Thought I'd share this recipe since so many other recipes call for chicken broth or stock and this one is SO much tastier than anything out of a can! And it's really easy too.

1 whole chicken
1 celery rib, halved
1 small onion, halved
1 carrot, halved

Spray your roasting pan very well with Pam. Fill the body cavity of the bird with the veggies and bake at 375 until done, about 2 hours for a 3-4 pound bird.

After you remove the bird from the pan scrape all the pan drippings and as much of the browned bits as you can scrape off into a container and refrigerate.

Pick all the meat from the bird and save for casseroles etc. Save all the skin, bones etc. for the stock.

When you're ready to make the stock just put all the stuff you've saved (pan drippings, bones and skin etc.) into a crockpot and add water until full---mine holds 10 cups of water after everything else is in there.

Cook on high all day. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard all the solids.

Refrigerate stock and skim off as much or as little of the congealed fat as you wish.

As a short cut I have also used already-cooked birds from the deli or Boston Market.

You could also serve the roasted chicken for dinner and use whatever is left of the carcass for the stock......however you probably don't want to be picking chicken skin and bones off the dinner plates for your stock,especially if your diners are bone-gnawers instead of knife-and-fork eaters!

This probably sounds more complicated than it really is. But the results are soooo worth it! I enjoy a cup of this with my lunch now that the weather is getting colder or any time I want a snack. It's very satisfying.

I forgot to mention that you should save the veggies as well and add them to the crockpot with everything else.

Sorry.

Hmmmm..... I used some of this today to make a creamy chicken and avocado soup. It was delicious!

My middle-aged brain being what it is I always forget something. I should hae mentioned that you can adjust the strength of the stock by using less water (maybe 5-6 cups). This would give you a more concentrated flavor.

bcoz, that sounds really good. I have made chicken broth many times but I have always boiled the whole chicken. The broth is good but the chicken isn't any good because you have boiled everything out of it. It makes sense to do it the way you suggest. I don't know why I didn't think of it before because thats what I do with the left over turkey carcass ~ it will be much easier to manage with a small chicken. By the way how did you make the chicken avacado soup. Sounds heavenly.

Hi Suzi,

As a Calaifornia girl you probably have plenty of avocadoes! I lived in Ca. for ten years and that's when I learned to love them.

The soup is really easy:

1.5 cups chicken stock
4 oz cooked chicken or as much as you need to meet your protein requirement....more chicken will mean you need more stock
Cilantro leaves- as many as you like or leave them out
Half a small avocado, chopped
2 TB cream

Heat stock and chicken (and cilantro if you're using it) to boiling.
Allow to cool slightly, add avocadoes and process in a food processor 'til smooth. If it seems too thick you can always add a bit more stock. I used a stick blender in the pot and it didn't come out totally smooth but it was still very good.
Add cream and stir well. Reheat if necessary but don't boil.
Salt and/or pepper to taste. A shot of chipotle pepper Tabasco would also be good. It's a "pretty" soup, pale green with darker flecks of cilantro . I think it's good enough to serve to company.

That does sound delicious! We do have lots of avacados here. I use cilantro a lot too. Boy I can't wait to try this one. Thanks

Hi bcoz,

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I know that you started this thread several years ago but stumbled on to it Saturday.

Our local grocery store was having a sale on whole chickens so I bought a few. I did two of them, and followed your recipe exactly. That has got to be the best chicken stock/broth that I have ever had. The final boiling down of all the bones, etc I had on the stove for almost 24 hours at a very low setting. I just had a cup and threw some of the chicken into my cup of broth and it was just wonderful and it didn't have all of that salt in it.

I like suzimsm made my chicken broth by boiling the whole chicken but it didn't taste anything like this.

Thanks again.

Carol

Is it possible to freeze the chicken stock for later use?

Absolutely yes.