Have you ever made homemade chicken broth? It’s great as a base for classic chicken soup, or to keep on hand for a boost of flavor in any recipe. And it’s so much easier than you think!
Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
I’ll be totally honest. We really don’t eat a lot of chicken around here. We buy beef from a friend, and we buy it 1/4 of a beef at a time. We butcher our own pig every year. And we have some deer and elk meat in there, too. So chicken just doesn’t hit our regular menu very often. When it does, I want to get everything I can out of that chicken!
In this video on AgriCultured, John and I showed you how to cut up a whole chicken. And I told you in that video that you should save the backbone to use in homemade chicken broth. Here is that chicken broth! Are you ready? It’s really easy!
Heat all this to boiling, then let it simmer (covered) for 2-3 hours. Let it cool for a bit, and strain it through cheesecloth to get all the chunky vegetables and chicken bones out. Pull the meat off the bones, and use it for your soup later!
You’ll need to skim the fat off the broth before you use it. If you leave the fat in it, your recipes will end up with a greasy feel to them, and nobody likes that. If you want to use the broth right away, use a spoon to gently scoop the fat off the top of the bowl. In the photo below, the fat is the white circle in the center of the spoon. Scoop that off, and toss it.
If you’re not in a hurry to use the broth, refrigerate it overnight. The fat will all rise to the top and will harden, making it super-easy to take off. In the photo below, you can see that the fat is the white layer on the top of the bowl.
Use a spoon to break through the edge, and just lift the hardened fat layer off. This came off in 3 pieces. Easy-peasy!
This recipe makes 6-10 cups of broth, depending on how much water you start with, and how long you let it simmer. Even though I do use chicken broth in a lot of recipes, I don’t go through it quite that fast! So I freeze it. You can freeze it in Ziploc freezer bags if you want to freeze large portions (1 cup or more).
Freeze your trays overnight, then pop out the cubes. Store them in Ziploc freezer bags, and only take out as many cubes as you need for each recipe!
Now what? Use this chicken broth as the base for this easy Homemade Chicken Soup. Pull a cube out of the freezer and add it to cooking rice for a bit of extra flavor. Grab a muffin-sized disc from the freezer and use it in place of store-bought chicken broth in any recipe.
I only used 1 teaspoon of salt in this chicken broth. That’s not a lot of salt for 6-10 cups of water! It’s probably best to wait to add any more salt when you’re cooking with the broth. Just remember that you will probably need to add salt to any recipe that calls for store-bought chicken broth. Or, if you’re looking for a way to decrease your family’s salt intake, this could be one way.
Enjoy!
How will you use this chicken broth?
Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
Ingredients
- 2 chicken backs and gizzards without the liver
- 3 stalks celery with leaves cut into large pieces
- 2 carrots unpeeled, cut into large pieces
- 1 large onion unpeeled and cut in quarters
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 6-10 cups cold water enough to cover the ingredients in the stock pot
Instructions
- Add all ingredients, except water, to a large stockpot. Cover with water.
- Cover stockpot, and bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Strain broth through cheesecloth and a colander. Set chicken pieces aside. Discard vegetables, peppercorns, and bay leaves. When cool, remove meat from chicken bones and reserve for other use.
- Cover and refrigerate broth overnight in the refrigerator, then remove fat and discard.
- Store broth, covered, in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
- Pour broth into Ziploc bags, ice cube trays, or muffin tins to freeze. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
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[…] chicken is perfect to cook on the weekend. Have dinner one night, use the bones to make a tasty broth, and have leftovers for a busy night later in the week. What more do you need in a […]