How to Make Homemade Stock (Chicken, Beef, Vegetable)

Updated March 2026 · 7 min read

Homemade stock is one of the simplest ways to dramatically improve your cooking. The difference between a soup made with homemade stock and one made with a bouillon cube is immediately obvious — richer body, deeper flavor, and a natural gelatin that gives sauces and soups a silky texture. Making stock is mostly hands-off time, and it turns kitchen scraps into liquid gold.

Stock vs. Broth: What Is the Difference?

Stock is made primarily from bones and is valued for its body and gelatin. Broth is made from meat and is valued for its flavor. In practice, most home cooks use the terms interchangeably, and the best stocks use a combination of both bones and meat. This guide focuses on bone-heavy stock for maximum richness.

Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is the most versatile. Use it in soups, risotto, sauces, for cooking rice, braising vegetables, and anywhere a recipe calls for liquid.

Ingredients

• 3–4 lbs chicken bones (backs, wings, necks, or a leftover carcass)
• 1 large onion, quartered (skin on is fine)
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 4–6 whole peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme or parsley (optional)
• Cold water to cover (about 3–4 quarts)

Stovetop Method

1. Place bones and vegetables in a large stockpot. Cover with cold water by about 2 inches.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat. As it heats, foam and impurities will rise to the surface. Skim these off with a ladle or spoon.
3. Reduce heat to a bare simmer — you want lazy bubbles, not a rolling boil. Boiling makes stock cloudy and can create off-flavors.
4. Simmer uncovered for 3–4 hours, skimming occasionally.
5. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard the solids.
6. Let cool, then refrigerate. The fat will solidify on top — lift it off before using.

Beef Stock

Beef stock requires an extra step — roasting the bones — but the depth of flavor is worth it. Use it in French onion soup, beef stew, gravy, and rich pan sauces.

Ingredients

• 4–5 lbs beef bones (marrow bones, knuckles, oxtail, or a mix)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 4–6 peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• Cold water to cover

Method

1. Roast the bones. Spread them on a sheet pan and roast at 425°F (220°C) for 30–40 minutes, turning once, until deeply browned. Brush with tomato paste halfway through for color and flavor.
2. Transfer to stockpot. Add roasted bones and vegetables. Pour a cup of water onto the hot sheet pan and scrape up the browned bits — add this to the pot too.
3. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Skim foam.
4. Simmer for 6–8 hours. Beef bones are denser than chicken and need more time to release their gelatin.
5. Strain, cool, and defat as with chicken stock.

Vegetable Stock

Vegetable stock comes together much faster — 45 minutes to an hour — because there are no bones to extract gelatin from. The trade-off is less body, but the flavor can be excellent.

Ingredients

• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 leek, cleaned and sliced (optional but excellent)
• 4–5 garlic cloves, smashed
• A handful of mushroom stems or dried mushrooms (adds umami)
• Parsley stems, thyme sprigs, bay leaves
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns
• Cold water to cover

Method

1. Combine everything in a pot. Cover with cold water.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
3. Simmer for 45–60 minutes. Do not go longer — vegetables become bitter after about an hour.
4. Strain and use or store.

Vegetables to Avoid

Some vegetables create off-flavors in stock:

• Brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower) — become sulfurous
• Beets — turn everything red and add an earthy sweetness
• Potatoes — make stock starchy and cloudy
• Bell peppers — can become bitter

Three Cooking Methods Compared

The Scrap Bag Method

Keep a gallon-size freezer bag in your freezer. Every time you cook, toss in vegetable trimmings — onion ends, carrot peels, celery leaves, mushroom stems, herb stems, garlic skins. When the bag is full, dump it into a pot with water and make stock. This is zero-waste cooking at its best.

Similarly, save chicken carcasses after roasting a whole bird. One or two carcasses make a full batch of stock.

How to Tell If Your Stock Is Good

• Gelatin test: Good stock sets into jelly when refrigerated. This means the bones released enough collagen. Jiggly stock = great stock.
• Flavor: It should taste savory and full-bodied, not watery. If it tastes weak, simmer it uncovered to reduce and concentrate the flavor.
• Clarity: Clear to slightly golden (chicken) or deep amber (beef). Cloudiness is cosmetic, not a quality issue, but indicates the stock boiled at some point.

Storage

• Refrigerator: 4–5 days in a sealed container. For more detailed storage times, see our food storage guide.
• Freezer: Up to 6 months. Freeze in various sizes — ice cube trays for small amounts (deglazing, sautéing), quart containers for soups and braises.
• Leave headroom. Liquid expands when frozen. Leave an inch of space at the top of containers to prevent cracking.

Homemade stock is a foundation ingredient. Once you have it on hand, soups, sauces, and braises become dramatically better. Browse our recipe collection for dishes that showcase the difference good stock makes.