What Can I Do With All This Chicken Stock?

November 6, 2015 7:36 AM

We've been roasting a chicken every Sunday and pulling off the meat for sandwiches and salads and stuff throughout the week. We've also been making stock with the mostly clean bones -- unctuous, gelatinous, delicious stock. Quarts and quarts of stock.

The problem is, other than for soup or as a base or add-on for sauces, I don't really know what to do with it. We have a few quarts already and I'd hate to give up making it just because I can't decide how to consume it.

Any ideas?

posted by notyou to Food & Drink (29 answers total)

I drink it like a cup of coffee. Also good to have in the freezer (I freeze it in ~2 cup servings) for when someone gets a cold.
posted by WesterbergHigh at 7:46 AM on November 6, 2015 [5 favorites]

hot wet rice Risotto!

You can also poach stuff in it.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:48 AM on November 6, 2015 [9 favorites]

Risotto.

In cooler weather, braise other meat in it.

Edit: jinx!
posted by jon1270 at 7:48 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

You can pretty much replace any part (or all) of water in any savory recipe with it. Use it when you make rice/quinoa/other grains, add some to beans, use it in casserole bases (quickie "cream of * soup" replacement: make a roux and cook a couple minutes, whisk in equal parts stock and milk or half and half).

If you have holiday dressing/stuffing coming up, make your cornbread with it (and save more for wetting it all down). Tip: I usually make my Thanksgiving and Christmas dressing cornbreads about now, when I'm not as busy, and put it in the freezer already crumbled. Thanks Past Me!)

If you ever cook in the crock pot, a few cubes of stock added to your cooking liquid makes a real difference in the final product.

If you're not freezing some in ice trays to pop into other things in small amounts, start now.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:51 AM on November 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

I reduce mine down to about 1/10 of its original volume and freeze it in ice cube trays, so storing it is less of a dillema.
Risotto, then arancini with the leftovers uses a fair bit, too. I add the concentrated cubes to mashed potatoes, and a little bit en papillote with an otherwise unspectacular piece of meat is a big help.
posted by Kreiger at 7:55 AM on November 6, 2015 [9 favorites]

If Risotto is too must work then just use it to cook rice in instead of water.

I use it in stews, also you can reduce stock it down if it's taking up too much space. Simply let it sit over night & remove the fat layer, then simmer it then you can dilute it back up to the strength you like. If you have the time you can reduce it to Glaze, a thick syrup if you like which freezes well & is great to chuck into soup & stews. It is pretty much the secret of French Cooking.
posted by wwax at 7:57 AM on November 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

Having too much stock around is one of the best problems to have! Once you start using it, you seriously won't ever get enough.

How to tackle the surplus? We take a couple tracks. With one batch, we usually reduce it waaaaaay down so its ultra concentrated and then toss it into small freezer bags. Stock freezes well, and having 3-4oz of the stuff that's ultra reduced can be a huge flavor boost to just about anything. We throw that stuff into just about every meal; its as ubiquitous as onions. Other batches we leave unreduced for said soup bases. Just remember you can always add the water back in, and thin out stock if its too concentrated.

If you're willing to get your hands on a pressure cooker, you can pressure-can the stock into jars, and make it shelf stable. Having a couple dozen jars of chicken broth at the ready (not taking up freezer space) is pretty legit. Contact your local extension office for details! Its really not scary at all!

As for recipes to use it up quicker, risotto for sure, but also I would look at pilaf style recipes like paella. I've always viewed paella as kind of a technique, not a cohesive recipe. But using stock instead of just water to cook everything in can yield some pretty incredible results.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:57 AM on November 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

Gelatinous you say?
Soup dumplings!

not dumpling soup
posted by pennypiper at 8:01 AM on November 6, 2015 [6 favorites]

Though dumpling soup is delicious too...
posted by pennypiper at 8:01 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yup, stock can take the place of water anywhere--rice, veg, pasta, etc.

And just reduce it to all buggery, takes up a tenth of the space and is perfect for throwing a cube of into any pan sauce, any kind of stew/spaghetti/chili/curry, etc.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:16 AM on November 6, 2015 [5 favorites]

This isn't really a "Food & Drink" answer to your question, but what about giving it as gifts? Maybe some people would find it weird but I would definitely love to receive a tasty quart of homemade chicken stock.

