Classic Chicken Broth

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A true cornerstone ingredient to great cooking, whether that’s at home or at fine dining restaurants is good quality broth and stocks. We’re huge fans of using homemade broth in our cooking, as you’ll find it featured in so many of our delicious ingredients. The most common Broth we use is the Classic Chicken Broth. A wonderfully flavored broth that is made by extracting the flavors from Chicken and fresh Vegetables can completely transform your home cooking. This is our recipe to make the classic Chicken Broth from scratch at home

How to make a Classic Chicken Broth

Making a Classic Chicken Broth is so easy. All it requires is patience, and some good ingredients! The key to a great Chicken Broth is, of course, the Chicken Bones. If you’re in a pinch and need to make a Chicken Broth immediately then you can head to your local butcher or grocery store and pick some cheap. We recommend however, getting into the good habit of saving your Chicken Bones after meals

Every time we cook up a lovely Chicken dish, we keep any Chicken Bones in a Ziploc bag that sits in the freezer. Once we’ve got enough to make a Broth (which is typically about 2 Chickens worth), we simply pull out what we need from the Freezer and make a new batch

Once you get into the habit of freezing your Chicken Bones you’ll always have a supply ready to go. This is a very economical way to cook, and it avoids wastage which is always a good thing

A good recipe is this wonderful Roast Chicken Dinner recipe which uses the entire Chicken. Cook this dish up twice and you’ll have enough to make this Classic Chicken Broth recipe

Roast the Chicken Bones with some Vegetables to extract a beautiful, deep flavor

A key step in making Chicken Broth from scratch is to start by roasting the bones until they are a dark golden-brown color. You don’t want to roast them to the point that they’re starting to burn, but you do want to get it pretty close to that point!

Roasting the Chicken Bones extracts so much flavor and develops a lovely caramelization which can be tasted in the result. We recommend adding a couple of Vegetables to the roasting pan alongside the Chicken Bones as they will add more flavor to the broth

The typical Vegetables that are used in making Chicken Broth are Carrots, Onions, and Celery. Just chop them into large chunks and throw them into the pot. There’s no need to peel the skin either, as we’ll be straining everything at the very end of the process. Just throw them in!

Once the Bones are Roasted, it’s time for the slow cook!

After the Chicken Bones and Vegetables are roasted and have turned a wonderful, caramelized color it’s time to throw them into the stock pot! You can just use any regular pot that you can heat on the stovetop. We do recommend using the largest pot you have to maximize the amount of broth you make

Once the Bones and Vegetables are added to the pot, add as much water as needed to completely submerge them. Usually, we find this is about 10 – 12 cups. Cover, bring to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer then cook for 5 – 6 hours

In this time the water will start to absorb all that wonderful flavor from the Chicken and the Vegetables, giving it the most wonderful flavor. The collagen from the Bones will also be extracted into the Water, which you’ll find that when cooled, will turn a jelly-type consistency. This is the sign of a good broth!

Cooking a broth on the stovetop will likely see some of the water evaporate, even if the pot is covered. So, this recipe will likely yield about 8 cups or so of wonderful, Classic Chicken Broth that’s ready for all your cooking needs

Strain the Broth to get the best consistency

The final step is to remove all the large bones and vegetables from the Pot. You can just use tongs and discard the larger pieces. Then, strain the liquid through a fine sieve to remove all the smaller bits and pieces

For the best result, we like to strain the liquid twice. On the second strain, add some Cheesecloth to the sieve for an even finer strain. This will yield the best, smoothest result for your Chicken Broth. You can use what you need immediately for any cooking. We recommend letting the remaining broth cool, then cover it with cling film and refrigerate overnight

The next morning you’ll find that a layer of fat has formed around the surface of the Broth. It’s totally fine to use in cooking, however many prefer to remove that layer of fat and discard it

Store what you don’t need in the freezer for future use

There aren’t many dishes that will require this much Chicken Broth to be used in them, so we recommend freezing what is left for future use. The Broth can stay in the freezer for up to a couple of months, so you’ve got plenty of time to use this wonderful ingredient for all your future cooking

We recommend storing the Broths in individual Ziploc bags, so you only need to defrost what you need for cooking. If you defrost Chicken Broth it must be used immediately. If not, it will spoil. You can prevent this from happening, but it does involve re-boiling the stock then cooling it and freezing. So, best to just take out what you need

We like to measure out 1 cup increments of Chicken Broth and pour them into individual Ziploc bags. If you’re freezing multiple broths at once by making some of out other wonderful Stocks and Broths it’s critical that you label the bags, so you know what broth is in each bag!

