The Alex and Apple Show: Homemade Chicken Stock to Chicken Soup

Chicken Stock is one of the easiest things to make....you really can't mess it up and it is VERY easy to customize.

Basic Chicken Stock:
- Chicken(bones, meat, whole chicken, old rooster, or any combination)
- Veggies
- Water
- Time

For this batch I knew I wanted to make chicken soup so I used some chicken breasts I found on sale. I keep a large ziplock bag in the freezer and drop extra bones and extra "pieces" when I cook other chicken dishes and then drop them in for stock. This is also a great recipe for an older rooster or hen from the yard.

For the veggies I use onions, carrots, and celery. I wash the veggies but you want to leave all the roots, leaves, etc on them for flavor.

I'm also a garlic lover so I like to drop in a few cloves, some bay leaves, parsley, peppercorns, and anything else that sounds good.

Ooooh it looks like I threw some tyme in there too!

Cover everything with water and bring it to a boil.

Cover with a lid and then let it simmer/cook low for at least 4 hours...the longer you cook the more flavor. This is easily left cooking all night.

I pulled the chicken out about 6 hours later. Be careful because it will be falling off the bone.

Now its time to strain the stock.

Then I ladle the stock in and drain it into another pot. Yes the left overs look gross but the chickens LOVE it or you can throw it in the compost pile...don't waste it.

If you want a very strong congealed stock then bring the strained stock to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes to reduce the excess water out of it.

Pour stock into storage containers and let cool before putting in the fridge or freezer.

Since I was making chicken soup I went ahead and rinse out my pot and chopped up some more onions, carrots, and celery into bite sized soup pieces. By the way....I LOVE my butcher block!

The veggies go in the pot

I add enough chicken stock to cover the veggies and bring it to a simmer. Then I start shredding the cooked chicken into the soup. I threw in some ground parsley and pepper, then salted to taste.

After everything is all in I cover and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. I like my veggies well cooked. While the soup was cooking I threw some biscuits in the oven.