This homemade chicken broth will knock your socks off anything you can buy in the store. Use leftover bones or chicken parts. Switch to the Homemade Chicken Broth recipe
Not only that taste better than the boxbut it is also easy to doand this homemade chicken broth lasts up to 3 months in the freezer.
More Chicken Recipes: How to Roast a Whole Chicken with Lemon and Garlic. One of our favorite recipes!
How to make the best chicken broth or broth
Homemade chicken broth is easy to make. Use any part of the chicken – whole chickens, bones, wings, and legs are excellent options. Leftover roasted chicken bones also work very well.
Here are three tips for making the best chicken broth at home:
1) Add more or less chicken depending on how rich you want the broth. Our recipe below calls for 12 cups of water. Use about 4 pounds of chicken parts for a light but flavorful chicken broth. For a rich, ultra-flavorful broth, use about 8 pounds of chicken.
2) Add plenty of flavorings. Add chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and fresh herbs for the flavoriest broth. Other types of vegetables such as fennel and leeks are also ideal.
3) Bring the broth to a simmer. Staying at a low simmer will help keep the broth as clear as possible.
Our Favorite Ways to Use Homemade Chicken Broth
We love soups, here are some of our favorites:
We also like to use homemade broth to cook rice. Try our Cilantro Lime Rice!
Recipe updated, originally posted October 2010. Since posting in 2010 we have tweaked the recipe to make it clearer. – Adam and Joanne
Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
- PREPARATION
This homemade chicken broth will knock out anything you can buy at the store. It requires minimal effort and you can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months!
We often use chicken wings when making broth – they’re cheaper than other cuts of meat. Other chicken cuts work well, such as whole chicken, bones, breasts, and drumsticks.
Depending on how rich you want the broth to be, use more chicken pieces. For example, four pounds of chicken parts is enough for a light but flavorful broth, or use more for a richer broth.
Makes 10 to 12 cups
you will need
4 to 8 pounds of chicken parts, such as whole chicken, bones, wings, breast, and legs
1 pound onion, peeled and chopped (2 large
1/2 pound carrots, chopped (4 to 5 medium)
1/2 pound celery, chopped (3 to 4 celery ribs)
6 medium garlic cloves, crushed with the back of a knife
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
Small bunch of fresh parsley or dill
2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
2 teaspoons sea salt or more to taste
12 cups of cold water
directions
In a large stockpot, combine chicken, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, parsley or dill, peppercorns, and salt.
Add 12 cups of water and bring to a boil. If the water doesn’t cover the contents of the pot, add another cup or two of water.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, at a gentle simmer for about 4 hours. While it’s simmering, it’s normal for some froth or foam to rise to the top; We use a spoon to remove it.
After three hours, taste the broth and add more salt to taste.
To strain the broth, we use a slotted spoon to remove the larger bits of bone and vegetables. Then we pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer to catch any smaller bits.
Transfer to containers and refrigerate for up to five days or freeze for up to 3 months.
After the broth cools, fat will rise to the surface. We usually leave this off, but you can remove the fat for a leaner broth.
Advice from Adam and Joanne
- Nutritional Information: The nutritional information below is an estimate. We used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. It was difficult to estimate the actual numbers for this recipe, but we did our best.
Recipe updated originally posted September 2009. Since posting in 2009 we have tweaked the recipe to make it clearer. – Adam and Joanne
Nutrition per serving: serving size 1 cup / calories 12 / protein 1g / carbohydrate 1g / fiber 0 g / total sugar 0 g / total fat 0 g / Saturated Fatty Acids 0 g / cholesterol 0 mg / sodium 343mg