Homemade chicken bone broth recipe (chicken stock using carcass)! You'll love how easy it is to make chicken bone broth at home! It uses the whole chicken so you save the reserve tender meat for tacos, soup, and more!
It's the truest food to offer warmth and nourishment as well as flavor. Use bone broth in recipes for medicinal, healing, and its collagen protein. Check out the benefits of bone broth to wow you about this easy broth recipe!
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Why this bone broth recipe works
- Comfort food that is versatile - Chicken broth from bones is the ultimate comfort food. Once you've got down this basic bone broth recipe, the possibilities for adding it to vegetable soup, a cabbage soup diet, pan cooked chicken breast, vegetable stir fry and meals are limitless.
- Bone broth is nourishing - Bone broth is loaded with more nourishment than chicken broth alone and the amazing health benefits of bone broth are astonishing. Chicken marrow is filled with nutrients and are great for skin and bone strength, loaded with minerals, gelatin for nail growth, contain amino acids, reducing inflammation in the gut, boosting the immune system, and healing the body when sick.
- Enjoy it as healing tea - Drink up, because just like green tea with honey and drinking lemon water before bed, this bone broth recipe is great for sipping like tea! This is a simple chicken bone broth that provides more nutrients and minerals found from the bones and tendons of chickens than you can get from a pill, since our bodies absorb real food better than vitamins. Whenever you feel a cold coming on, drink this bone broth recipe to support healing. Add it to your natural remedies for cold cough and flu.
What is the difference between bone broth and regular broth or stock?
Both bone broth and chicken broth or chicken stock use the same ingredients and methods, but to get bone broth the chicken bones and vegetables must cook for at least 12 hours to draw out collagen and other nutrients from bone marrow.
Let's break it down.
Bone Broth
Bone broth is made by simmering the broth for a very long time. It has beautiful flavor and color and is slightly thicker in texture with a gel-like consistency when chilled. This is from the high amounts of collagen protein and gelatin it contains from a longer period of cooking - usually 12 to 15 hours.
Chicken Stock
Stock is also thicker in texture with a gelatin appearance when chilled. It is made from simmering bones with the meat for a short duration - about 3-4 hours total.
Regular Broth
Chicken broth is thinner and lighter in color. It is made by cooking the meat and bones for a very short time - about 1 hour and contains less of the collagen and marrow nutrients. It is perfect for adding flavor to soups and sauces like in chicken pot pie and stuffing.
Ingredients for this recipe
- Organic whole chicken (3-4 pounds) and carcass
- Carrot
- Celery Stalks
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Herbs - thyme, bay leaf, parsley
- Apple cider vinegar - learn how to make apple cider vinegar with apple scraps.
- Salt and pepper
- Water
Tip
I suggest using Butcherbox organic whole chicken or any organic poultry for making this chicken bone broth recipe. This assures the bone broth is without added hormones and antibiotics. It is also optional to also add 1-inch peeled turmeric root to this recipe for additional anti-inflammatory benefits.
How to make chicken bone broth
Make the broth and cook the chicken via Stovetop method or Slow Cooker method:
Stovetop method:
Add everything in a large stockpot and bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.
After 1 hour remove the chicken and remove the meat from the bones. Save the chicken meat for another use.
Return the bones to the broth and cook for 11-14 more hours on low (total time 12-15 hours).
Water will evaporate, so add more water and check throughout the cooking time and add even more water as needed. You want 3 inches of water over the whole chicken and the same amount throughout the cooking. The water will evaporate so you will need to keep adding some.
Using a strainer strain over a large bowl to discard the vegetables, seasonings and bones. Let it cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day strain off the fat from the top of the chicken bone broth. It will be thick and like a gelatine when the chicken broth is refrigerated.
Tip: This method is a bit more tedious as you have to keep an eye on it for 12 hours! The water evaporates during cooking, so you will need to replenish it during the cooking duration. You can also do a short version of the stovetop method and only simmer for 2-4 hours to make more of a broth or stock.
Slow cooker method:
Add everything to the slow cooker and cook on low. After 2 hours remove the chicken and remove the meat from the bones. Save them for another use. Return the bones to the broth and cook for 10-13 more hours on low (total time 12-15 hours). Check throughout if more water is needed to be added. You want the chicken submerged in the water to cook. Using a strainer strain over a large bowl to discard the vegetables, seasonings and bones. Let it cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day strain off the fat from the top of the chicken bone broth. It will be thick and like a gelatine when the chicken broth is refrigerated.
