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We love a good cooking project when it’s cold out, especially one that will make the house smell amazing. And no one is better at cooking projects than Ina Garten. Her recipes run the gamut from quick and easy to all-day simmering, but what you can always count on is that her rigorously-tested recipes will turn out great every time. Our latest Ina Garten recipe obsession comes from Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. It’s a big-batch homemade chicken stock recipe that you can make on a lazy weekend day, then freeze and use in all of your favorite cozy comfort food recipes.
“Nothing in a can tastes as good,” Garten shared on Instagram. She said that she likes to “Have a good homemade stock for Chicken Pot Pie Soup or Winter Minestrone,” and that it can be frozen for up to four months. You can also use homemade chicken stock as the base for all sorts of soups, stews, and sauces, and the flavor of homemade stock can really turn simple recipes into stand outs.
So how does Garten make her chicken stock? First, you’ll need a large stock pot — we’re talking 16-20 quarts. Then you’ll need the ingredients, which include three roasting chickens (when our budget is tight, sometimes we just used chicken drumsticks), veggies including carrots, onions, celery, and parsnips, and herbs and aromatics like parsley, garlic, and peppercorns.
Some people swear by simmering their stock for a full day, but Ina Garten’s chicken stock recipe is ready in just four hours. As the mixture simmers, foam will rise to the top — skim this off, to keep your broth clear. Once the broth is done simmering, Garten sets it aside to cool, then strains it to remove the solids before using the stock or adding it to several containers to pop in the freezer.
We love the nourishing flavors of this chicken stock, but we also love how versatile it is. You could add ginger, garlic, and green onions to turn it into a broth for wonton soup, or lemon grass, lime leaves, chilies, and a splash of fish sauce for something Thai-inspired. Whether you’re making Mexican albondigas soup, Nigerian jollof rice, or chicken noodle soup, Ina Garten’s homemade chicken stock provides an unparalleled base of flavor.
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