Or if just giving it away is too weird, friends and I sometimes have cooking parties where we get together some morning and each make one recipe, then all take home a little bit of each thing. That would be a good way to exchange, say, soup (which is easy to make with your stock but you're tired of it) for some non-soup meals.
posted by Owl of Athena at 8:53 AM on November 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

also, if constantly stirring risotto is too much work, then congee is a quite tasty alternative (and equally good for colds)
posted by bl1nk at 9:16 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

This stuff freezes really well and goes into basically everything. Unless you're running out of room in the freezer, I see no reason to worry about using it up.

Nthing Lyn Never that you can replace water with chicken stock in any savory recipe.
posted by Sara C. at 9:22 AM on November 6, 2015

A tip for freezing: freeze it in ziplock bags placed in loaf pans to make stackable bricks of stock.
posted by bq at 9:37 AM on November 6, 2015

When someone in the house starts getting a winter cold, use it for my favorite comfort food when I'm sick - mince as much garlic as you can tolerate (I usually use 6-8 cloves) and saute it in olive oil. When it starts to brown, add a bunch of chicken stock and bring it to a simmer. Add a serving or two of pasta and eat when the pasta is cooked through.
posted by skycrashesdown at 10:14 AM on November 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

Reduce it to a manageable amount and freeze it. Then when you want to use it later, add water to make up for the amount that you reduced out.
posted by Jacqueline at 10:35 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you reduce it to, say, 1.5 quarts from a whole chicken carcass, or even less, it makes amazing risotto. Saute onions (butter, olive oil, chicken fat) until transparent, add rice and saute a couple minutes, add stock about 1/2 cup at a time until rice is cooked. Stir frequently. Add 1/3 cup of white wine towards the end. That's the basic recipe. I don't stir constantly, and slosh the stock and wine in willy-nilly, and it's fine. salt, pepper & herbs to taste. You can add pureed or roasted squash, including pumpkin, broccoli, spinach, kale or other veg. You can add cheese towards the end and finish with parmesan. You can add red wine. The variations are endless, and the deliciousness of the stock is key to the tasty risotto. Even just coking rice in stock makes the rice so much better.

Cream of __ soups. Cook some butternut squash (broccoli, spinach, etc.). Make a roux with 2 Tb.olive oil(butter) and 2 tb. flour, sauteed until golden. Combine squash, roux and chicken stock with an immersion blender. with squash, I like to add curry powder and top with sour cream or plain yogurt. Very flexible recipe.

Chicken soup. better yet, matzoh ball soup. Using homemade stock makes it so very much more delicious. I make a lazy soup with chicken sausage, chicken stock, and kale, cooked until the kale surrenders.

Chicken pot pie. Use some of the chicken. Cook some onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms in some stock. Thicken with @ 2 - 3 tsp. flour. put in a dish. Use bisquick biscuit(pie dough, puff pastry) to top it. Bake until topping is done.

Chicken-glazed carrots. peel carrots and cut however you like. Cook in stock and butter until carrots are very done and stock is evaporated, leaving a buttery chicken glaze on the carrots.
posted by theora55 at 10:52 AM on November 6, 2015 [6 favorites]

Throw about 2" in the bottom of a pot with some onions garlic and sliced sausages. Bring to boil. Throw a bunch of chopped kale and mustard greens on top. Mix/steam/serve in one delicious pot.
posted by slateyness at 10:57 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh and use instead of cream in mashed potatoes.
posted by slateyness at 10:58 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Cook egg noodles in stock instead of water, serve with a bit of butter. Add some herbs if desired.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:31 AM on November 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Soup !!

Set a big pot on Medium heat and then add:
chopped garlic, chopped onions, two or three links of chorizo or italian sausage in bite-sized chunks, 1 cup of the stock, 1/4 head of cabbage, three cups of mushrooms (mixed if you can, otherwise crimini), some shredded carrots. Maybe throw in a cup of barley, maybe add a can of (drained) chickpeas too. Season with sage, oregano.

Bring to boil.

