Chicken Bone Broth
Soups are a staple in our house. In the cooler months of the fall and winter, I make at least 2 soups a week. Fortunately for me, my family loves soup. Admittedly, I will make big batches to try to cover a few meals during a busy week and for the kids to take soup to school (when they were IN school!) for lunch. All great soups start with a homemade bone broth. It really is fairly simple, economical and you can accomplish it quite easily and it’s sooo good for you!
Servings:
Vary
Prep Time:
10 min
Cook Time:
12-24 hours for best results
Introduction
Chicken Bone Broth
By: Rebecca
My favorite, and in my opinion the easiest broth to prepare is chicken (or any poultry) broth. Often after we’ve had a roast chicken for dinner, once I’ve removed all of the meat (or if I’m being lazy I don’t!) I will toss the carcass in a stock pot. Fill the pot with water, just enough to cover the bird and add an onion, carrot, celery, salt pepper and sometimes a clove of garlic and just simmer it on low for several hours. I will also at times use stewing hens that we have in the freezer. You can roast it first and place the entire bird in the pot and cover the water just the same.
I know there are several recipes out there that suggest doing this in a slow cooker and that is perfectly fine and probably quite easy as you don’t have to worry about it getting too hot. It just happens that I like to prepare it on the stove top over a very low flame. Slow and low is the key. If the broth comes to a rolling boil, this will break down those precious collagen fibers that are so important to bone broth!
Health notes: Bone broths are very nourishing and have been found to be the basis of healing throughout the centuries within many cultures. Filled with nutrients and protein (collagen), bone broth can provide many healing nutrients to help with repairing the body during illness…and this doesn’t necessarily stop at the common cold either! Bone broth has been found to help with many ailments including digestive disorders, autoimmune disorders, decreasing allergy symptoms, osteoarthritis, mental health and more! So in reality, you could skip making a soup and just drink bone broth by the cup! Many people enjoy bone broth as if they were drinking an afternoon tea.
I would recommend trying to make some bone broth today and hopefully you’ll find it to be the basis of your best soup yet.
All of my recipes for the most part are “approximates”. Here’s my recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken (preferably pastured, free range)
- About 4 quarts of cold filtered water (or enough to just cover chicken)
- ⅛ to ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 8-10 black peppercorns
- 1 small onion cut in quarters
- 2 ribs of celery
- 2 small carrots
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- Small bunch of thyme, parsley (optional)
- Salt and pepper
After it has simmered for several hours, let cool and strain. I store mine in half gallon Mason jars. Theses jars can be stored in refrigerator if using soon or placed in freezer* for longer storage.
Place chicken in a stock pot. Cover with cold water and place all other ingredients inside. Over a very low heat bring the pot to barely simmering. Remember do not boil! Boiling will compromise the integrity of the collagen and other nutrients that you want extracted from the bones. You want just barely a simmer. Simmer broth for 12-24 hours. In my opinion, the longer the better.
Enjoy!
*If you do store your broth in the freezer, be sure to leave several inches at the top, as when liquids freeze they expand.
