Description
How to craft a rich, flavorful chicken stock with leftover roasted chicken! This rich, savory bone broth is a nutrient-dense foundation for homemade soups and stews.
Ingredients
- 15 cups of cold water
- 1 1/2– 2 pounds chicken carcass from a roasted chicken *see notes
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
—
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 large onion
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, stems included
Optional additions: 2-3 chicken feet and a chicken neck, both rich in collagen and nutrients will also give the broth a silky feel.
You can add ingredients such as: garlic, ginger, thyme, and rosemary based on what you plan to make with your broth.
Instructions
- Optional step- Pound the bones with a mallet just enough to crack them. (Alternatively, squeezing the bones with pilers works great too.) Smashing chicken bones when making chicken stock helps release more gelatin and flavor, resulting in a richer and more robust stock.
- Stove top method: Place water, chicken carcass, (chicken feet and neck if using), apple cider vinegar, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil and then cook on a low simmer for 3 hours and up to 12 hours. Skim any foam and discard. Add more water if needed.
- Add celery, carrots, onion and parsley. Simmer for another 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours. Cool and strain. Strain through a colander first to get the preliminary chunks and then switch to a fine mesh strainer. (Use a cheese cloth for ultra pure.)
- Store in glass jars and seal with an airtight lid.
Notes
Remember to keep all the pan drippings from your chicken carcass and the skin for extra flavor. It’s easy to remove the fat from the broth after it refrigerates.
Add veggies in the last 1 1/2 hours of simmering. If cooked too long, they can develop a stronger unpleasant metallic flavor and make the stock cloudy.
Keep the veggies and aromatics neutral to let the flavor of the chicken broth lend itself to many different applications, unless you have a specific flavor profile you are using it for.
Adding apple cider vinegar to chicken broth extracts minerals and nutrients from the bones. The acidity of the vinegar aids in breaking down the collagen and connective tissues in the bones, resulting in a richer and more flavorful bone broth.
Store in the refrigerator for 4 days. If you have a thick solid layer of fat on the top of the jar it will last up to two weeks.
Place in the freezer in wide mouth glass canning jars, leaving an inch of space at the top of the jar for expansion (very important so your jar does not crack make you very sad!)
You can certainly use raw chicken. Roasting is going to give more flavor. Roast raw bones at 400° for 30 minutes. Feel free to do some of both!
To make chicken broth in the Instant Pot, place the chicken parts into the pot, add vegetables and seasonings. Pour in enough water to cover the ingredients, usually around 8-10 cups. Secure the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for about 1.5 hours. Allow to natural pressure release (this will take about 30 minutes).
To make chicken stock in a slow cooker, follow method for the stove top. Set the crockpot on low and cook for 8- 12 hours. (Add veggies in the last 2 hours of cooking.)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 82
- Sugar: 2.1 g
- Sodium: 300.1 mg
- Fat: 1.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.6 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 12.1 g
- Cholesterol: 37.2 mg