Tip: Slow cooker chicken bone broth is so simple to make and my favorite method. You can add everything to the slow cooker, and remove the meat after 2 hours. Then let it simmer on low until the next day - so simple!
Tips for cooking a whole chicken into broth
- When cooking a whole chicken with the bones to make broth, the chicken should always be just covered with liquid, in this case water. This ensures that no parts of the meat are uncooked.
- Use a meat thermometer to guarantee that the meat is cooked through to safe temperature of 165 degrees F. before removing from the bones.
- Keep the chicken and vegetables cooking at a gentle simmer.
- Cooking the bones of the chicken without the meat in a second step draws the nutrients from the chicken bones into the broth. Don't skip that step, otherwise you just have chicken broth rather than chicken bone broth.
- Straining out the aromatics (seasonings and vegetables) will help produce a cleaner broth. The vegetables are soft and most of the nutrients and flavor is now in the broth.
How to store and freeze homemade broth
How to store chicken bone broth in glass jars:
Never add hot liquid to a jar then put it in the refrigerator or freezer. The quick temperature change with cause the glass to break. Let the liquid cool first then pour it into a glass like these mason jars with a lid. Do not fill the jar to the top. Leave some room at the top of the jar for the liquid to expand during freezing to prevent the jar from breaking or lid from exploding.
How to store chicken bone broth in freezer bags:
To store the bone broth in freezer bags let the broth first cool completely and use quart size freezer bags. Label each freezer bag "Chicken Bone Broth" and the date and add the broth to each bag, sealing tightly with all air removed. Place the bags in the freezer laying flat, which helps them to thaw quickly when ready to use. It is a good idea to double bag them to prevent leaks. Use the reserve broth anytime you feel an immunity boost is needed or it’s time to make homemade soup!
Store homemade chicken bone broth in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Recipes to use bone broth
Try this chicken bone broth recipe in these healthy recipes!
- Sip chicken bone broth warm in a mug for healing and absorb all the benefits.
- Stir Fry Vegetables - use for the sauce instead of vegetable broth or a beef broth
- Anti-inflammatory Curry Rice Vegetable Bowls
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Healthy Curry Chicken Soup
- Gluten-Free Chicken Pot Pie
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Taco Soup
If you make this chicken bone broth recipe I would love to see your creations and share it! Follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to be featured and for more recipe inspiration! And don't forget to rate the recipe in the recipe area and leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Bone Broth Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole organic chicken (3-4 pounds) and carcass
- 8 cups filtered water
- 1 onion halved
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 large carrots
- 2 garlic cloves whole
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley
- 3 thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf dry
Instructions
Stovetop
- Add everything in a large stockpot and bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. After 1 hour remove the chicken and remove the meat from the bones. Save the chicken meat for another use. Return the bones to the broth and cook for 11-14 more hours on low (total time 12-15 hours). Add more water and check throughout the cooking time and add even more water as needed. You want 3 inches of water over the whole chicken and the same amount throughout the cooking. The water will evaporate so you will need to keep adding some. Using a strainer strain over a large bowl to discard the vegetables, seasonings and bones. Let it cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day strain off the fat from the top of the chicken bone broth. It will be thick and like a gelatine when the chicken broth is refrigerated.
Slow Cooker
- Add everything to the slow cooker and cook on low. After 2 hours remove the chicken and remove the meat from the bones. Save them for another use. Return the bones to the broth and cook for 10-13 more hours on low (total time 12-15 hours). Check throughout if more water is needed to be added. You want the chicken submerged in the water to cook. Using a strainer strain over a large bowl to discard the vegetables, seasonings and bones. Let it cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day strain off the fat from the top of the chicken bone broth. It will be thick and like a gelatine when the chicken broth is refrigerated.
Notes
Suggested Reading
Before this article, I read Dr. Kellyann’s Bone Broth Diet book. It is a wonderful book to learn about the health benefits of bone broth with a weight loss plan that fits most lifestyles, similar to the popular cabbage soup diet.
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