Chicken bone broth

Adding bone broth to your diet is not only beneficial for your health, it’s also a great way to build flavor and add richness to your meals! In this blog post I’ll give you my best tips and tricks on how to make chicken bone broth – it’s easy and so delicious!

Bone broth is enjoyable seasoned and sipped on it’s own as well as an amazing flavorbuilding ingredient in things like soups, sauces and stews.

Stock vs. broth

For years I used the words stock and broth interchangeably, but as it turns out it’s actually two different things.

Stock

Stock is made from simmered bones (might have meat scraps too) and cartilage, veggie scraps, aromatics and water. Often times the bones are roasted prior to simmering for a darker and more flavorful stock. Stock is generally cooked for about 2-6 hours, might be gelatinous and is always left unseasoned. Stock is not consumed ‘as is’, but is used to cook with.

Broth

Broth is made from simmered meat (might have bone pieces too), veggie scraps, aromatics and water. It’s is generally cooked for less than 2 hours, typically isn’t gelatinous and is often seasoned. Broth is ready to be consumed ‘as is’, but is also used to cook with.

Bone broth

Care for a cup of… stroth?

Um… No thanks?

I totally get why bone broth isn’t called stroth – it just sounds weird. Bone broth is however technically a fusion of stock and broth.

Bone broth is made from bones, cartilage and sometimes meat, veggie scraps, aromatics and water. The bones are sometimes roasted prior to simmering. It’s generally cooked for 6-48 hours (depending on what type of bones being used) to extract gelatin, collagen, amino acids and minerals from the bone material. It’s typically gelatinous and it may be seasoned, ready to be consumed ‘as is’.

Definition-wise bone broth is definitely a mix of stock and broth!

For both sipping and general use in recipes I prefer chicken bone broth to beef bone broth, since I find the latter to be to dominant flavor-wise.

You actually don’t need an Instant Pot

Contrary to popular belief you actually don’t need an Instant Pot to make neither bone broth nor hard boiled eggs. I know, this is startling information.

I’m joking, but also I’m not. I don’t have an Instant Pot, but I’m sure it makes great bone broth and hard boiled eggs too.

The really cool thing about pressure cookers in general though, is that they save you a lot of time – rich gelatinous broth can be made in hours instead of days, which is actually kind of magical! (…I might get an Instant Pot after all).

I like the low ‘n’ slow process when making bone broth though, so this recipe is for chicken bone broth made on the stove top.

Compared to a slow cooker, I think the stove top method makes more flavorful and gelatinous bone broth, but feel free to use your slow cooker, if you prefer that.

Use the best quality meat and bones available

When making bone broth you’re essentially simmering down and concentrating whatever it is, that you’re cooking. Therefore using parts from animals that have lived happy healthy lives makes good sense – both in regards to flavor and health. Do the best you can with what’s available to you.

3 ways to get ready for this jelly

If you’re in favor of the holy broth Gods your broth will gel once cooled #bonebrothgoals

A gelatinous jiggly texture means, that adequate gelatin was extracted by the bone, cartilage and skin material and although the gelatinous texture has nothing to do with flavor (gelatin is flavorless) chances are a gelatinous broth is more flavorful, because it simmered for longer.

A gelatinous broth has a richer and fuller mouthfeel too (even when melted), so there’s no reason not to aim for the jiggle – here’s some ideas to get you there:

1. Don’t just use bones, remember to throw in cartilage and skin too.
2. Add a couple of chicken feet, a cow foot or some beef tendons (beef tendons should be preboiled shortly (about 10 minutes) and rinsed with water before being added to the ‘broth pot’) – these parts are all rich in gelatin and will ensure a rich and gelatinous broth.
3. Let the broth simmer for a really long time – a batch of chicken bone broth simmered for 24-36 hours is more likely to get gelatinous, than a batch simmered for 6 hours. The longer the broth simmers, the more gelatin will get extracted from the dissolving tissues.

If your broth doesn’t gel, don’t stress it. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Your broth will still be a great flavorbuilder and super healthy too!

The scrap bag

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – ‘the scrap bag’ being no exception.

To have a scrap bag in the freezer is a golden practice when you’re in the habit of making your own bone broth.

Saving eatable food scraps will not only make it easier for you to make bone broth (no prep – just dump the content of the bag in a pot of water) it’s also an amazing way to minimize food waste, since you don’t have to use ‘new’ ingredients (those carrot peels will add just as much flavor as a whole carrot).

I save (clean) veggie scraps like

• parsley and thyme stalks
• onion and garlic peels (the leftover peels from roasted garlic is incredible in bone broth!)
• mushroom stems (adds amazing flavor!)
• bits, pieces and generally sad looking celery stalks
• peels, bits and pieces of carrots, celery root, parsnips and sweet potatoes

And obviously it’s not just veggies that are scrapable – same goes with raw or cooked animal parts like bones, pieces of cartilage, skin, etc. Just save everything in your scrap bag for future flavorful and gelatinous bone broth.

