In an attempt to eat healthier and less expensively, I’ve gotten really good at making one chicken go as far as possible. I used to buy a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breasts because they’re so easy to cook with, but have since focused on buying pastured chickens. And the only way I can afford free-range chickens is if I buy them whole. I know there are several different ways to cook a whole chicken, but I’ve found a method that works for us by creating at least 3-4 meals and gives us 6-8 quarts of broth to use in future recipes!
Step 1. Thaw the chicken.
This is a step that I’ve realized is way more important than you’d think! If you buy your chicken frozen (and I imagine you probably would) it takes at least 3 full days in the refrigerator to thaw out well. I imagine you could do a cold water soak if you needed to thaw it quicker, but that just seems more complicated to me. So, I recommend being sure it’s in the refrigerator for at least 3 days before you plan to cook it.
Step 2. Boil it.
I know some people like to roast or broil their chicken. I prefer to boil it because then I have ready-to-go chicken broth to make soup later in the day. I always plan this for a day I’m going to be home since it takes about 3 hours for the chicken to get cooked all the way through. I put it in the largest stock pot we have, bring the water to boiling, and flip the chicken over every 45 minutes or so since the whole bird usually doesn’t fit entirely under the water.
Step 3. Let it cool and start making chicken soup.
Once the chicken is cooked through (I cut into it to check and see if it’s not pink), I take the chicken out to cool for about 30 minutes. I actually cook the chicken in this nifty pasta insert so that all I have to do is take the insert out of the stock pot without having to worry about not burning myself or making a mess in the process. I either put the pasta insert in the sink or on the counter on top of a plate to cool.
While the chicken is cooling I chop and add other ingredients to the chicken broth that was just made from boiling the chicken! You could do any variation of chicken soup you like. I don’t do anything fancy and actually don’t even follow a recipe anymore. I just add a chopped onion, sweet potato, and other veggies (often a bag of mixed veggies) along with 2 cans of diced tomatoes, and a whole lot of cumin, garlic, cilantro and italian seasoning and a bit of salt pepper, and whatever else I’m in the mood to add. It always turns out pretty good and I love having a pot of soup on the refrigerator to re-heat the next few days for lunch as well.
Yum! Chicken Soup in the Making
Step 4: Separate the meat from the skin and bones.
This is the key part that helps you make the most of the chicken! Depending on how big the chicken is I divide the chicken meat into 3 or 4 groups. I set aside all the bones and skin (and even fat!) to make delicious broth in the crock pot, while keeping the meat for future meals. I add one group of chicken meat to the soup that I’m already in the process of making and put the rest of the chicken (divided into ziploc bags if you’d like) in the fridge or the freezer depending on how far in the future I want to use it. If I’ll make it all in the next several days then I keep it in the fridge, but if I want some cooked chicken ready to throw into a recipe I will put it in the freezer. This time I was headed out of town for the weekend so I left Mr. Piñata with the chicken meat to make fajitas and chicken salad with while I put the chicken bones in a ziploc bag in the freezer and will make the bone broth when I get back into town.
Chicken meat separate from the skin and bones
Step 5. Make chicken bone broth in the crock pot.
This is actually a step that my sister told me about and I love it! If you put the skin and bones in the crock pot over the course of 2-3 days you can get A LOT of bone broth out of just one chicken! I put the bones and skin in the crock pot along with a chopped onion and celery and a splash of apple cider vinegar and then fill it to full with water. I cook it on high until I notice that it’s boiling and then turn it down to low and cook it for about 12 hours total. Then I spoon out 8 cups of broth to freeze, add more water and another splash of apple cider vinegar, and do the same thing again! I follow this pattern for about 2-3 days, until I notice that the broth is getting lighter. At that point it’s turning more into water than broth so that’s how you know you’ve gotten most of the nutrients out of the chicken. Using this method I’ve gotten as many as 8 quarts of broth from a single chicken! It’s SO nice to have this broth on hand when making any recipe that calls for broth or for when someone in the house gets sick and needs a soothing food/drink. Actually as I’m writing this I have beef stew in the crock pot with one of my bags of frozen broth! I love never having to buy it at the store now since it’s always on hand.
6. Use the cooked chicken in future recipes.
Once I have so much cooked chicken I use it in any recipe that calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but the extra benefit is that it’s already cooked! We use it to make curries, fajitas, casseroles, pasta, whatever! At this point you can be as creative or as simple as you’d like. Last week I added it to a spaghetti squash dish with pesto, diced tomatoes and parmesan cheese and it was so easy to already have the chicken ready to go.
I love it when I take the time to make the most out of a chicken. Although it’s one intense day in the kitchen it makes cooking the rest of the week a whole lot easier. What about you? How do you cook a whole chicken? Have you ever made bone broth before?
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Oh wow. Time to stock up on whole chickens when they go on sale. This sounds… Fun!! Seriously! I have plenty of freezer space for broth and soup so why not?? Thanks!!! You make it all sound so easy and not complicated/overwhelming at all!!
honeydew / 7687 posts
I use the slow cooker! Way easy!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
This is really interesting, I’ve learned a lot from this post.
