Chicken broth is easy and relatively inexpensive to purchase at the store, but making your own is also really simple and uses basic ingredients. Homemade chicken broth has extra rich flavor, and one of the benefits is that you can control things like flavor notes and salt content. My method uses something that is normally discarded- a leftover rotisserie chicken! After you use the meat on the chicken for a meal, instead of tossing the remaining bones and scraps, simmer them with a few more ingredients and it results in a delicious homemade broth. I’m including instructions to make this both on the stove top or in a pressure cooker. If both options are available to you, I strongly recommend the pressure cooker. It will result in a more flavorful and less cloudy broth, and it cooks fast, too!
Ingredients and Equipment Notes
You really only need basic ingredients to make great broth at home and it’s incredibly flexible. I don’t even always measure the vegetables. It’s also fine if your veggies are just barely starting to go bad. Instead of tossing them out, toss them in the pot!
- Rotisserie chicken – You can make broth with a chicken that is mostly picked apart, or one that still has quite a bit of meat on it. This is a great use for a chicken that still has meat on it, but it’s perhaps been in the fridge for a couple days and you no longer want to just eat it plain.
- Carrots – regular or baby carrots work great
- Celery – any part of the celery works great, do not remove the leaves, just throw that in there as well.
- Onion – I prefer yellow or white onion. Red will also work, but it may turn your broth a murky color.
- Fresh herbs – fresh herbs are wonderful, but you could also used dried. Feel free to add different herbs to taste, it’s very flexible!
Instructions
- Pull off any large pieces of fat and skin from the chicken and place the carcass in a pressure cooker (or stove top pot).
- Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt and peppercorns.
- Add water.
- In a pressure cooker, I cook on high for 45 minutes and then let it naturally depressurize. On the stovetop you’ll want to simmer, covered, for at least an hour. The longer you cook it the more flavorful it will be, but it will also reduce. Feel free to add more water if needed to make sure all ingredients are covered.
- When it’s done, strain your liquid to remove the solids. I like to use a large-hole strainer to discard the chicken bones and vegetables, and then run it through a fine-mesh strainer to further remove solids. You don’t need to remove all solids if you don’t want to, they usually just add flavor and body to your finished dishes!
- use or freeze to enjoy later.
Freezing Homemade Broth
- Food service containers are a great way to freeze broth. I put a piece of masking tape on it and label with the contents and date.
- Another favorite tool for frozen broth are my favorite Souper Cubes, which make it easy to freeze portioned amounts. I freeze into cubes and then transfer the cubes into ziplock bags, an airtight container, or a vacuum sealed bag for longer term storage.
- To Defrost: Place containers of broth in the fridge a day ahead of time to thaw, or I add the frozen cubes directly into warm pots of soups and sauces to melt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do you have a basic Chicken Noodle Soup recipe?
A: I use this recipe– just omit the dumplings, add noodles, and replace the milk with broth.
Q: What’s the difference between broth and stock? Are they interchangeable in recipes?
A: The quick answer is that both broth and stock involve simmering water and vegetables with parts of a chicken. Generally broth is made with chicken meat, like a whole chicken while stock is made with a large quantity of bones. Often in stock, the bones are roasted first as well. Overall, stock is known for having a deeper, richer flavor. Because the bones contain a lot of gelatin, stock usually has a little more body. I think this is true for homemade restaurant quality stock, but when it comes to the store-bought options, there’s not a huge difference (in my opinion). Some companies aren’t even consistent in labeling. So are they interchangeable in recipes? Generally speaking, yes. I buy broth 100% of the time. It’s more widely available and I like the light, clean flavor. The recipe above does contain bones, but it’s mostly the meaty chicken scraps attached that gives the broth its flavor.
Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
Description
Simple homemade broth recipe utilizing a leftover rotisserie chicken. This recipe is very flexible, feel free to add more vegetables if you have them and experiment with herbs as well.
Ingredients
1 leftover rotisserie chicken (scraps)
2–3 ribs celery, you can leave the leaves on
2 carrots or a handful of baby carrots
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic, smashed or roughly chopped
10 peppercorns
1 heaping tablespoon kosher salt
Herbs: a few fresh sprigs of parsley, thyme, and a bay leaf. Rosemary and sage are also good.
For dried herbs, try 2 teaspoons each of rosemary, parsley, and thyme.
Instructions
- Trim any excess fat and skin off of chicken and place it in a pressure cooker or stock pot.
- Give the celery, carrots and onions a rough chop and add to pot. Add all remaining ingredients.
- Add water so it covers the ingredients by a couple inches. If using a pressure cooker, do not exceed the max fill line. In my pressure cooker, I add about 12 cups of water. In a stock pot, I generally add 12-16 cups.
