High Fructose Corn Syrup Free Classic Chicken Stock
Store-bought broths and stocks are one of the sneakiest places high fructose corn syrup and other unwanted sweeteners can hide, tucked into ingredient lists behind vague "natural flavors" or flavor enhancers. Making your own from scratch is the only way to know exactly what's going in the pot — and this recipe keeps it beautifully simple with nothing but bones, fresh vegetables, aromatics, and water. The technique starts with a quick blanch of the chicken bones, which pulls out impurities and results in a cleaner, clearer, more golden stock than you'd ever find in a carton. A long, lazy three-hour simmer coaxes deep savory flavor from the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and a hit of tomato paste, while fresh thyme, parsley, and a bay leaf round everything out with herby brightness. The final step of chilling and skimming the fat gives you a stock that's genuinely restaurant-quality — rich, glossy, and completely free of anything you didn't put there yourself. Use it as the backbone of soups, braises, risottos, or sauces, and you'll immediately taste the difference that clean, homemade stock makes.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 3 lb chicken bones and carcass (or a whole 3–4 lb chicken, cut into pieces)
- 2 medium yellow onions, quartered (skin on)
- 3 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 12 cups cold water
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- 1
Place the chicken bones in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then drain and rinse the bones under cold running water to remove any grey foam or impurities. Rinse the pot clean.
- 2
Return the blanched bones to the clean pot. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, and salt. Pour in the 12 cups of cold water — the water should cover the bones by at least 1 inch; add more if needed.
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