May 20, 2024

Classic Chicken Bone Broth

Chicken bone broth is a staple needed in most kitchens. This easy bone broth recipe will have you making your own homemade bone broth in no time. While you can drink it for its high nutrient content, you can also use it as a base in many recipes. You will be shocked at how easy it is to make your own bone broth!

With this simple chicken bone broth recipe, you will be making your own broth in no time.

In this recipe, you will learn how to make the easiest and most delicious chicken bone broth.

Chicken Bone Broth

Classic chicken bone broth is made with a combination of chicken bones, onions, seasoning, and garlic. The simplicity of this timeless broth lets all of the different flavours of your ingredients shine together.

Incorporating chicken bone broth into your diet is an amazing way to enhance the flavour and richness in your food. As a result, it will also help to improve your health and maintain your immune system. By using this broth in your soups or drinking a fresh cup of bone broth, it is an amazing way to incorporate healthy nutrition into your diet.

Bone Broth vs. Stock

What’s the difference?!

Bone broth and chicken stock are both flavorful liquids made by simmering bones, vegetables, and seasonings in water. However, there are some differences between the two:

Bone Broth: bone broth ingredients consist of chicken, beef, or fish bones along with vegetables and herbs placed into water and simmered for an extended period of time, often 12-24 hours or more. While it is a long cooking time, this allows the bones to release collagen, gelatin, and other nutrients into the broth, resulting in a rich, flavourful liquid.
Chicken Stock: chicken stock ingredients consist of chicken bones, vegetables, and herbs placed into water and simmered for a shorter period of time, usually around 2-6 hours. Chicken stock is cooked until the flavours are extracted from the ingredients. This is why chicken stock may not have as much collagen or gelatin content as bone broth.

Can I Make This Recipe as a Chicken Stock Instead of a Bone Broth?

Yes, you can. All you will have to do to change this recipe to chicken stock instead of bone broth is reduce the cooking time from 16 hours to 3-4 hours, and you can then enjoy your homemade chicken stock.

Health Benefits of Chicken Bone Broth

Nutrient Rich: Chicken bone broth is nutrient rich in vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. It contains nutrients that are vital for bone health and electrolyte balances.
Hydration: Because of its high water content, chicken broth helps to hydrate you by replenishing the water lost due to illness or physical activity. Electrolytes can be lost due to sweating and chicken broth restores your electrolyte imbalance.
Supports Gut Health: Chicken broth is rich with gelatin because the simmering of the slow cooker removes the collagen from the bones and connective tissue of the chicken. Gelatin can help to repair the lining of the digestive tract.
Boosts Immunity: Chicken broth is rich in vitamins such as vitamin C and Zinc which help to support immune functions and fight off illnesses and infections.
Joint Health: The gelatin and collagen in chicken broth may help to support joint health and reduce inflammation.
Promotes Hair and Nail Growth: Hair and nails’ main component is collagen. As chicken broth is full of collagen, consuming it can help to promote hair and nail health and growth.
Easy to Digest: Chicken broth is easy on the stomach and easily digested. People with easily upset stomachs or digestive issues are able to consume chicken broth with little difficulty. Chicken broth can help to soothe upset stomachs and help with gastrointestinal issues.

How Do I Know that My Chicken Bone Broth is Done?

The main indications that your chicken bone broth has finished cooking are taste, time, and colour and consistency.

Taste: your bone broth should have a rich and savoury taste with a robust chicken flavour and hints of herbs and spices.

Time: if your chicken broth has simmered all night, it should have a beautiful golden colour which means that it is most likely finished cooking. It may seem like a long time to simmer your chicken bone broth, but time is what changes this recipe from a stock into a broth. By simmering your bone broth for such a long time it allows your broth to have the maximum amount of flavour and nutrients put into your broth.

Colour: your chicken broth should have a rich, golden colour and wonderful aroma coming from it. Once sieved, it should have a smooth consistency. If it seems to have a greasy or cloudy appearance, it probably needs to simmer for a longer time. Allowing your broth to simmer all night should give it a golden colour.

When you are breaking the bones apart easily, this normally means that the bone broth is finished because the good nutrients like gelatin from the bone marrow have been released into your broth.

How Do I Store my Chicken Bone Broth?

Preparation: strain your bone broth through a sieve into a separate container and discard the bones and excess fat.
Cooling Down: allow your bone broth to cool down before transferring to storage containers.
Storage: transfer to the fridge. The broth solidifies in the fridge causing the fat to rise to the top. Remove the fat and discard it. You can now reheat the bone broth to drink and use in your meals.
Freezing: if you do not think that you will use the bone broth within the next few days, transfer it into a freezer safe dish and put it into the freezer for the future. Leave some space at the top of the container for it to expand in the freezer.
Storage Duration: you can store your bone broth in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. You can freeze it for up to 3 months in freezer safe containers. Discard any bone broth that has developed an off smell, appearance, or mold growth.
Unthawing: when you need the bone broth, remove it from the freezer and let it unthaw overnight inside of the fridge. Once thawed, use the bone broth within 24 hours and do not refreeze it.

Ingredients

Chicken Carcass/Roasted Chicken Bones: the chicken carcass is what you will simmer in water. This is where you will get the rich flavour and abundance of nutrients for your chicken bone broth from.

Onions: onions add more flavour to your bone broth. Once you have finished cutting up your onion into large pieces, put the onions into the slow cooker. They will then simmer with your chicken carcass.

Garlic Cloves: garlic is used to add flavour to your dishes as well. Because it is commonly used as a health supplement to fight off the common cold and flu, I add a few extra cloves into the broth.

Filtered Water: you will need to add water to the slow cooker. Adding enough water until your chicken carcass is submerged, will give you about four cups of chicken bone broth. If you would like more than that, add more water until you have the desired amount.

Tips

- You can use raw bones in your broth but using roasted chicken bones lends so much more flavour to the broth.
- Using a slow cooker is such an easy way to make chicken broth as you just need to turn it on and leave it for 16 hours. It will gently simmer as you sleep and yield a delicious and flavourful broth.
- Simmering low and slow makes your broth so much more flavourful than letting it come to a rigorous boil. Letting it come to a slow simmer on the low setting prevents the broth from becoming cloudy.
- Do not over season your broth. If you want your broth as a beverage you can add more seasoning at that time.
- Adding a splash of an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or vinegar allows for more minerals to be drawn out of the chicken bones.
- Store the broth in your freezer safe dishes to use in meals in the future.