I think of homemade chicken stock as liquid gold. Nothing available on the market has the depth of flavor or richness of homemade stock. It gives anything you make with it such great body and aroma. Just having a big pot of chicken stock simmering away on my stove makes me feel good.
Recipe courtesy of MODERN COMFORT FOOD: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Copyright © 2020 by Ina Garten. Photography by Quentin Bacon. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Note: Pack the stock in containers and refrigerate for up to a few days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Ina Garten’s Chicken Soup Recipe
A classic, easy chicken stock recipe that will enhance your cooking.
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 5-6 quarts
Ingredients
- 3 (5 lb) roasting chickens
- 3 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
- 6 carrots, unpeeled and halved
- 4 celery stalks with leaves, cut into thirds
- 4 parsnips, unpeeled and cut in half
- 20 sprigs fresh parsley
- 15 sprigs fresh thyme
- 20 sprigs fresh dill
- 1 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in half crosswise
- 2 Tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp whole black peppercorns
Instructions
- Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, salt and peppercorns in a 16- to 20-quart stockpot. Add 7 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 4 hours.
- Allow the stock to cool for 30 minutes. Strain the contents of the pot through a colander into a large bowl and discard the solids. Pack the stock in containers and refrigerate for up to a few days or freeze for up to 6 months.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Soup
- Cuisine: Ashkenazi
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What do you mean by discard the solids? All those vegetables should be thrown away? Or can they be eaten as is? Or can they be emulsified in a blender added stock for a kind soup?
The theory behind stock is that the long slow cooking pulls all the flavor and nutrients out of everything in the pot. Place the birds in a cheesecloth bag to save the them for salad, etc. Pureeing the veg for gravy is always an option, too. However, if you did the stock correctly, nothing will have any flavor left.
If you are just making chicken stock for future use, then puree everything in a blender. If you are eating soup, there is nothing better than the boiled chicken, veggies and matza balls. I earned a hard lesson the first time I made chicken soup. I added in all of the green veggies and green spices at the beginning of the cooking process. Guess what I ended up with? Yes, green soup. Shades of Bridget Jones. In the 50 plus years I’ve been making chicken soup, I only add parsley as a garnish to my clear broth.
I usually use the vegetables separately or add them to the broth later. If you keep them together without straining the broth becomes cloudy. It just means keep them out of the broth. Cool before refrigeration.
Just chuck it all away. You have cooked all the goodness out of the chicken and veg. I then add fresh carrots and parsley to the stock when I serve the soup.
Plus matzo balls or vermicelli/ Or both.
My thoughts exactly!
After cooking for 4 hours, all of the chicken and the vegetables will be tasteless mush. The stock should be quite good.
That’s what I am wondering!
Did I read this correct 3 5 lb chickens?
Small chickens are very hard to find.
Where can I order a 3 lb chicke
Three 5 LB chickens is what it clearly states
Go to your butcher and ask for 3 lb. fryers. Roasters are 4-5 lbs., so too big. you want the three smaller birds to get all the collagen out of the skin and bones.
I have been making chicken soup for decades, and I would always leave all the vegetables in. After all, they are roughage, and we all need fibre. Just discard the herbs, if you have left them whole. If you are making stock, then you do discard the solids in the pan and boil to reduce the liquid if you are freezing it, so it takes up less room in the freezer. This recipe is for 5-6 quarts, though, so, unless you are feeding the entire synagogue, I imagine you could take some liquid out to make stock and leave the solids in situ as an enjoyable part of the soup.
This is Chicken Stock, not soup. Its a misleading title. You can use this stock to make chicken soup later…. or as a base for almost any soup.
“Discard,” in this case, means “put aside to eat.” We usually “discard” a bit of broth and have the solids as a hearty soup, but you can use them as is, too.
Its stock. not soup. People always discard the solids in Stock or feed it to the dog. It tastes of nothing… all the flavour is in the stock.
I keep all the solids and eat them with matzo balls…
In our family, we never boil dill, especially stocks. They give bitterness to the soup and the dill aroma would be greatly diminished.
We add fresh chopped dill fronds directly to the plates before eating.
In our family, we never boil dill, especially stocks. They give bitterness to the soup and the dill aroma would be greatly diminished.
We add fresh chopped dill fronds directly to the plates before eating.
Three 5 LB chickens is what it states
How much is a quart of water?
32 fluid ounces or 4 cups.
This would be better with chicken necks and feet as my Bubbi would use