with skimming, there’s a good chance that the stock will become cloudy as the fat will emulsify with the stock.  If your stock does become cloudy, don’t worry — it will still taste great!
• If your sieve isn’t catching all the particles from your stock, line it with a double layer of cheesecloth.
• Turkey carcass/bones may be swapped for the chicken!

Ways to use homemade chicken stock:

• Avgolemono Soup
• Chicken Noodle Soup by Taste of Home
• Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Slow Cooker Chicken Stock

Servings: 8 cups

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 8 hrs

Additional Time: 0 mins

Total Time: 8 hrs 10 mins

Slow Cooker Homemade Chicken Stock is the dump it and forget it way to make homemade chicken stock.  It's so easy and so much better than store bought! {GF, Paleo}

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

0

reviews
Leave a Review »

Ingredients

Chicken parts:

• Cooked or raw chicken carcass wings, necks, backbone, and giblets (do not use liver!), trimmed of excess fat, and cut into smaller pieces if necessary*

Aromatics:

• 1 onion peeled and quartered
• 1 large carrot cut into large pieces
• 1 large stalk celery cut into large pieces

Bouquet Garni:

• 1 small piece of cheesecloth or the dark green top of a leek
• kitchen twine
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 peppercorns

Equipment

• 6 Quart Crock Pot

Instructions 

• Place the chicken parts and aromatics into a slow cooker and fill with water until it covers the mixture by about 2". Set aside.
• Place the sprigs of thyme and parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns on the cheesecloth or leek top, and tie together with a piece of kitchen twine. Place in the slow cooker with the chicken parts and aromatics.
• Cover and cook on low for 8-24 hours, skimming the scum from the top occasionally. Strain into a large bowl using a fine mesh strainer and cool completely.
• Store in the refrigerator or portion and freeze in zip top bags or ice cube trays.

Notes

• You can use a rotisserie chicken carcass or bones from cooked chicken to make a dark chicken stock, which is even more flavorful.  If you're not ready to make stock right away, simply freeze the carcass/bones in a zip top bag.
• You may notice that my chicken parts look icy, and that's because I've been buying whole chickens, breaking them down, and reserving the backbones and various other parts for stock.  I place them in zip top bags and freeze them until I'm ready to use them, which makes things really convenient for me.
• Any chicken parts will do, but be aware that if you use wings or other parts with the skin on, you should skim the scum from the top more often.  Even with skimming, there's a good chance that the stock will become cloudy as the fat will emulsify with the stock.  If your stock does become cloudy, don't worry -- it will still taste great!
• If your sieve isn't catching all the particles from your stock, line it with a double layer of cheesecloth.
• Turkey carcass/bones may be swapped for the chicken!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup, Calories: 10kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Protein: 0.3g, Fat: 0.04g, Saturated Fat: 0.01g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.003g, Sodium: 7mg, Potassium: 53mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 1524IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 7mg, Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Soups

Cuisine: American

Author: Marcie

Keyword: homemade chicken stock, slow cooker chicken stock

All recipes and images © Flavor the Moments.

Did you try this recipe?Be sure to tag @flavorthemoments with the hashtag #flavorthemoments on Instagram so I can see what you made!

Sharing is caring!