Olga's Flavor Factory

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebook
  • Olga's Tips
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebook
  • Olga's Tips
  • olgasflavorfactory@gmail.com
  • //instagram.com/olgasflavorfactory
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebook
  • Olga's Tips
  • olgasflavorfactory@gmail.com
  • //instagram.com/olgasflavorfactory
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
×
Home » Recipe Index » Healthy

Homemade Chicken Broth

Published: Jun 8, 2021 by Olga · This post may contain affiliate links

Jump to Recipe

Homemade chicken broth is so rich, flavorful and very simple to make. It's very nourishing, comforting and delicious. You only need a few simple ingredients, there's endless ways to use broth in varieties of recipes and it's so budget friendly too.

Homemade Chicken Broth in jars

I call homemade chicken broth "liquid gold" in my kitchen. It's so much more flavorful than anything you can buy at the store. You can adjust how much salt you use and the flavor by adding a variety of vegetables that you like. Plus, it has all wholesome ingredients, none of the weird stuff that you can't even pronounce or recognize on the ingredients list of the store bought broth. Most store bought chicken broths have only a slight whiff of chicken in the broth. With homemade broth, you will have so much chicken in the broth, which will make it really concentrated and comforting.

Chicken broth is the base of so many of my recipes, so I have some chicken broth on hand at all times. It freezes really well, so make a giant batch of broth and keep it stored in my freezer. Every few months I replenish my supplies. It really is one of the best foundations for my "flavor factory".

There are endless ways that you can use chicken broth and it will make a big difference in the flavor of the meal that you're cooking when you use delicious homemade broth. I also have amazing recipes for both Vegetable Broth and Beef Broth too.

How to Make Homemade Chicken Broth Video:

Ingredients For Homemade Chicken Broth:

  • 1 whole chicken, or chicken parts, such as chicken wings or chicken drumsticks, 3-5 lbs total
  • Vegetables and fresh herbs: onions, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme/dill
  • bay leaves and black peppercorns
  • salt
  • water

Chicken Broth vs. Chicken Stock

Both chicken broth and chicken stock are made by cooking chicken and other aromatic ingredients to make a flavorful liquid that is used in soup and many other recipes.

Chicken broth is cooked with chicken meat but not necessarily chicken bones. Chicken stock is made with chicken bones and sometimes meat. Technically, this recipe is chicken stock, because I always use bones in addition to meat, but since I call it chicken broth and use this as a foundational ingredient in many other recipes, I am choosing to call it Chicken Broth.

What Chicken is Best to Use For Chicken Broth?

You can either use a whole chicken or use the equivalent of chicken parts, like using 3-5 pound of chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, and other chicken bones, such as the backbone. For the best flavor, texture and color, use both bones and some meat.

I also like to remove as much of the skin and large fat pockets of the chicken as you can. This is completely optional, but I don't like chicken broth to be too greasy, so I choose to do this extra step. You will still have plenty of richness and fat in the chicken broth, even after removing all the skin and fat.

Another thing I like to do is to cut off the chicken breast and the chicken tenderloins and save them to be used in other recipes. Chicken breast cooks so quickly that by the time the chicken broth is cooked, the breast and tenderloin will be completely dry and leathery. If you want to use the chicken breast meat, I would still cut it off and cook it in the broth for only 20-25 minutes after the broth comes to a boil, so that it's gently poached and still juicy. Keep the rest of the broth cooking longer.

How To Cook Homemade Chicken Broth From Scratch:

  • Place the prepared whole chicken or chicken pieces, the vegetables, black peppercorns, bay leaves and herbs into a large stockpot. I use a 16-quart pot, but if your stockpot is smaller, you can still use the same amount of ingredients, your broth will just be more concentrated. However, if you use a smaller stockpot, you can also halve the ingredient amounts. 
  • Fill it to the top with water, leaving some room at the top, so that the broth doesn't boil over when it is simmering.
  • Cover the stockpot with a lid, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 1- 1 ½ hours.
  • Skim off the foam from the top of the chicken broth as it is cooking.
  • Season with salt to taste. Don't salt it too much though; if you'll be using this broth for a sauce that needs to reduce, it will be too salty
  • Line a fine mesh sieve with a cheesecloth, coffee filter and strain to get the clearest broth possible. The paper towel will trap all the food particles and fat, leaving you with a beautiful, clear broth.

