Chicken Meat Stock

Learn how to make homemade chicken meat stock for gut healing on the GAPS Diet. It’s collagen-rich, super delicious and so easy to make.

What is Chicken Meat Stock?

Chicken meat stock is liquid gold for the digestive system. It’s a tasty short-cooked stock, made with meaty bones, filtered water, and endless herb and vegetable combinations. Think of the chicken soup you crave when you are sick!

Chicken Meat Stock is my Favourite!

Nothing beats a homemade chicken meat stock it’s so nourishing to the body and versatile to use in the kitchen, from soup to a mug as a snack, in sauces, and veggie mash. Once you have the basics down pat, mastering the water-to-meaty bones ratio, and getting your chicken meat stock to gel; then the flavor combinations with herbs and veggies are endless. Two of my favorite soups are creamy chicken with cauliflower and leek; and Asian-inspired chicken, ginger, and spring onion soup.

Why meat stock, not bone broth?

Meat stock is so simple and nourishing to our bodies and it is one of the most important foods on the GAPS Diet created by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride. In her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome (p145), she describes how meat stock provides building blocks for the rapidly growing cells of the gut lining and how they have a soothing effect on any areas of inflammation in the gut. The gelatinous soft tissue around the meaty bones and the bone marrow provides some of the best healing remedies for the gut lining and immune system. Leaky gut be gone!

Checkout this post for more of the benefits of meat stock.

Meat stock on the GAPS Diet

On the GAPS Diet, Dr Natasha recommends consuming lots of meat stock daily! The more meat stock consumed, the quicker the gut lining heals as it contains essential nutrients and building blocks to aid in healing and sealing the gut lining. Think of meat stock as the glue that seals up your intestinal lining.

During the GAPS Introduction Diet, a cup of meat stock is had with each meal either in a soup with meat and vegetables or on the side in a mug to aid with digestion (source). Chicken meat stock is a good option for introducing meat stock into your diet from Stage 1 as it is particularly gentle on the stomach; and also provides the body with trace minerals and electrolytes.

Tips for sourcing your Chicken

The chicken pieces you choose to make your meat stock from matters! You’ll want to use the best quality meaty bones that you can buy.

• Good: Free range
• Better: Grass-fed / pasture-raised
• Best: Organic Grass-fed / pasture-raised

During the cooking process you will need to skim the scum off the top of your pot contents using a metal skimmer, strainer or slotted spoon. The scum will tell you lots about the meaty bones that you have chosen to use. If you have heavy grey scum then your chicken is poor quality, had a lot of hormones or was poorly processed. If have a small amount of white foam like scum then you have good quality chicken. (source)

What cuts of chicken to use?

Meaty bones are used to:

• whole chicken cut up into pieces
• necks
• backs/ frames
• feet
• thighs
• drumsticks
• wings 

My favorite cuts of chicken to use are drumsticks and wings as find they are a good balance of bone, joint,s and not too much meat.

Chicken meat stock Ingredients

• 7 chicken drumsticks
• 2L filtered water
• 1 tsp Celtic Sea salt
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• Course chopped vegetables (optional)
• Fresh herbs (optional)

Tools you may need

• Stainless steel stock pot or Dutch oven
• Knife and chopping board
• Metal skimmer/ strainer
• Glass jars with lids
• Tongs
• Bowl
• Glass measuring cup

How to make Chicken Meat Stock for the GAPS Diet

1. Add drumsticks, salt, peppercorns, and any herbs and vegetables to a stainless steel stock pot or Dutch oven.

2. Add filtered water, and then cover it with a lid. The right ratio of meaty bones to water is required to achieve a gelatinous consistency, ratio = 1kg meaty bones to 1.5L filtered water.

3. Bring to a boil and skim the scum off using a metal skimmer, strainer, or slotted spoon; and discard.

4. Reduce to a gentle simmer with a lid on and cook for 1.5-3 hours or until the meat is just falling off the bone.

5. Strain out meat and bones and blend back in any connective tissue and skin.

Now it’s ready to drink, eat as a meal, or freeze for later.

Note: Meat stock can also be made in a slow cooker/ crockpot, with adjusted cook times.

How to introduce

If you are new to the healing power of chicken meat stock start by introducing it slowly in a small amount (1 tbsp to 1 cup) and see how well you tolerate it. Watch for any reactions such as digestive upset, headaches, or histamine flushes; depending on the reaction and severity you may need to support your body with detox activities such as Epsom salt baths or foot soaks, juicing or enemas; and build up a tolerance to meat stock over time.