Usually, I roast the chicken first, and that’s our first dinner. I pick as much as I can from the bones for chicken pieces, then I put all the bones and the skin into a stock pot with some soup vegetables, then I make my broth. Looking forward to trying out your method, though!
cherry / 236 posts
Great ideas! I am going to have to try this!
pomegranate / 3272 posts
Has anyone used their pressure cooker to make chicken stock? I read something that compared stock made on the stove, in the pressure cooker, and in the crockpot and the pressure cooker was the winner. I don’t use ours that much but think I”m going to start!
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
I always find that if I boil a chicken, it saps the taste from the chicken meat itself….do you ever feel that way? or is your chicken still flavorful after you pull it from the pot?
guest
Interesting! We’ve been making a lot of chicken soup this winter. We usually boil the chicken, pluck (divide meat into two), put 1/2 chicken back in for chicken noodle soup, freeze the other 1/2 of meat for later in the week. Then toss the bones! I thought that was about the most of what you could get from the bones, so I’m going to try making the bone broth!
guest
Why not cut up the chicken before you boil it so you don’t have to constantly flip it? I usually buy a rotisserie chicken and make stock but this looks so easy, I’m going to try it next time!
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
Wow the crockpot broth is amazing. My mom got into a kick of buying and cooking us whole chickens on the weekend But now my husband and I can’t stomach the dark meat anymore
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
So resourcefull! To be honest, I’ve never cooked a whole chicken. I need to get over this fear!
honeydew / 7444 posts
Great post! I usually make the most of a chicken but never thought to do the bone broth in the crock pot.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Ooo will have to try out your method! I usually roast the chicken first too, then I put the carcass and leftover meat in the crockpot for chicken stock. It feels good putting the entire bird to good use!
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
@Mrs. Confetti: I find that boiling chicken does that too. My guess is that Mrs Pinata can get away with it because she uses the chicken in flavourful dishes and the chicken becomes more of a flavour vehicle rather than the main star.
apricot / 348 posts
I love the idea of boiling the chicken first. I bet it’s really moist when cooked!
@MUI831: I make my bone broth in the pressure cooker. It turns out absolutely amazing. I just throw in the bones and skins with water, an onion, carrot, apple cider vinegar etc and cook for 30 minutes at high pressure. The stock is a lot more gelatinous than when I use to make it in the crock pot meaning that it really gets the gelatine out of the bones which is really good for you. I definitely recommend this method.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
@Mrs.Lilac: I need to try this next time! So much faster. Luckily we have a chicken in the freezer.
I also like the addition of apple cider vinegar. I haven’t tried that before. However, in the past, I used to add lemon juice to my chicken noodle soup so I wouldn’t have to add so much salt to get some good flavor. I imagine the acid is what does it.
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
Awesome! Conquering the whole chicken is hardly done now-a-days it seems. I’ve got a good recipe for doing it in the crockpot that I like, but I want to try this way too! So funny that this was posted today, I’m reading The Kitchen Counter Cooking School and just read the chapter about ways to cook whole chickens last night. Really great book by the way!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
@MUI831: I’ve never used a pressure cooker, but that sounds like a great idea!
@Mrs. Confetti: You know, I haven’t noticed that, but as @Grace: said, I do put it in flavorful dishes, like fajitas, curry, pesto pasta, etc. So, that’s probably why I haven’t noticed.
@Mrs. High Heels: Yes! I totally agree that it’s fun to feel like you’re making such good use of the whole chicken, especially when it’s the cheapest cut by the pound!
@Mrs.Lilac: I would love it if the broth were more gelatinous! I’ve never used a pressure cooker, but that sounds awesome!
@MUI831: I also like to add lemon juice to my chicken soup. But, I think the ACV also has some properties that are supposed to somehow draw the nutrients out of the bones. But, I don’t know for sure. I just trust what my sister told me.
pomegranate / 3503 posts
Very cool. I always buy whole chickens because I always found it cheaper than buying just the parts. I usually get one or two and debone and remove the skin while it’s raw. Then I just freeze everything separately. Usually breasts for one meal, wing/thighs for something else and the bones for soup/broth. Takes just about 10 mins for each chicken.
apricot / 305 posts
I do all of this in a slow cooker, too! In fact, I have a batch of bone broth just finishing up now. I didn’t know you could add more water after the first batch, so I’m going to try that!
Do you do anything with the organs that come in the bag? I’ve never gotten that brave!
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
Wow I need to try this since we use so much chicken in our house
blogger / nectarine / 2608 posts
I appreciated this so much. I consider myself a good cook, but I don’t usually make a whole chicken because I always feel too much gets wasted. Now I can do it and not feel so bad.
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
Great ideas. I use whole chickens for soup all the time but just throw away the bones and skin, next time I am definitely making broth.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
Okay. Totally going out and buying a whole chicken tomorrow.
pear / 1861 posts
Now I’ll actually use the stock…. I usually just throw it away. Seems I’ve been wasting it! LOL!