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
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
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
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
12 Comments on “Slow Cooker Chicken Stock”
I love this post, Marcie! I’ve always wanted to make my own stock, but never really knew where to start. I’m definitely pinning this for the future. And I bet this is so much better than the store bought kind. Looks so easy to make, too!
Thanks Gayle, and this is the easiest way to get started for sure!
Love this, Marcie … and awesome that you can use the slow cooker for it!
Think I’ll be having a go at making some of this stock myself soon 🙂
I hope you give it a try Daniel!
Homemade stock definitely is the best!! I remember making vat after vat of the stuff in school. And your right, once you’ve had homemade stock, you can’t really go back to the store bought variety. I’ve never tried making it in the slow cooker for some reason, so this is genius!! I can’t wait to give it a try, Marcie!! Pinned! Cheers, girlfriend!
We made stock by the truckload every week in school and never used store bought. I’m trying to make my own more often and this slow cooker method will definitely help…it’s just too easy! Thanks Cheyanne! 🙂
homemade is always so much better! 🙂
It really is!
I don’t have a slow cooker, but I so want to buy one after awesome stuff like this. Love the idea of making homemade chicken stock. Lovely share, Marcie. 🙂
Thank you Anu, and you would love a slow cooker!
I JUST finished making this this morning (we roasted a whole chicken for easter so I had the carcass from that). SO GOOD. And SO easy!! And my freezer is now stocked – which always makes me happy! 🙂 Thanks for sharing this Marcie!!
I’m so glad you like this and having a freezer stocked is such a nice feeling right? Thanks for leaving feedback for me Ashley and have a wonderful day! 🙂