What can you do with the carcass from a rotisserie chicken?

There’s not too much that you can do besides chicken stock or soup, BUT, it’s quite easy and those bones will make a great base to flavor it.

However, there’s a bit of work if you want it to be just OK or seriously AWESOME which completely depends if you’re willing to put in a little work.

Now here’s what I mean about time. Most people often just toss the bones in a pot and start boiling. BUT if you really want to get some really freaking awesome flavor, try this.

The first thing you do is PUT THE BONES IN THE OVEN AND ROAST THEM. Put it in the oven at 425 F with some carrots, onions and celery for about 30 minutes. Whatever meat and marrow that remains get caramelized. The connective tissue also converts to gelatin and water. Be sure to use a roasting pan, so nothing is lost when you take it out of the oven.

What this will do is it will add flavor to the bones and the marrow, while caramelizing the veggies. When you do put it in the pot, the taste will be richer due to the bones, and the veggies will be sweeter.

All you have to do next is fill the pot all the way with water (say 10 to 12 cups of water), and add salt and pepper to taste. Bring it all to a boil, and then reduce the temperature to low and let it simmer and cook away slowly for 4–6 hours in a deep soup pot. When you check on it later that day or the following morning, a good part of the water will have boiled away and you’d have a concentrated stock or soup. If the goal is soup, about an 30 minutes before serving, feel free to toss in some pasta or rice. Say about a cup tops.

Of course, if the goal is stock, then you’re going to have to run it through a strainer into another pot. But it should be a pretty nice and rich stock that you can use for soups and sauces, or other recipes. One of my favorite things to do is use such broth later to cook rice. It has a REALLY awesome flavor.