Make soup a spring meal with small-batch stock-making

Spring is finally here, and along with it a seasonal change to our at-home menus. And while the inclination might be to shift to nice cool salads, there’s no reason to completely give up on a nice bowl of soup made with chicken stock. Instead of preparing a huge pot that might last for a few meals, small-batch stock-making will let you enjoy the flavours and benefits of a single small pot with less effort than if you were filling your “winter-sized” stockpot.

Making stock in small, as-you-go batches has advantages. For a household of two to four people, it is made fresh and used up quickly. Prep time is reduced because you are using only a small amount of vegetables and other ingredients. Prepping and freezing ingredients for several small pots’ worth can be done in about 20 minutes.

One money-saving advantage is to pick up items like fresh, bulk chicken drumsticks. You can prep several small bags of chicken and vegetables all at once and divide it into small freezer bags. Five small bags of stock ingredients take up a fraction of the space that five one-litre containers of prepared stock would occupy in your freezer.

Here’s how to prep freezer bags of ingredients for small-batch stock-making. Chicken drumsticks are an ideal size. You’ll need two drumsticks for each small bag of ingredients. Into each bag place two drumsticks, one peeled and chunked carrot, one cleaned and chunked stick of celery and one half of a peeled onion. (This is also a good time to use up any of these vegetables before the end of their shelf life.)

Seal the bags, place those bags together in one larger bag to make it easier to keep track, and place in your freezer. When you’re ready to make stock, place the contents of one small bag into your slow cooker (no need to thaw), cover with water and turn it on. Prepping these bags ahead of time turns small-batch stock-cooking into a “dump and go” task.

If you are using your freezer efficiently, you can also freeze leftovers from other meals to add to turn the prepared stock into soup. Freezing cooked leftovers such as pasta, rice, barley, lentils, beans, and other grains and legumes helps to limit food waste. Add these reheated ingredients directly to the bowl instead of to the pot to prevent them from going mushy or thickening the soup too much — unless that’s what you’re after.

The instructions that accompany this story are great for when you are at home day or evening. If preparing the stock in the evening, chill it for the next day.

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