In preparation for a much-anticipated Soup Season—and the various penicillins that keep my seasonal colds at bay—I’ve gotten into the habit of making a biweekly chicken stock. I’m accustomed to laboring over a huge pot full of onions, lemons, garlic, and chicken on the stove, with strict instructions from my mom to stand above it to inhale the steam, which she insists is just as if not more effective than sipping it. (For a number of safety reasons, I do not recommend trying this at home.)
But while I’ve always enjoyed the billow of steam and the smell of a bubbling stock wafting throughout the kitchen, using a stovetop pressure cooker has changed the game for me. It allows me to quickly and efficiently whip up a speedy, and dare I say more flavorful, version of the same in under 45 minutes. (While a stovetop pressure cooker is my preferred choice, an Instant Pot works great too.)
This process doesn’t just expedite the routine, but it’s also increased my stock output to previously unimaginable quantities. With so much on hand, I’m recycling the same stock that I make to make fortified stock. With it, even the tastiest chicken soup dinners have reached new levels of flavor—and they’re the best they’ve ever been.
The Best Chicken Soup
One batch of my homemade chicken stock amounts to about 2 quarts. With this, I freeze one quart and place the other in the refrigerator to use throughout the week. If I need another quart for a recipe like risotto, braised chicken dish, or a chicken chili, I’ll reach for one of the quarts in the freezer—no problem.
But typically, when it comes time to whip up another batch of stock, I have at least one quart ready to thaw and use. A homemade stock typically calls for tap water—and of course, that’s what the primordial stock started with—but I supplement or completely replace the water with my reserved stock from the previous batch. This deepens the flavor as it cooks, infusing the stock with more goodness as it cooks. I save this fortified stock for dishes where the broth really shines, like chicken noodle soup, matzoh ball soup, vegetable soup, or simply for sipping with a heavy dose of fresh herbs like dill and thyme.
It definitely helps that celery, onions, and carrots, as well as chicken legs and quarters (which I prefer anyway) tend to be the cheapest selection of veggies and chicken respectively. This makes it easy—and budget-friendly—to make your own sippable fortified stock, and to stay stocked (pun intended) for cooking adventures throughout the week.
How To Make Fortified Stock
Nick Evans
Ingredients
Leftover rotisserie chicken carcass (or whatever leftover chicken bones you’ve got)CeleryCarrotsOnionChicken stock
Instructions
Add aromatics, like celery, carrot, onion, and garlic–to a pressure cooker, such as an Instant Pot. Add chicken stock to cover by about 1 inch. If you don’t have enough chicken broth or stock, you can make up the difference with tap water.Set the pressure cooker to cook over high heat over high pressure until vegetables are soft and meat is tender and falling off the bone, about 30 to 45 minutes.
More Recipe Inspiration
Any recipe that calls for chicken broth or chicken stock would benefit from the rich, savory boost of fortified stock, but here are some of my favorites to incorporate this hack:
Dining and Cooking