What are the benefits of using homemade Chicken Broth vs. store-bought broths and stocks?

There are two main, and very massive benefits from making and using your own Chicken Broth instead of buying the store-bought stuff. Well, there’s three actually, as the third one being that it’s a lot cheaper, which is also a pretty big deal! Other than price, the two main benefits of using homemade Chicken Broth are:

1. It’s healthier for you
2. It tastes better
   
   

If there were ever two reasons for using an ingredient in your cooking, this has to be it. So many times, the reason we eat unhealthy food or ingredients is because it tastes better. Which is why junk food is still so popular. For the fact that this ingredient is not only extremely healthier for you, but also tastes better makes it a no brainer

1. Homemade Classic Chicken Broth is healthier for you

First, you know exactly what ingredients are being put into the broth. There’s no hidden ingredients or weird stuff which is so common in store-bought Broths. It’s simply Chicken Bones, some Vegetables, and Water. So, it’s incredibly healthy for you

The store-bought Broths contain an insane amount of Salt (sodium). Even the ‘low sodium’ branded stuff has a ridiculous amount of Salt in them. The reason for this is to make the Broth shelf stable, which is why that stuff can sit on the shelves for weeks and still technically be good to use

Homemade Broths have a minimal shelf-life, so you need to freeze it to keep it stable. The fact that the store-bought stuff can sit there, unrefrigerated for weeks and still be ok to eat should cause alarm bells to anyone even slightly conscious about their health

2. Homemade Chicken Broth tastes far better

The aggressive levels of Sodium in that store-bought stuff also completely ruins the balance of dishes that it’s being used it. You’ll find you’re trying to constantly reduce the salty flavor in the dish brought on by the Broth

Making your own homemade Chicken Broth doesn’t require any salt or seasoning. Therefore, you have total control over how much, or how little seasoning you’re adding to your dish as you’re cooking it, making the dish taste way better

Not only that, the overall Chicken flavor in a homemade broth is so much more pronounced. Because, you guessed it, the primary ingredient in the dish is Chicken! Roasting the Chicken Bones and then extracting all that flavor into the broth leaves the most wonderful, fresh Chicken flavored Broth imaginable. It’s a powerful flavor that transforms good dishes into great ones!

Classic Chicken Broth Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. of Chicken Bones (about 2 whole Chickens worth)
• 1 Onion, halved
• 1 Carrot, halved
• 2 Celery Sticks, halved
  
  

Instructions

1. Place the Chicken Bones and Vegetables on a large sheet pan then roast in the Oven at 400F for about 30 minutes until caramelized and the Chicken is a dark brown color
2. Remove from Oven and then place everything into a large pot on the stovetop. Scrape any pieces of meat or vegetables that have stuck to the sheet pan off and add to the Pot. You can use a little bit of boiling water to help remove them
3. Fill up the Pot with water to cover all the ingredients (about 10 – 12 cups should do it). Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling drop the heat to a simmer and leave for 4 – 5 hours
4. After 4 – 5 hours, remove the large pieces of Chicken and Vegetables then discard. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a large bowl. For the best results, strain twice, on the second time strain through a Cheesecloth placed inside your sieve
5. Allow Chicken Broth to cool and then cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the Cling Film and the layer of fat that has formed on the surface. Freeze what Broth you don’t need into individual 1-cup Ziploc bags
   
   

A classic Chicken Broth is the cornerstone to home cooking, and we highly recommend that you always have some of this wonderful ingredient in your freezer ready to be used. If you need some Chicken Broth in a pinch, why not try our Instant Pot Chicken Broth recipe, which only takes 1 ½ hours to make! You do need an Instant Pot to make this recipe however

We hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe and are well on your way to cooking some tasty meals using our Classic Chicken Broth recipe. Here’s a few of our favorite dishes that use Chicken Broth:

• Cajun Steak and Grits
• Garlic Butter Shrimp with Paprika
• Roast Vegetable Lentil Salad
• Cast Iron Creamy Chicken with Mushrooms
  
  

Happy Cooking!