Basic chicken stock


Time: 3½ hours
  • 1 chicken carcass, preferably from a roasted chicken
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 onion, peeled
  • 2 carrots, peeled
  • 1 leek
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • sprig of parsley
  • sprig of thyme
  • 3 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns

  1. Coarsely chop the vegetables, put all the ingredients into a large pan and cover with 2 litres of cold water. Bring up to the boil and simmer very gently for 3 hours.
  2. Strain off the solids and boil fast until the liquid has reduced to a manageable quantity - around 1 pint? (I usually do this bit the next day).
  3. Then, either use it straight away or freeze it.

This recipe is not for purists. Notice I say nothing about skimming off any scum — I've never found a good way of doing it, and anyway, who cares if the stock is a bit cloudy? I certainly don't.



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Created 4 May 1999, modified 08 May 1999