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The other day my father announced that he missed chicken feet. (What?!)
His mother, my grandmother who was born in 1899 and lived to the age of 97, used chicken feet when she made her stock and my dad could always tell when a soup had been made with stock from chicken feet.
Chicken feet have their own unique and wonderful flavor, and the added gelatin from the feet give whatever dish is made with the stock a luxurious feeling when eating it.
The “Eww” factor of chicken feet I think comes from the fact that chicken feet look a lot like our hands.
Silly eh? Especially when we consider that making stock from chicken feet has been a human activity for thousands of years.
Most of our grandmothers or great grandmothers used feet in their stock as a matter of fact. They would laugh at us today to see us cringe. Stock made from chicken feet is fabulous, and incredibly good for you with all that gelatin.
After a lot of digging, I found a few old recipes. All recipes call for boiling the feet first, and then draining the boiling water. I think the point of this step is to get most of the extra protein and impurities to leave the feet and come to the surface.
Another step that all the old recipes take is to cut off the claw tips. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing that by cutting off the tips of the toes, it’s easier for the marrow and therefore the gelatin in the bones to come out.
Expect to get a lot of stock out of the chicken feet. A pound of feet will yield about a quart of stock, pretty much a bargain at $1 a pound for feet. Where to find chicken feet? Probably the best place to look is in Chinese or Asian markets.
How to Make Stock from Chicken Feet
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of chicken feet
- 2 large carrots, cut in half
- 1 onion, cut into wedges
- 2 celery ribs, cut in half
- 1 bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 peppercorns
Method
1 Boil chicken feet initially for 5 minutes at a hard boil: Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Put the chicken feet into a large stock pot and cover with boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes.
2 Drain, rinse, and cut off and discard the tips of the claws: Drain the chicken feet completely. Rinse with cold water so that the feet are cool enough to handle.
Using a sharp knife, chop off the tips of the claws and discard. They should cut easily if you cut them through the joint. If any rough patches of claw pad remain, cut them away with a paring knife.
3 Place chicken feet in a clean large stockpot. Fill with cold water to cover the feet by an inch. Add carrots, onions, celery, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, immediately reduce the temperature to low. Partially cover, leave about a half inch crack or so, and keep the stock cooking at a bare simmer, for 4 hours. Occasionally skim any foam that may come to the surface.
4 Uncover, increase the heat slightly to maintain a low simmer with the pot now uncovered. Continue to cook for an hour or two. At this point you are reducing the stock so that it is easier to store.
5 Strain the stock through several layers of cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer (ideally both) into a pot.
6 Pour into quart-sized jars. Let cool for an hour or so before storing in the refrigerator.
When your stock has cooled, it should firm up nicely into a gel.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
How to Make Stock from Chicken Feet
This was awful. By the time the stock mixture was simmering, the odor in the kitchen was so strong and distinctive, I knew I’d never be able to eat anything made with it. Personal preference? Partly, I’m sure. Ugh! Never again!
Hi Liza, I’m sorry you didn’t like the stock! Yes, the flavor of chicken feet can be rather distinctive, it’s not for everyone. Usually I just add a couple feet to regular chicken stock that I’m making; it helps provide gelatin.
Hi, Elise. Thank you for responding. I do like the idea of adding a few for the gelatin. Maybe I’ll try that. I didn’t mean to make the comment sound like a bad recipe- I just wasn’t prepared for the odor, which I assumed would transfer to taste.
Hi, I haven’t made this yet, but looks delicious. It has been forever since I have had chicken feet soup. Me, not being very competent in the kitchen, would like to try this in my slowcooker. Can anyone offer me some advice? Thanks so much….
Hello Jenn,
You can certainly use your slow cooker. Just use the directions from our recipe for regular chicken stock in the slow cooker. Thanks for reading, and have fun!
Delicious! Added parsley. Left the onion skin on to get a richer yellow color.
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DELICIOUS!!!! This is the best chicken stock!! I did transfer to slow cooker and cooked on low overnight. It made a little over 3 quart size jars for me. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe!
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You’re very welcome Melissa, I’m so glad you liked the chicken feet stock!
Hi AK, I have used a crock pot for my bone broth and it came out great, same recipe