Easy and Inexpensive Chicken Stock

It’s no secret that I love Costco.

It saves me time, and it saves me money.

One way I really save money buy shopping at Costco is by making my own chicken stock using their rotisserie chicken.

Chicken stock is expensive. A quart costs about $2.75. At least.

Since I use a lot of it to make soups and for cooking rice and quinoa and pasta, I use more like gallons than quarts.

Rather than shell out $11 for a gallon of chicken stock, here is what I do:

Each week I buy two or three rotisserie chickens. With eight people living at home, these chickens don’t last long.

I immediately pull the meat off of them. I put the drumsticks and wings in one container. I slice up the breast meat for sandwiches or to throw in salads.

I also buy a big bag of carrots from Costco as well as a big bag of celery and onions. I use the carrots and celery for snacks.

I throw a couple carrots,

the ends of the celery stalks that don’t get eaten,

an onion cut into quarters (I leave the skin on since all the solid stuff will get skimmed out later),

along with the chicken carcass into a stock pot.

I add in about a teaspoon of peppercorns, add enough water to cover it all, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer for a few hours, sometimes even overnight.

This gives me about a gallon of stock per bird.

Strain the stock, and then put into the fridge to cool.

The grease will solidify on the top so you can easily skim it off.

I keep some of it in the fridge so that I have it on hand when I need it.

I freeze some in Ziploc bags for later use (lie them flat so you can stack them).

(If you put the bag in a pitcher, it’s easier to pour the stock into).

If I don’t have time or space to make that much stock, I just package up the ingredients and freeze. Then I can just dump it all into a pot later on.

Since I am already buying the chickens and vegetables to eat, I am making a gallon of stock for about a dollar.

It’s easy, it’s quick, and with the amount of money it saves me, it’s a no brainer!