Homemade Chicken Broth
Published 11/2/2020 • Updated 10/3/2023
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Make this homemade chicken broth and use it in your favorite soup recipe! You boil leftover vegetables with a chicken carcass and it creates the most flavorful broth. You can use it in soups, chilis, sauces, and more.
This broth recipe was inspired after a kitchen day with lots of food scraps. Have you ever noticed when you are preparing a chicken dinner that there are so many bones and vegetable chunks left over? We decided to use up those scraps by making homemade chicken broth.
Making homemade chicken broth from scratch is a bit time-consuming, but it’s worth it. All you need is vegetables (or vegetable scraps), chicken, herbs, and salt! After that, you simmer all day long and BOOM, you’re ready.
What You Need to Make Chicken Broth
Chicken carcass: For this chicken broth recipe we used the carcass and meat from our herby whole roasted chicken. It is already flavored with a delicious dry rub and some butter. We scraped all of the herbs, fat, and leftover chicken pieces into the pot for this chicken broth.
Salt: we recommend that you do not skimp on the salt for this chicken broth recipe! The salt in this recipe helps bring out all the delicious flavors! If you are hoping to make a lower sodium broth feel free to salt to taste!
Vegetables and vegetable scraps: Most chicken broth and chicken stock have mirepoix as a base which is a mixture of onion, carrot, and celery. We use mirepoix and red pepper for extra sweetness.
As for the vegetable scraps, you can use whatever scraps or even fresh vegetables that you have on hand. We put old vegetable scraps in the freezer to use in broths and sauces. Below is an example of scraps that you can save and use in broth or stock.
- Garlic paper
- Onion peel
- Bell pepper core and seeds
- Any rind or skin from any vegetable
- Carrot shavings
Herbs: we simmered this chicken broth with parsley, thyme, and rosemary. We also used a chicken carcass that had some tasty flavors on it already (chili powder, salt, paprika, sugar).
If you want to add extra flavor to you chicken broth feel free to add chili powder, paprika, dried oregano, dried basil, dried Italian seasoning, or a few teaspoons of your favorite spice mix!
Swaps + Variations
- If you don’t have a whole chicken, use any chicken meat that you have around the house. You could also use a rotisserie chicken that you can buy at the store.
- Switch out the herbs for lemongrass or fresh ginger to change up the flavor of the broth.
Chicken Stock vs Broth
This is the age-old question. What is the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth?
Chicken stock tends to be made with more bones and simmers for more than 2 hours. Stock also is made with chicken and vegetables.
Chicken broth tends to be made with chicken meat and bones, vegetables, and seasonings. It can have a lower simmer time. Broth generally has more flavor because it is seasoned!
Storage
To store the chicken broth, let the broth cool completely before pouring it into mason jars. Tightly seal the mason jars and place them in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months!
Tutorial
How to Freeze Soup & Chili
Learn how to freeze soup and chili with this easy How to Freeze Soup tutorial. We’ll share all of our tips and tricks to perfect freezer soup.
How to use Homemade Chicken Broth
Use this chicken broth in any of our soup or chili recipes. We highly recommend this one-pot golden curry soup or this classic minestrone soup.
How to Make Chicken Broth
Ingredients
- Leftover bones, meat, skin, and juices from a raw or cooked full chicken
- 1 head of garlic, with the paper and peels, roughly chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 3 medium celery stalks, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, chopped
- 1 large red pepper, with the stem and seeds, chopped
- 1-2 cups veggie scraps
- 2 teaspoons salt, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 6 cups water
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley
- 5-7 sprigs of thyme or rosemary
Instructions
- Begin by placing the leftover chicken, skin, juices, and chicken carcass into a large dutch oven.
- Place the rest of the ingredients into the dutch oven and cover.
- Heat the dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil.
- When the water comes to a rolling boil, turn the heat to low and let the chicken broth simmer on low for 4-6 hours (the longer the simmer the more flavorful the broth).
- Check the chicken broth every 1 ½ hours and scrape any foam or fat that gathers at the top of the dutch oven.
- When the chicken broth is done, remove the dutch oven from the heat and discard the larger chunks of vegetables and the chicken carcass.
- Finally, pour the remainder of the chicken broth through a sieve and into a large jar or bowl. Discard any chunks in the sieve.
- Use the chicken broth for a soup or let the chicken broth cool completely before pouring the broth into mason jars or any other airtight container.
- Place the broth in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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