How to Make and Store Liquid Stock

Take your meaty and savory favorites to the next level with liquid stock you can make at home!

Liquid stock is a tasteful condiment that you can use for soups, stews, sauces, and plenty of other dishes. It’s all about cooking ingredients together in water until all the flavors are blended together. 

In other countries, it is also called broth, fond, fumet, or bouillon. It’s a multi-purpose condiment that you can freeze to keep for a long time and use whenever you need. 

There are different ways to make it. You can use beef, chicken, fish, and even vegetables to get your desired flavor.  Not only does it give you the stock itself, but it also makes the meat extra flavorful.

I love cooking with liquid stock because it really brings out the best in the dishes that I prepare. It will certainly transform how you cook and the meals you prepare for everyone! 

How to Make Liquid Stock

Have you tried making liquid stock before? 

You’ll start with a blended sauce of tomatoes, onions, and plenty of herbs and spices. Then, cook your meat or vegetables of choice in the sauce to get the best flavors beyond what you can imagine.

Today, I’ll teach you how to make one that can instantly upgrade your recipes! 

Ingredients

What goes into a liquid stock that’s guaranteed to have the best flavor?

Chicken

Your liquid stock will surely taste incredible with the chicken. It’s one of the best meats because it has a natural umami and savory flavor. Wait until you taste it with the beef and sauce. 

Which part of the chicken should you use? Well, you can use any part of the chicken. It’s okay to use chopped whole chicken or even wings, thighs, and legs. 

After cooking the stock, you can still use it for your chicken recipes. In addition to chicken, you can also use turkey to give the stock a smoky flavor that will make it taste better! 

Beef shin

The meat liquid stock will not be complete with beef shin or shank. It’s a beef part that you can cut from the lower leg of the beef. You can slow cook it to turn it into moist and tender meat. 

With beef shank in the liquid stock, expect that it will have a beefy, rich, and savory flavor. It also tastes absolutely perfect with the chicken to give it an awesome quality. 

Other beef parts you can use include neck bones and even ribs. Beef shanks also go well with almost any herbs and spices to enhance the stock’s flavor. 

Tomatoes

When it comes to making sauce for your liquid stock, tomatoes make fantastic ingredients. Their sweet, tangy, and tarty flavor taste great with the chicken and beef. 

Tomatoes will also help give the liquid stock a rich color fitting for the recipe. These are some of my go-to ingredients for making sauce for the meat, and I always get the best results! 

Onion

Don’t forget to add a pungent, spicy, and peppery flavor using an onion. Not only does it add flavor, but it also works wonders for the aroma of the liquid stock. 

The onion goes well with the tomatoes for the perfect balance of flavor in the sauce. Whether you cook beef, chicken, fish, or vegetables for the stock, you can trust the onion to bring out the flavors! 

Scotch bonnet

If you want to add a kick of flavor to the liquid stock, the scotch bonnet is one of the best options. According to The Spruce Eats, it has a spicy yet slightly sweet and fruity flavor. 

The scotch bonnet has about 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units, which means it is about 14 times hotter than the jalapeño! But don’t worry — its mildly sweet taste can tone down the spice. 

Herbs and spices

Your liquid stock will not be complete without herbs and spices. These give the stock the best flavors imaginable. I have lots of suggestions for the herbs and spices in the recipe. 

For an enriched flavor and aroma, this recipe can be modified to use ginger, garlic, mixed herbs, curry powder, paprika, turmeric, stock cubes, and sea salt. For your own version, use more of your favorite seasonings! 

With all these ingredients, you can expect the best-tasting liquid stock ever! 

Directions

Just follow these steps to make liquid stock at home:

1. In a blender, add tomatoes, onion, scotch bonnet, ginger, garlic, mixed herbs, curry powder, paprika, turmeric, stock cubes, sea salt, and water. 
2. Puree everything until smooth and runny. 
3. Clean and rinse the beef and chicken. 
4. Place the meat in a pot. 
5. Then, pour in the liquid seasoning. 
6. Mix well with a spatula. 
7. Cover and cook until tender. 
8. Take out the cooked meat. 
9. Let it cool and freeze in ice cube trays.
10. Your liquid stock is ready! 

