What is Chicken Broth?

Chicken broth is made by cooking chicken (usually bone in, skin on) in water with vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper. It is a thinner liquid that is well suited to making soups and stews. Chicken broth is also great for cooking rice, potatoes or pasta. Chicken broth doesn't take as long to make as stock, requiring only 1 to 2 hours of simmer time. Chicken broth tastes good, just on its own.

What is Chicken Stock?

It takes longer to cook chicken stock than it takes to make chicken broth. It needs to simmer at least 4 hours, and even up to 6. Homemade Chicken Stock is typically made by simmering chicken bones with vegetables and perhaps a small amount of herbs and seasoning. It is not seasoned as intensely as chicken broth and on it's own may taste bland or flat. Stock is usually thicker than chicken broth, too, as the longer simmer time allows the collagen/gelatin to be extracted from the bones. Chicken stock is great for making gravy and sauces because of its silky texture and the fact that it's light seasoning complements, rather than overpowers, the dishes it's used in.

It's odd, really, that we call it broth. Bone broth is actually a type of stock. Chicken bone broth is made almost exclusively from bones. Not always, but usually. The bones can be cooked with vegetables, but it's not typical. Especially when using commercial bone broth, my personal opinion is that the flavor is usually not great. It's very easy to go OVER when making bone broth. It can be simmered anywhere from 12-48 hours. However, the longer it cooks and the more the bones break down, the more bitter the flavor can become. If you want a truly excellent flavored chicken bone broth, you would be better served to make one from scratch and carefully watch the timing, tasting as you go.

What is the white foam that forms on the top of the pot when boiling chicken?

It's the water soluble proteins being released from the chicken as it cooks. They mix with the fats being rendered from the skin and with the water the chicken is being cooked in and that mixture floats. It's perfectly safe. The foam may even turn brown or grayish as the chicken cooks. And as a matter of fact, it happens with any meat you boil at a high temperature. For the purposes of our chicken broth recipe, it will all be gone when the broth is strained at the end.

Can I use different vegetables in my chicken stock?

Of course. There is a distinctive flavor that comes from the combination of carrots, onion and celery. And they are a classic base for many, many broths and soups. I wouldn't leave those out, but I do often add to them. So, if I have a zucchini on it's last legs or the end piece of an jalapeno, I may very well throw them in. I have used bell pepper ends and pieces, too, as well as green onions, spinach, kale and parsnips. If you have other veggies on hand, that need to be used up they can only add more flavor to your broth. How can more flavor be wrong? Right?

Homemade Chicken Broth Recipe, Easy and Delicious

Description

Homemade Chicken Broth is silky and flavorful. It’s chicken-y goodness with notes of flavor from veggies and herbs. It’s healthy, delicious and easy to make. It’s naturally gluten free and dairy free.

Ingredients

Scale

6 split chicken breasts (or a whole chicken)
2 large (or 3 medium) onions, any color
5 or 6 medium carrots
4 or 5 ribs of celery
1 bunch of fresh parsley, leaves and stems
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
3 bay leaves

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Add the chicken pieces or a whole chicken to the bottom of your stock pot. I use a 12 quart stock pot for this recipe and it gets filled almost completely. So, I wouldn’t use anything smaller than a 12 quart stock pot or you won’t be able to get enough liquid in. (Cut the recipe in half if your pot is smaller.)
On top of the chicken, add all the quartered onion pieces.
Then, add the carrots, celery, garlic, onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
Carry the stock pot over to the sink and fill it with water until the chicken and all the vegetables are covered by about 1-inch. Some things are gonna float, of course, but you want enough water to fully cover everything if you were to press them into the bottom of the pot.
Once the pot is filled with water, set it on the largest burner on your stove top and set the burner to high.
Bring the pot to a full rolling boil and then reduce the heat to medium. On my range, that’s about 5or 6 (on a 1-10 scale).
Let the pot continue to simmer on medium for 1 hour.
After 30 minutes, I check to make sure the chicken is cooked through (160° to 165° internal temperature). I leave the pot cooking on the stove, but remove the chicken breasts to a platter or cutting board.
I remove the skin and bones from the chicken and put them back in the stock pot with all the vegetables. This step is to prevent the chicken from becoming dry, tough and overcooked or stringy, while still being able to get all the flavor and collagen from the skin and bones into my homemade chicken broth.
While your homemade chicken broth continues to cook, cool the chicken meat and package for the fridge or freezer or to use in a recipe for dinner.
After the bones and skin are added back to the pot, continue to cook for 2 1/2 hours. The vegetables will become soft and often break into smaller pieces. The chicken broth will have taken on color from the vegetables and from the little bit of fat in the skin.
After 2 1/2 hours, remove the chicken broth from the heat.
Use a strainer over a large bowl or another stock pot to strain all the bones, skin and spent vegetables out of your chicken broth. All the flavor and nutrition from those ingredients is in your luscious chicken broth, now, so the strained out parts can be discarded.
This is the final opportunity, before cooling and storing, to check your chicken broth for seasoning. I almost always need to add a little extra salt and pepper at the very end. Taste and season accordingly.

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 3 hours
Category: Soup
Method: Stove Top
Cuisine: American

Description

Ingredients

Instructions

Our Site Uses Cookies