Helpful Tips:

Vegetables to use in chicken broth: I use very basic ingredients in my broth, but you can add other ingredients too, such as parsnips, celery root, leeks, mushrooms, other vegetables, and fresh herbs, like dill, parsley, thyme, rosemary. It totally depends on your taste preference.

Use good tasting, filtered water for broth. If your tap water tastes funny, so will your broth:).

Save veggie scraps and add to broth: I keep a ziptop bag in my freezer to which I add veggie scraps from vegetables while I am cooking or meal prepping, such as onion peels, celery tops, leek tops, carrot peels, etc. I add those to the broth as well. They add flavor to the broth and it's a great way to make the most of your produce.

Use the onions with the peels and even add additional onion peels to the broth. They will give the broth a lovely golden color.

Save chicken wing tips and other chicken parts, such as the backbone of the chicken or chicken breast bone, when you are cutting it up when preparing it for other recipes, and save them in your freezer to be used the next time you make broth. I store those pieces in my ziptop freezer as well and add those to chicken broth too. The bones still have a lot of nutrients and will give the broth a richer flavor because of the gelatin that's released when simmered for a long time.

Cook the broth at a low simmer to have clear broth. Bring it to a boil, but reduce the heat to low and cook it on low the whole time. This will make your broth clear. Cooking it on high heat will make the broth cloudy.

You can use both fresh or frozen chicken meat for broth. Sometimes when I make a smaller batch, I'll cook the broth using chicken drumsticks and I'll add the chicken completely frozen to the pot.

What to do with the cooked chicken from the broth: Use the chicken in any chicken soup and any recipes that call for cooked chicken. Add the chicken to pasta and rice dishes. Here are some of our favorite recipes:

  • Chicken Salad
  • Avocado and Spinach Chicken Salad Wraps
  • Chicken Appetizers
  • Chicken Quesadillas
  • Chicken and Rice Burritos
  • Chicken and Mushroom Crepes

How to Store Chicken Broth and How to Freeze It:

Store the chicken broth in glass mason jars or plastic containers in your refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Chicken broth freezes really well. Pour the chicken broth that you'll be freezing into plastic storage containers, leaving room at the top for the broth to expand when it freezes. Freeze for up to 3 months. It can probably be stored longer, but chicken broth never lasts longer than that at my house, so I can't vouch for the time period with certainty.

My favorite storage containers for the freezer are the Ziploc Twist and Loc containers. I've been using these for a few years now and they work very well. (This is NOT a sponsored post. I'm just sharing the products that I use myself and have had a good experience with. However, the amazon link is an affiliate link, which will give me a small commission if you buy it using this link.)

How to store and freeze chicken broth

Recipes To Use Your Chicken Broth:

  • Chicken Noodle Soup
  • Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
  • Chicken and Dumpling Soup
  • Easy Chicken, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots in a Velvety Sauce
  • Chicken Meatballs With Caprese Couscous
  • Chicken Rice Pilaf
  • Garlic Braised Chicken in a Creamy White Wine Sauce
  • Chicken Pot Pie Pasta
  • Honey Lemon Glazed Chicken and Baked Barley
Print

Homemade Chicken Broth

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

Homemade chicken broth is so rich, flavorful and very simple to make. It's one of those things that is absolutely worth making from scratch because it makes a big difference in flavor. Not only is it wonderful to make your own chicken broth when you make Chicken Soup, but there's an endless possibility of ways that you can use the chicken broth in so many recipes where it will really bump up the flavor.