Now, you have liquid stock whenever you want to add a meaty, savory, and smoky flavor to your dishes. Wait until you taste your meals with the liquid stock, then you’ll know why it’s worth it! 

Tips

Chicken

Buying chicken

• Check the “best by” date of the chicken before buying. 
• Buy chicken that feels cold to the touch.
• The chicken should also have a pinkish color. 

Storing chicken

• Keep the packaged chicken in the fridge for about two days. 
• According to Eating Well, you can store whole chicken for a year and chicken parts for up to nine months. 

Beef

Buying beef

• The beef should feel firm when you touch it. 
• Check the packaging for any tears or holes. 
• Food Network mentioned that beef should have a cherry color. 

Storing beef

• Keep the beef cuts in the fridge for about five days. 
• Real Simple suggests storing beef in the freezer for several months. 

No-Blender Sauce

To achieve the right texture, you can also use a food processor instead of a blender to make the sauce for liquid stock. Otherwise, mash the sauce with a masher and cook it with the meat. 

You can also finely chop the contents with a knife or grater to get pulpy yet tasty results. There’s always a way to make the sauce for the liquid stock recipe! 

Liquid Stock Variations

What other kinds of liquid stock are there?

Instead of using chicken and beef in one liquid stock, you can use them for two kinds. In addition to chicken and beef, you can make a broth from fish, turkey, or vegetables, too. 

It is perfectly safe to use fish bones to make fish stock. For the right level of flavor, I suggest using flounder, halibut, or cod fish. To eliminate the fishy smell, mix the fish with carrots, peppercorns, herbs, and spices. 

On the other hand, vegetable stock can be as simple as cooking broth from onions, carrots, garlic, celery, and seasonings. Liquid stocks can take as long as an hour to make but they’re absolutely worth the wait! 

Recommended Tools

• Blender: Make the sauce in a blender. 
• Measuring spoons: Measure the ingredients with spoons. 
• Pot: Cook the liquid stock in a pot. 
• Wooden spatula: Mix everything together with a spatula. 
• Ice cube tray: Freeze the liquid stock in an ice cube tray. 

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How to Use Liquid Stock

Since liquid stock takes a while, you must ensure you’re making the most out of it! 

Liquid stock is best used to cook soups and stews. It will also taste well in slow cooker recipes because the cooking time helps infuse the food with the liquid stock flavor. 

In fact, it’s also good to use it to cook grains or rice. The liquid stock gives the rice a fantastic flavor that makes the meal so enjoyable. It also tastes great with vegetables and even salads. 

These are some of the recipes that can help you put your liquid stock to good use:

• Ewedu Soup
• Assorted Meat Stew
• Nigerian Fried Rice
• Fried Pepper Stew
• Nigerian Jollof Rice
• High-Protein Beans
• Couscous

Even the simplest dishes can become extraordinary with liquid stock! 

Storage Tips

• At room temperature: Use liquid stock at room temperature within two hours only. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three basic ingredients that make up a stock?

To make liquid stock, you need meat, tomatoes, herbs, and spices. However, you can always replace the meat with chicken, fish, turkey, or vegetables. 

To infuse the meat with the best flavors, make the sauce with tomatoes, onions, and spices. Meanwhile, the standard herbs and spices to use include peppercorns, parsley, and thyme. 

What liquid is used to make stock?

You can make the stock using water or wine. Cooking the contents will release all of the flavors from the seasoning and meat. Remember to save the liquid to get all of the flavors you need! 

How do you make a stock?

A good liquid stock starts with the sauce. I usually make my sauce with tomatoes, onions, scotch bonnet, water, and spices. Then, I cook the meat, fish, or vegetables in the sauce until everything is soft. 

Once done, I let it cool to room temperature. Then, I freeze it in ice cube trays to store it for up to three months! 

What is a liquid stock made of?

Liquid stock can be made with different ingredients. For instance, you can make the basic liquid stock with meat, tomatoes, onions, scotch bonnet, water, and seasonings. 

Sometimes, you can cook it with turkey, vegetables, or fish for other variations. There are also plenty of herbs and spices you can use to add more flavor.