How to Prepare Homemade Stocks and Broths (2024)

Aromatic liquids made after hours of simmering, stocks and broths are the foundation of classic cuisine (hence their name, fonds, in French). These two words are thrown around and often used interchangeably, but there is a technical difference between the two. Stock is made by using the bones of an animal, while broth is made using the meat. The lines get understandably fuzzy though, especially when it comes to vegetarian versions. Both stocks and broths have a multitude of uses in the kitchen, and are excellent ways to add major flavor to your favorite dishes.

Recipes:
Simple Turkey Stock
Turkey Stock

Because they're such a fundamental component of classic cooking, stocks and broths require careful attention and the proper equipment. They're best prepared in large, heavy-bottomed stockpots — these pots are quite narrow and deep, which minimizes the amount of liquid lost to evaporation during the long cooking time. It should be large enough to hold all of your meat, bones, and vegetables, as well as 2 to 3 inches of liquid. Other helpful tools: a roasting pan (for brown stocks), a small ladle for skimming, a mesh strainer, and cheesecloth. Once your stock or broth is done, putting it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth will ensure you pick up even the smallest particles and end up with the clearest stock possible.

Recipe: Homemade Turkey Broth

Chicken stock is the go-to variety for many home cooks. Rich in flavor and relatively cheap and easy to prepare, making homemade chicken stock is a great way to use up the bones and other odds and ends you have left after roasting a bird for family dinner. Using a little leg meat — as called for in the first recipe below — adds even more savory flavor. Browning the chicken and vegetables first — either on top of the stove or in the oven — before adding the liquid will add more depth and complexity to the final product.

Recipes:
Rich Homemade Chicken Stock
Chicken Stock

Though many traditional stocks call for meat or bones, vegetarians don't have to miss out on stocks' slow-simmered goodness. Vegetable-based broths, like the seaweed broth featured in the first recipe below (infused with a little fishy flavor from the bonito, which could be left out for true veggies), can still be packed with complex flavor. Use them as bases for soups or sauces, as braising liquids, or to cook grains like rice or quinoa for some added oomph. Roasting or caramelizing veggies, as in the second recipe, adds so much richness and depth, you won't miss the meat at all.

Recipes:
Grilled Brassicas with Mixed Grains and Bonito Broth
Roasted Vegetable Stock

An all-purpose vegetable stock made with the classic aromatic vegetables — onion, carrot, and celery — is a helpful thing to have around the kitchen. But if you're in the mood for a little something different and still want to stay away from meat, a luscious tomato broth is an excellent alternative. Use it to poach fish, chicken, meats, or vegetables, as a light sauce, or use it as the base for your favorite soup or stew (as in this recipe).

Recipe: Fisherman's Stew

Mushroom-based broths can be just as complex, rich, and savory as a meat-based broth. If you're going to use your broth to make a sauce for meat, chicken, or pasta, have some fresh sliced or chopped mushrooms on hand to add texture and even more intense mushroomy flavor to the final product. But if you're simply making a stock, you can use the stems only, and save the prettier and more delicious caps for another use. (Mushroom stems will keep in the freezer for several months, so instead of throwing them out, stockpile your stems from various dinners in a plastic freezer baggie or other airtight container until you have enough to make a full pot of broth).

Recipe: Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Beef or veal broth can add instant richness and a deeply savory note to just about any dish. With the chewy barley and meaty mushrooms so prominent in this dish, it's the perfect way to enhance its hearty flavors without overpowering them. Beef or veal bones and meat require a longer simmering time than chicken or veggies to draw out their true flavor — white stocks, like unroasted vegetable stocks, take only about 1 to 2 hours to reach their peak flavor, while brown stocks and broths (those using red meat and/or caramelized and roasted ingredients) take closer to 4 to 6 hours.

Recipe: Barley Risotto with Garlicky Mushrooms

Some broths are more complicated than just meat, fish, or veggie, and the broth that stands in as the base in this soup is one of those that defies simple categorization. Shrimp and pork simmer with soy sauce and store-bought dashi powder (a Japanese stock base usually made of kelp and/or dried sardine or bonito flakes) for an irresistibly savory, umami-filled version. And whatever the starting point for your favorite homemade stock or broth, clarity is how its quality is determined. To get the clearest broth possible, start by filling your stock pot with cold water, keep it at a very low simmer, and skim excess fat and other impurities off the top with a small ladle as needed.

Recipe: Warm Soba with Pork, Shrimp, and Cabbage

It might seem counter-intuitive, but stocks and broths are some of the only items you'll ever make in a kitchen that don't require salt and pepper. Their flavor comes from the bones, meat, and vegetables, as their essence and aroma is extracted during long hours of simmering. But if the broth is a base for another fast meal, as in this recipe, make sure to season the final dish's meat and vegetables thoroughly. Those ingredients only get a quick simmer in the already flavor-packed broth, so they aren't cooked for a long enough time to completely suck up the stock's seasoning. To make quick meals like this one truly easy, prepare large batches of stock or broth ahead of time and store them in the freezer until you need them.

Recipe: Escarole and Meatball Soup

Lobster is a luxurious addition to any meal, and when it comes in a soup swimming in a rich lobster stock, it doesn't get much better. The soup below calls for chicken broth, but by substituting homemade lobster stock, you can add layers of delicious seafood flavor to this simple, yet spectacular, meal. For other dishes — like chowders, stews, risottos, or even pasta sauces — try subbing shrimp bodies or fish bones for the lobster in the stock recipe below. If making a fish stock, remove the gills and wash the bones thoroughly (or even give them a good soak), so that all traces of blood are removed and the stock doesn't become cloudy or bitter.

Recipes: Lobster-Fennel Soup
Chef Jasper White's Lineage Lobster Stock

Fumet, a quick but incredibly fragrant broth often used for poaching, is the fast version of a long-simmered stock or broth. Poaching liquids, like the one included in the recipe here, are often largely composed of wine, but if you prefer not to use alcohol, you can substitute a little vinegar, lemon, or other acidic liquid in its place. When making a fumet or poaching liquid, it's a good idea to taste as you go — it's crucial to stop cooking the liquid as soon as it reaches the height of its flavor — usually after only about 30 minutes. A fumet that hasn't cooked long enough will taste bland and flavorless, while a fumet that's cooked too long could taste too strongly acidic or bitter.

Recipe: Poached Salmon with Fresh Herb Salad

When you think of broths and stocks, sweets probably aren't the first thing that come to mind. But though this recipe might not include a traditional, meat-based broth, it is poached in a fragrant liquid that infuses the whole dessert with a heady, lavendar-infused sweetness. Even if it doesn't fit under the generally accepted definition of stock, it's easy to make an aromatic poaching liquid infused with your favorite sweet and spicy flavors for a new twist on dessert.

Recipe: Lavender-Poached Peaches and Blackberries