Add a litre of boiling water or more - bringing the soup to desired consistency; reduce heat and let simmer for 30-60 minutes until the flavours meld into one another, do a final seasoning adjustment with above spices, salt pepper. YUM.
posted by seawallrunner at 1:33 PM on November 6, 2015

It's a little out of style these days, but aspic can be delicious, and you can have a lot of fun adding it to various terrines and other types of chilled meat dishes.
posted by Think_Long at 1:48 PM on November 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Chicken pot pie!
posted by nicwolff at 1:51 PM on November 6, 2015

I think I read in one of Ruhlman's books about a chef that makes double-stock. Use the stock you've made as the base for a new stock instead of using water. You could try to do that with some of your existing stock if you're going to keep roasting chickens.
posted by backseatpilot at 2:16 PM on November 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

This is pretty good with store-bought stock, but mind-blowingly delicious with real stock. You would not believe the difference in flavour between the two.

Chicken and corn soup

Ingredients

1.25 litres (5 cups) chicken stock
500 g chicken thigh fillets
2 x 400g tins creamed corn
2 spring onions, sliced
1 spring onion sliced lengthways or 2 tblspns chopped parsley for garnish
1 teaspoon cornflour, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and white pepper, to taste
100 g (2 cups) baby English spinach leaves

Instructions

Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a decent sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Turn down to a simmer and add the whole chicken thighs. Poach the chicken for 6 minutes or until just cooked through. Remove from the stock, finely shred with two forks while giving yourself Repetitive Strain Injury, and set aside.

Add the creamed corn and spring onion to the stock and bring back up to a simmer (do this while you shred the chook). Add the chicken back into the stock, whisk in the corn flour mixture and cook for a further 1-2 minutes to make the soup a slightly thick consistency. Once the soup starts to thicken, slowly stir in the egg with a wooden spoon and season to taste with salt and white pepper. Add the spinach and stir through, then garnish with spring onion or parsley.


And yeah, cook rice in your stock instead of water. It won't taste chickeny, but it will have a subtle flavour that makes you gobble it up by itself instead of stirring it into the main dish.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 12:30 AM on November 7, 2015

Once you get in the knack, you will realize you can never have enough stock. I also immediately thought risotto and then arancini with the left-overs, or paella. But then I realized that the majority of our stock goes into other stuff. Obviously soups. Rich, main course soups with vegs and beans, but also simple clear broths with a little chili, lemon and herbs, some soup noodles and nothing else, which can be a school lunch or an appetizer or in our weird family even breakfast on a cold day. But you have that covered.
Coq au riesling is a delicious way of cooking chicken thighs, if you haven't tired of chicken.
I use chicken stock when I make a stew for couscous: chunks of veal or beef and chicken thighs and roughly cut carrots, onions, leeks, potatoes, a turnip are all thrown into a big pot at the same time, and lightly browned in a mix of butter and oil. Garlic is added and softened. Then I add stock and canned tomatoes, stir, put a lid on, cook slowly till the chicken is loose on the bones (an hour, maybe, or half the time in a pressure cooker). Add salt and pepper to taste, canned chickpeas and merguez. Serve with a mountain of buttery couscous and with harissa mixed into some of the liquid from the pot in a separate bowl. Simple food for big informal gatherings.
As your stock is gelatinous, it can be delicious to mix a bit into a paté or even meatballs for more umami flavor, in that case you need some starch in the recipe to bind the stock.
Also use some when you are cooking a ragu for your pasta.
posted by mumimor at 2:57 AM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

I use it to make quick chicken soup with some of the leftovers from the chicken. Stock, noodles, leftover chicken, green curry paste and whatever green veg I have to hand. Fish sauce and lime juice to taste. The advantage of this is that it's easy to use up the stock at the same rate you're making it.

Reading your question I have a TINY doubt as to whether you might have two-month-old stock mouldering in your fridge, in which case, please don't eat it! It doesn't keep more than a few days in the fridge.
posted by emilyw at 4:18 AM on November 7, 2015

Contact a homeless shelter or domestic violence shelter. They may be thrilled to get it. You could even make some soup and donate it so that the shelter doesn't even have to cook it. But ask first - they may have rules about accepting food that isn't packaged and could therefore potentially be dangerous.
posted by MexicanYenta at 6:43 AM on November 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, everybody. Too many to favorite or best.

Tossed a glop of it* into the Mexican red rice we made this weekend (Rick Bayless' recipe -- the one from one of his books with roasted tomato salsa you make first): worked a treat!

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*It's been reduced down a bit, per several suggestions above.
posted by notyou at 9:38 AM on November 9, 2015