When I was at the beginning of my cooking journey, forced into the kitchen at the start of lockdown in 2020, no voice was more soothing than Ina Garten saying that “store-bought is fine!”
With her foolproof and accessible recipes, the “Barefoot Contessa” star was the perfect idol for a novice chef. Garten never made me feel bad about using shortcuts as my skills slowly progressed, even endorsing store-bought mashed potatoes or frozen pie crust during the holidays.
But as winter descended on Los Angeles this year, I constantly gravitated toward delicious soups. And after making a few with store-bought stock, I finally decided to try Garten’s homemade version.
Now, I’ll never go back.
Ina Garten swears by homemade chicken stock.
There are some store-bought ingredients — like puff pastry, mayonnaise, and ketchup — that Garten truly believes are “more than fine,” as she told Today in 2019.
But when it comes to chicken stock, Garten believes the ready-made version is pretty “meh.”
“I really prefer homemade chicken stock, but if you absolutely have to, just make sure it doesn’t have a lot of salt in it,” she told the site.
I used store-bought stock to make Garten’s winter minestrone soup and enjoyed the recipe, but it wasn’t the broth that stood out to me — it was all the delicious veggies. So, when I decided to make more of Garten’s soups this season, I knew I needed to make the stock from scratch.
“I think of homemade chicken stock as liquid gold,” Garten writes in “Go-to Dinners,” her October 2022 cookbook. “Nothing available on the market has the depth of flavor or richness of stock you’ve made yourself. It contributes such great body and aroma to so many dishes. Plus, having a big pot of chicken stock simmering away on my stove just makes me feel good.”
Garten’s homemade chicken stock is packed with aromatics.
To make Garten’s homemade chicken stock, you’ll need:
- 3 (5-pound) roasting chickens
- 3 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
- 6 carrots, unpeeled and halved
- 4 celery stalks with leaves cut into thirds
- 4 parsnips, unpeeled and halved
- 20 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 20 sprigs of fresh dill
- 15 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 head of garlic, unpeeled and cut in half
- 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons of whole black peppercorns (not ground)
Whenever I make one of Garten’s recipes for the first time, I try to follow it to a T. But I should note that simmering the three roasting chickens for four hours will render them completely flavorless.
If you’re uncomfortable wasting all that meat, you can always freeze the bones from your chicken and save them up for the stock, or take the chicken out once it’s cooked through and let the aromatics continue to flavor the broth.
This recipe also provides you with a lot of stock — nearly nine quarts, to be exact. I’ve made two of Garten’s soup recipes since whipping up her homemade chicken stock, and I still have three and a half quarts left in my freezer. You’ll get more than a few meals out of it.
You’ll need at least four hours to simmer Garten’s homemade chicken stock.
Making Garten’s stock couldn’t be simpler — you don’t even have to peel anything. After I halved and quartered the veggies, per her instructions, I just threw all my ingredients into a 20-quart stockpot. Then, I added seven quarts of water and brought my pot to a boil (covering the pot will help speed this up).
Once my stock was bubbling, I removed the lid, lowered the heat, and let it simmer uncovered for about four hours — making sure to skim off any foam from the top. After allowing the stock to cool, I strained everything through a colander and stored the stock in freezer-safe containers.
Garten’s homemade chicken stock really shines in her ravioli en brodo soup.
The first recipe I made with Garten’s homemade chicken stock was her ravioli en brodo, which appears in “Go-To Dinners.”
“Every country has its own chicken soup, and this one is classic Italian,” Garten writes in the description. “The key to its flavor is rich homemade chicken stock, plus lots of vegetables, good ravioli, and a final sprinkling of Parmesan and fresh dill.”
I’ve lost count of how many Barefoot Contessa recipes I’ve made over the past few years, but Garten’s ravioli en brodo soup immediately shot to my top five — and it’s all because of the homemade chicken stock. The lovely golden broth is so rich and comforting that you could drink it on its own. As my fiancé said after his first sip, it’s truly “exploding with flavor.”
This soup is somehow both simple and sophisticated, and I know I’ll be making it for my friends and family for years to come.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s ravioli en brodo soup here.
It’s also perfect in her chicken pot pie soup.
Garten’s chicken pot pie soup, which appears in her 2020 cookbook “Modern Comfort Food,” was inspired by a dish she saw on an airport restaurant menu.
“It was actually harder to make than it sounded — my first few attempts just tasted like chicken pot pie filling, not soup,” she writes in the recipe description. “This one, though, hit all the right comforting notes, with good chicken stock, roasted chicken, and puff pastry croutons.”
This is another contender for my all-time top Barefoot Contessa recipes. The silky and savory stock is the perfect vehicle for a recipe packed with hearty veggies, and Garten’s buttery and flaky croutons — easily made with store-bought puff pastry — soak up so much of its delicious flavor.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s chicken pot pie soup here.
I already know I’ll be making a big pot of Garten’s homemade chicken stock every winter.
Soup has always been one of my favorite dishes — if you’ve read my past articles, you’ll know I’m even in a group chat dedicated to sharing soup recipes and tips — so Garten’s homemade chicken stock truly feels like a revelation.
It’s extremely easy to make, infuses every dish with so much flavor, and you can store it in the freezer for up to six months. What’s not to love?
Garten’s homemade chicken stock is an investment I can guarantee will always pay off.
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