Store your scraps in a ziplock bag or glass jar in the freezer, the scraps stores well for many months.

That’s a scrap!

Making chicken bone broth – step I

For the most flavorful and rich chicken bone broth, instead of using just bones, start out by cooking some sort of chicken (a whole chicken, chicken legs or drumsticks and some chicken necks) for a couple of hours. When the meat is fall-of-the-bone tender, remove from the broth. Separate the meat from the bones, cartilages and skin and save the meat for other meals (it freezes well too).

Making chicken bone broth – step II

Dump back the bones, cartilage and skin in the broth pot and add veggie scraps, spices and apple cider vinegar. Bring the broth to a boil and reduce to a simmer. I prefer to simmer the chicken bone broth for 24-36 hours on the stove top, lid ajar. A slow cooker can be used too. When cooking on the stove top, it’s typically necessary to refill the pot with water 2-3 times during a 24-36 hours simmer. This is for the broth not to get to concentrated and/or potentially dry out, since the evaporation on the stove top is greater than in a slow cooker. The last water refill should happen no later than 10’ish hours prior to the bone broth being done for it not to get watery.

After 24-36 hours the chicken bone broth is done. It’s beautifully golden, most (if not all) cartilage is completely dissolved and some of the bones might be crumbling – so many nutrients and lots of delicious flavor are in the bone broth at this point! I never add salt to my bone broth, since I find it easier to cook with plain, not risking adding to much salt to a dish.

Making chicken bone broth – step III

Pour the chicken bone broth through a fine mesh stainless steel strainer and store it in mason jars.

The broth stores well in the fridge for a couple of weeks and freezes well for many months too.

Chicken bone broth

Chicken bone broth is delicious seasoned and sipped on it’s own as well as an amazing flavorbuilding ingredient in things like soups, sauces and stews.

Servings 3-4 qt / 3-4 L

Ingredients

Step I

• 1 whole chicken OR 3-4 whole chicken legs OR 8 drum sticks
• 10-20 chicken necks OR some chunks of turkey neck (optional, adds flavor and the meat is yum!)

Step II

• Additional bone/cartilage/skin scraps (optional, use if having)
• Veggie scraps (obviously the content of a veggie scrap bag varies, but my favorite mix is listed in the scrap bag section above) – in lieu of ‘already made’ veggie scraps use 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 4 mushrooms, 2-4 cloves garlic and some flat-leaf parsley
• 1-2 tbsp black peppercorns
• 10 bay leaves
• 2-4 tbsp dried minced onion (optional, but adds a delicious mellow onion flavor)
• A splash of apple cider vinegar (this was originally recommended for the vinegar’s ability to draw out minerals from the bone material, but recently it’s thought no longer to be accurate – I add it still though, if for nothing else just for the flavor)

Instructions

Step I

1. Place the chicken and chicken necks in a large pot (5-6 qt / 5-6 L), fill with water.
2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer – remove any impurities on the surface.
3. Let the chicken simmer 2-4 hours until fall-of-the-bone tender.
4. Remove the chicken and necks with a slotted spoon and let cool a bit before removing all the meat from the bones. Carefully remove the meat from the necks too (they crumble easily and there’s not much meat, but it’s SO delicious).
5. Save the meat for other meals or freeze it in portions.
6. If using a slow cooker the chicken probably needs to cook closer to 4-8 hours on LOW before fall-of-the-bone tender.

Step II

1. Dump back all the bones, necks, pieces of cartilage and skin in the broth pot.
2. Add additional animal scraps (if having), veggie scraps, spices and apple cider vinegar.
3. If necessary, add water to fill the pot.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer on the lowest setting possible.
5. Let the broth simmer, lid ajar, for 24-36 hours. When I do a 24+ hour batch (which I recommend for the most flavorful bone broth) I typically refill the pot with water 2-3 times. This is for the bone broth not to get to concentrated and/or potentially dry out, since the evaporation on the stove top is greater than in a slow cooker. For the bone broth not to get watery, the last water refill should happen no later than 10’ish hours prior to the bone broth being done.
6. After 24-36 hours the bone broth is done.
7. If using a slow cooker water refills might not be necessary or maybe you just need 1 instead of 2-3.

Step III

1. Pour the chicken bone broth through a fine mesh stainless steel strainer and store the beautiful golden liquid in mason jars.

Storage and shelf life

1. The chicken bone broth stores well in the fridge for a couple of weeks and freezes well for many months too.

Do you want to print the instructions on how to make chicken bone broth? I’ve got you!