  • Author: Olga's Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 min
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield: 6-10 quarts
  • Category: Soups

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 chicken, skinned and breast meat and tenderloins removed
  • 1-2 large onions, quartered, with the skin
  • 1-2 carrots, chopped coarsely
  • 2-4 celery stalks, chopped coarsely
  • 1 garlic head, cut in half
  • 2 dry bay leaves
  • handful of fresh herbs, like parsley, thyme, dill, etc.
  • 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Place all the ingredients into a large stockpot, at least 8 quarts and up to 16 quarts.
  2. Fill it to the top with good filtered water.
  3. Season with salt to taste.
  4. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 1 -1 ½ hours. Every once in a while, skim off the foam from the top of the chicken broth using a slotted spoon. Discard the foam.
  5. Line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth, paper towels, or a coffee filter and strain the broth.
  6. Store the broth in the refrigerator for about 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

More Healthy Homemade Recipes

  • Lemon Garlic Baked Cod
  • Instant Pot Chicken Broth
  • Cabbage Meatball Soup
  • Citrus Fruit Salad

Comments

  1. Zory says

    April 21, 2024 at 10:19 am

    Hi Olga, I am planning on freezing this broth. What’s the best way to thaw it out ?

    Reply
  2. Olya says

    April 11, 2023 at 10:26 am

    perfect broth!

    thank you!

    Reply
  3. medital says

    February 10, 2023 at 5:07 am

    thanks for sharing

    Reply
  4. Lena says

    January 10, 2022 at 10:20 pm

    Hi Olga! I made this out of the turkey that we purchased but didn't use. Let me tell you it came out flavorful with a nice golden color. When I made soup with фрикадельки my family was raving how good it was.
    This recipe is a keeper!!!

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      February 02, 2022 at 10:24 pm

      That's another great option. So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Lena. Thanks for taking the time to write.

      Reply
  5. Giftbasketworldwide says

    August 27, 2021 at 4:13 am

    Very helpful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

    Reply
  6. Bobbie says

    August 05, 2021 at 12:22 am

    Is this able to be canned? How long would you process?

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      August 05, 2021 at 12:13 pm

      I have never canned chicken broth, but you are welcome to try it.

      Reply
  7. linda says

    June 09, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    How long does the chicken broth last in the frig?

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      June 09, 2021 at 2:10 pm

      I wouldn't recommend keeping it in the fridge longer than a week, but it will stay fresh in the freezer for months.

      Reply
  8. Barb says

    March 09, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    Hi Olga
    Have tried many broths and this by far is number one. It is has been staying around the “zero” mark in temperature at nights and this allowed the broth to cool and allow me to scum off the top before placing it containers. Keep up the great work.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      March 10, 2021 at 11:32 am

      I'm so happy that you were pleased with the broth, Barb. Thank you for taking the time to write.

      Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Olga in the kitchen

Welcome!

Hello. I’m Olga, the creator and photographer of the recipes that you see here. Welcome to my online kitchen, where I share step by step recipes and kitchen tips, to make homemade cooking easier, practical, and of course, more flavorful.

More about me

Get Weekly Menu Ideas, Recipes, Kitchen Hacks:

Join thousands of others to get my best cooking and meal prep tips plus handpicked seasonal menu ideas in your email.

Olga's Flavor Factory ebooks bundle
Olga's Ebooks
Olga's Flavor Factory family 2024
Life/Family

Popular

  • Honey Garlic Glazed Meatballs
  • Limoncello Cake
  • Easy Homemade Bread Recipe
  • Ultimate Steelhead Trout Recipe (VIDEO)

Seasonal

  • Healthy Cabbage Salad
  • Fish and Vegetables En Papillote (Fish in Parchment)
  • Borscht - Борщ
  • Orange Salad

Footer

↑ back to top

The Home Cook's Handbook

A Practical Kitchen Resource Guide

Learn more
Buy now

Get Weekly Menu Ideas, Recipes, Kitchen Hacks:

Join thousands of others to get my best cooking and meal prep tips plus handpicked seasonal menu ideas in your email.

About

  • About
  • Starting A Blog
  • FAQ
  • Olga’s Tips
  • Shop

Social Links

  • Instagram
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy

© 2024 Olga's Flavor Factory