42 Cups of Chicken Stock for $0

Chefs will give me a bunch of shit for this but I make my own stocks by saving peels, stalks, leaves, etc. from a bunch of my veggies.

Before I explain, let me tell you how a traditional stock is made. You buy a bunch of fresh carrots, onions, celery, and garlic and peel it then roughly chop it. Then you boil it in a shitload of salty water with a bunch of chicken bones and/or meat. What you should get is a beautiful, relatively clear stock with a clean, beautiful flavor.

That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Then there’s my chaotic approach…

Whenever I pull my produce out of the fridge for meal prep, I save one or two of the produce bags and basically use them as my vegetable garbage bag. I still toss quite a bit, but all my carrot ends, celery ends, onion butts, little bullshit garlic cloves, broccoli stalks, herbs, etc. go into those bags, then I tie a knot in the bag and throw it in the freezer. Once I have a bunch of bags, I use them to make stock.

Additionally, I buy whole chickens and save the carcases in the freezer too because they’re badass for stock.

There are a fair number of veg you shouldn’t use because they’ll make your stock taste like shit. Here’s my comprehensive list of stock no-no’s:

  • Tomatoes

  • tomatillos

  • any kind of pepper

  • cabbage

  • brussels sprouts

  • cucumbers

  • avocados

Here’s items that are big maybe’s and definitely depend on your sense of taste:

  • green beans

  • broccoli stalks

  • cauliflower stalks

  • potato skins

  • peas (I use freezer-burned ones)

  • squash

Then there’s the list of items that you should DEFINITELY use for stock:

  • carrots

  • onions (not the papery skin)

  • garlic (not the papery skin)

  • celery

  • leeks

  • corn cobs (not husks)

  • parsnips

  • shallots

  • every kind of herb

  • kale

  • spinach

When I have a bunch of bags in my fridge, I throw them all in my biggest pot and fill it with water and salt then let it simmer for several hours before straining the shit out of it and portioning it out into containers.

Honestly, it’s so easy and tastes way better than store-bought stock. I also love that you can control the flavor by changing what you put into it - it’s fun to experiment with.

So there you have it - how to make stock for $0. We pay for vegetables by the pound, so getting more use out of them is pretty damn dope.

Emra Nation