Dr Natasha recommends that adults drink 5 cups of stock a day, and children drink 3 cups a day; and if your body craves and desires more then have more. She also recommends adding other core GAPS foods to each serve of meat stock.

From Stage 1 serve with:

• Celtic Sea salt to taste.
• A spoonful of animal fat; ghee, butter, lard, or tallow; increasing as you can tolerate.
• Fermented vegetables such sauerkraut or fermented dairy such as whey or sour cream.
• Fresh pressed garlic.

From Stage 2:

• Raw egg yolk starting with 1 yolk per day and working your way up.

How to use

Serve as soup. Meat and vegetables in the meat stock, or blended with cooked vegetables for a pureed soup.

In a mug with your meal. Serve your cooked meat and vegetables on a plate and the stock in a mug on the side to drink with your meal. This is a great option to add a variety textures to your meal times.

As a snack. Drink a mug of meat stock as a tasty snack between meals at home or on the go in a thermos.

In a sauce or mash. Substitute meat stock in place of water in any sauce or mash recipe for a boost of flavor and nutritional benefits. Check out my mushroom sauce and cauliflower leek mash for inspiration.

Tips for making chicken meat stock

Use a tea strainer. Peppercorns can be a pain the strain out of your meat stock especially if you turn it into a soup. Simply add the peppercorns to a tea strainer and remove them at the end of the cooking time.

Getting meat stock to gel. This can take some practice but don’t be discouraged if your chicken meat stock doesn’t gel or achieve a gelatinous texture, it’s still full of lots of nutrition and healing benefits. Reflect on your cooking process, did you have:

• Too much water (ratio = 1kg meaty bones to 1.5L filtered water)
• Not enough connective tissue or joints
• Cooked at too high a temperature or too low a temperature; you want a gentle simmer.
• Cook time too short
• Inferior bones

Boosting depth of flavor. If you want a flavor boost but your body is not ready to digest those foods, add them in at the beginning and strain them out at the end of the cooking time.  Kitchen scraps are a great option if you are going to strain them out, I collect cauliflower and broccoli stalks, carrot tops, onion peels etc and store in the freezer until I need them. Then simply dump into the pot frozen when I am ready to make my stock.

Skin, fat and soft cartilage. After cooking is complete blend any skin, fat and soft cartilage in a small amount of the stock and add back to the pot for added nutrient and fat.

Cooling your stock. The longer your stock takes to cool the higher the histamines. For some, this won’t matter for others it will. To rapidly cool your chicken meat stock place your stock pot in a sink of cold water, you may need to change the water a few times or use ice breaks to keep your water cold longer.

Slow cookers. Chicken meat stock can be made in a slow cooker/ crock pot with adjusted cooking times. GAPS Chef, Monica Corrado in her book: The Complete Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet, p44, recommends 1 hour on high, then 6 hours on low for chicken meat stock.

What do I do with all the extra meat from making stock if I can’t eat it all?

When you make enough stock to drink the recommended 5 cups daily, you may end up with more meat than you care to eat. You can freeze the meat for later or consider making low meat, meat stock using backs, frames, necks, feet and wings.

How to store chicken stock

Store in the fridge for up to 7 days or freeze in small portions until needed. I like to make a bulk batch and freeze, defrosting as needed.

Storage options:

Glass. Store in wide mouth glass jars or containers as this make it easier to use from frozen. Simply run the container under some warm water to loosen and then tip the frozen stock straight into your pot.

Ziplock bags. I personally am ok with using Ziplock bags for freezing once the stock is fully cooled in the fridge overnight. This is a great space saving option in the freezer.

Ice cube trays or silicon trays. Cool the meat stock to room temperature first before pouring into your trays to go into the freezer.

How to reheat meat stock

Heat in saucepan from frozen or from the fridge, do not use microwaves they destroy the health benefits in the stock.

Going out and about, or need to take it with you to work or school. Heat it before you go and store it in a thermos to keep warm until you are ready to drink or eat it.

Chicken Stock Flavour Ideas

There are endless flavor combinations, here is are some of my favourite herbs and vegetables that include in my chicken meat stock:

• Peppercorns (add to a tea strainer and remove at the end of the cooking time)
• Carrots
• Onions
• Leeks
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Celery
• Cauliflower stalks
• Broccoli stalks
• Bay leaves
• Thyme
• Rosemary

What do like to include in your stock?

Resources

GAPS Australia

Monica Corrado (GAPS Chef)

• It’s All About the Bones! Meaty bones for Meat Stock video
• Cooking timesin The Complete Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet, p44

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GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.