Liquid Gold Chicken Stock for Flu Season

This is the pot of gold I turn to every winter. A whole chicken, a pile of vegetables, and a slow simmer create the most comforting stock you will ever taste.

Lou LaMedica

Nov 13, 2025

Liquid Gold Chicken Stock for Flu Season

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Liquid Gold: My Flu-Season Chicken Stock

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Liquid Gold: My Flu-Season Chicken Stock

When someone in the house starts sniffling or you just want something soothing and restorative, this is the pot of gold you want on the stove. A whole chicken, a mountain of vegetables, a handful of aromatics, and a long, slow simmer turn simple ingredients into the richest stock you’ll make all year.

There’s something deeply comforting about starting an 8-quart stock pot like this. It’s one of those quiet rituals: the chicken goes in first, the vegetables get tucked all around it, and you fill the pot to the top with cold water.

Nothing fancy. No peeling. Just real food doing its thing.

I make this every year as soon as the weather turns cold—partly because flu season waits for no one, and partly because this stock becomes the backbone of so many meals. Tortellini en brodo, chicken and dumplings, chicken and farro soup, pastine with butter and cheese… you name it. A mug of it on its own is basically medicine.

Ingredients

1 whole organic chicken

6 carrots, cleaned and rough chopped (no need to peel)

6 celery stalks, cleaned and rough chopped

2 onions, rough chopped (skins on)

2 heads garlic, broken into cloves (skins on)

2 bay leaves

Small handful of dried mushrooms (shiitake, porcini, or mixed)

Spice sack — whole black peppercorns, coriander seeds, fennel seeds

Instructions

Start with the chicken.

Place the whole chicken in a large 8-quart stock pot.

Add the vegetables and aromatics.

Surround the chicken with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, mushrooms, bay leaves, and the spice sack. The pot should look very full — more vegetables means more flavor.

Fill with water.

Add cold water until everything is just submerged. Adding the water last helps you hit the right ratio of solids to liquid for a deeply flavored, concentrated broth.

An 8-qt stock pot filled to the brim with chicken, vegetables and spices.

Bring to a boil.

Heat over medium-high until it reaches a boil. Skim any scum or foam that rises — this helps keep the stock clean and golden. Reduce to a gentle simmer.

Foam ready to be removed. This ensures a clear broth clear with a cleaner taste.

Simmer for 40 minutes, remove chicken.

Pull the chicken out carefully and let it cool for a few minutes.

The golden hue is beginning to appear. Many hours still to go….

Shred and return.

Remove the white breast meat only and set it aside for later. It’s perfect stirred into soup, folded into a wrap, or sliced for salads like my Korean chicken salad or my curried tarragon chicken salad

Return the carcass, dark meat and all remaining bones back to the pot.

Shredded chicken breast is wonderful for cold salads, and can be added back later into soups.

Simmer long and slow.

Let the stock simmer gently, uncovered, for 3–5 hours. Taste as you go — you'll know when it hits that deep, rich “liquid gold” flavor.

Note how much water has evaporated off from step 1.

Strain.

Pour everything through a colander (to catch the solids) with a bowl beneath to catch the broth. If you’d like to refine it more, then pour the broth through a fine-mesh sieve.

Season to taste.

Add salt until the broth tastes full and balanced. Salt is your friend here, so be liberal. Add some salt, taste and then add more, if necessary. When you say “damn, that’s good!” that’s enough salt.