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I absolutely love making homemade gluten free chicken stock – it’s a great way to use up any roast dinner leftovers and save on food waste. Plus a lot of stock cubes contain gluten, so making your own homemade chicken stocks ensures it will be 100% gluten free!
Gluten free chicken stock can be used for a whole variety of recipes, from soups and sauces to risottos.
I always make a batch of chicken stock in the slow cooker after having a roast dinner and it’s easy to freeze in portions ready for when you need it.
It’s great for using in recipes like my roast chicken soup, my chicken and leek risotto, or my spring chicken casserole.
Here I’ll show you my favourite recipe for gluten free chicken stock, the easiest way to make it using the slow cooker, and some extra hacks for using food leftovers too.
Chicken Stock Ingredients
You only need a few really simple ingredients to make an absolutely delicious chicken stock:
- Chicken – I use the carcass from a whole chicken whenever I have a Sunday roast. Any leftover bones, scraps of meat, skin, etc, plus the juices from cooking. Throw it all in!
- Onion – Any type of onion works well. Often I’ll use a variety of white, red and spring onions. Sometimes I’ll add leeks too.
- Garlic – For me no stock is complete without garlic! You can add whole cloves or pre-chopped frozen garlic. I wouldn’t recommend jarred Lazy Garlic in vinegar though!
- Carrots – These are great for adding flavour to the stock, and they’re also a really cheap ingredient to buy.
- Celery – Just like onions, this adds a great flavour. Cooked celery tastes completely different to raw celery and is crucial for the best flavours.
- Herbs – You can use any herbs you like to flavour your chicken stock. I tend to go for a variety of sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley in varying degrees, depending on what I have in stock. Dried herbs work as well as fresh.
- Salt and Pepper – It’s really important to season your stock so it isn’t bland. Be generous with the salt and pepper for added flavour!
Money Saving Tips for making stock
One of the main reasons I love making homemade stock is because you can essentially get one last squeeze of goodness out food waste.
Firstly, you’re boiling the chicken carcass releasing collagen from the bones, which is great on so many different levels.
And to save money you can use any scraps of vegetables from the week which you’d normally throw straight in the bin.
I like to collect veg ends and peelings from onions, carrots, leeks, spring onions, celery – anything you have used.
That way you don’t have to buy a host of fresh veg for your chicken stock, you can simply use what you’d normally chuck away.
It’s also a great way to use any herbs up which have been looking a bit sad and wilted in the back of the fridge.
Not only do you get a beautiful, nutritionally-rich chicken stock, you can also get every single penny’s worth from the food you’re buying!
How to make gluten free chicken stock
There’s a full printable recipe card below, but the steps to make this gluten free chicken stock are very simple.
Firstly, add the chicken carcass to your slow cooker (you may need to do this in pieces if it’s a smaller slow cooker).
Then roughly chop the veg and add this on top, along with any herbs and a good helping of salt and pepper. Seasoning this stock well is essential!
Recipe Tip
Keep a bowl in the fridge to collect all your vegetable ends and peelings – that way they’re ready to be chucked into the slow cooker when you’re making stock!
Pour enough water into the slow cooker to cover the bones. Place the lid on and cook on high for at least 4-5 hours or on low for at least 8 hours. You can leave it on low overnight if this is easier.
Allow the stock to cool before discarding the bones and veg and straining the liquid through a sieve into a container. Keep in the fridge for up to a week or freeze.
Frequently Asked Questions
Before you get stuck into making my gluten free chicken stock, here are the answers to some of the questions I get asked a lot…
Homemade chicken stock is completely gluten free as the basic ingredients are chicken (carcass and meat), vegetables and water. You can also add herbs and salt and pepper. But otherwise, a homemade stock or bone broth should be free from all gluten and 100% coeliac-safe. Some shop-bought stock cubes however do contain gluten so it’s best to always go for brands labelled gluten free.
There are a lot of gluten free chicken stocks out there – I list them all in this post – including Knorr, Kallo and some other brands. Stock cubes and stock pots can contain gluten though, so not all of them are gluten free. Always check the labels for gluten-containing grains and wheat flour, if they are not labelled gluten free.
I recommend allowing the chicken stock to cool completely before portioning into sealable tubs. You can keep it in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it.
Homemade stock freezes really well – which makes it perfect for batch cooking. Make a large pan of stock, then let it cool completely. Then simply portion into containers (I like to divide it into either 500ml or 1-litre portions) and freeze. You can defrost the stock in the fridge overnight before cooking or just reheat it in a pan or in the microwave from frozen. It’s a great to keep it fresh!
Yes! This simple gluten free chicken stock is made in the slow cooker, but you can also make it on the hob. Either way works really well but I prefer the ease of using the slow cooker. You can just chuck everything in and forget about it all day. Plus slow cookers are far more efficient so will use less energy!
I absolutely LOVE the Morphy Richards Sear and Stew Slow Cooker. I’ve tried many different slow cookers and this one is my favourite. It’s very light to carry and the pan is safe to use on the hob. This means you can use it for recipes which involve browning off meat and veg, without the need (and washing up!) of a separate pan.
My Gluten Free Chicken Stock Recipe
Here it is, the easiest homemade chicken stock and the perfect way to use up any leftover vegetable trimmings and Sunday roast carcass.
This recipe is super versatile and you can make as much or as little as you want.
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Gluten Free Chicken Stock
Making your own homemade gluten free chicken stock is a great way to ensure your recipe is coeliac-safe, and to cut down on food waste. Perfect for making with the leftovers from a roast dinner and easy to freeze!
Ingredients
- 1 roast chicken carcass (bones, leftover meat scraps, skin and juices)
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 2-3 celery sticks
- Any other leftover veg including spring onions, leek trimmings
- Handful of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley - a combination or whatever you have)
- Salt and Pepper
- Water
Instructions
- Add the chicken carcass to your slow cooker (you may need to do this in pieces if it's a smaller slow cooker).
- Roughly chop the veg into large chunks and add to the slow cooker. Add any herbs you're using too and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Pour enough water into the slow cooker to cover the bones. Place the lid on and cook on high for at least 4-5 hours or on low for at least 8 hours.
- Allow to cool before discarding the bones and veg and straining the liquid through a sieve into a container. Keep in the fridge for up to a week or freeze.
Notes
- This gluten free chicken stock can also be made on the hob - simply boil in a pan for at least 4-5 hours.
- For tips on freezing this recipe or making a low-FODMAP version, see the FAQs section in the blog post above.
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Recipes to use my gluten free chicken stock
Made up a batch of gluten free chicken stock and not sure how to use it? Why not give one of these easy gluten free recipes a go…
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