- Cook Broth
Pressure Cooker: Cook at high pressure for 45 minutes and then do a natural release.
Stove Top: Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally for 1-2 hours. - Strain mixture to remove solids. Cool broth to room temp and then store in portioned containers in the freezer for up to 3 months, or in the fridge for about 5 days. Quantity varies, but it will reduce in volume after simmering.
Questions & Reviews
I was just wondering what you do with the veggies…do you eat them or just toss them? I’ve never made homemade broth and know I’d want to eat the veggies (I hate to waste) but wondered if they were mush by the end of cooking time. BTW, I totally had to LOL at the picture in my head of you chomping on that rotisserie chicken! LOL!
The veges give all their flavor to the stock. Luckily I have a flock of chickens I give all my left over stock goodies to. They love the over cooked onions and carrots…. nothing wasted. Adding in fresh carrots to the new soup makes a world of difference. I wouldn’t do it until I tried it and now I am converted.
The first time I made my stock, I kept the carrots, and they were awesome! It was a pain in the neck to pick them out, since I had cut them up into small pieces. I discarded the onions though. I don’t care if the nutrients have been boiled out of them, they tasted great. Just making my second batch right now, put in large pieces of carrots and celery, making it easier to remove at the end, then will slice them up. I will be keeping those…
I have heard about doing this, but never brave enough to do this.
Amazing recipes. I can’t wait to get your book.
Ana – NothingsBroken.com
I have learned to de-bone the chicken after the first meal! While it’s still warm and has not been refrigerated. Then it’s easy to get the meat off. After I get the yummy meat off THEN I use those bones for broth. Meat simmered in broth gives all of it’s flavor to the broth and is tasteless. So use the good meat for some other yummy recipes. 🙂
Kori
This is exactly what I do. Also I throw in onions, peel and all. The peel gives a beautiful color. Then I strain everything. Add back in diced onions, carrots, celery and at the end, add in noodles and the diced cooked chicken meat and you have the most fantastic and easy chicken noodle soup. The meat stays tender and not soggy or stringy. Also done on the pressure cooker knocks back the time for a midweek meal. YUM.
Katie… (please excuse me if I’m over-stepping…) but you can definitely make your own vegetable stock. I keep homemade vegetable “stock”, beef stock/broth, chicken broth, and sometimes fish stock in the freezer at all times.
I can’t believe how easy that is! is it the same for Vegetable Stock? my alton brown Turkey that I do at Thanksgiving calls for Vegetable Stock and it is a pain in the butt to find! maybe I can make my own???
I read a recipe one time that kept all the veggie and fruit peelings to make a veggie stock…
Wow…one of those questions sounded very familiar! Thanks for even more feedback and the great recipe!
Hello,
I am a fellow Boisian (actually Meridianite), and since you mention Costco… do you have the digital pressure cooker that can be purchased there? It is amazing and I’m looking for more recipes. This broth could be cooked up in less than 10 minutes with the pressure cooker. What do you say you do a segment on digital pressure cooker recipes?!!! AND, I DID see what Costco had this week-end! I think I bought one right after you took that picture because the runaway shrink-wrap was in that exact spot!!
Who knew all these years I was making broth and not stock. Thanks for the explanation of the difference. I’m going to try the rotisserie method…sounds so much tastier and easier than using a whole raw chicken (not to mention sounding more appetizing than having to clean out and handle said raw chicken)
Oh my goodness! We just made the fauxtisserie chicken yesterday and when Jake asked if he could throw the “carcass” out I told him “No! I’m going to make chicken broth out of it!” He looked at me like I was crazy (which I am, I didn’t have the foggiest clue on how to do it) and behold, you and your mind reading ability, you provide the directions. Thanks Sara, you are a true friend!
Although the recipe is terrific, easy and just what I needed….I have to say the dialog that went into this chicken broth posting is my favorite part!!! I seldom laugh right out loud when reading recipes. But the visual of driving out of the Costco parking lot gnawing on a chicken leg AND the side comments on the word “carcass” were hilarious. Thanks for “humor and personality plus” with the cooking!!!
Even if I’m just trimming chicken breasts for the freezer I throw the trimmings in a little bag and freeze that as well. Same with onion trimmings. And the carcass, lol! One thing nice about making your own broth is that you can control the salt content, which is very very high in canned broth and stock. Chicken broth in the freezer is like, well, money in the bank!
You can have all that nice moist healthy white meat . . giver me the wings, that is what disappears when I am driving home.
Have you tried the Kirkland Chicken Stock? It is lower in sodium and has lots of flavors that I LOVE.
I often re-roast the carcass of chickens and turkeys with water in the bottom of the sealed up pan until it is very browned then dumb it all into the pot. Makes richer broth that can stretch farther.
THANK YOU!!! I always leave the “carcass” (ugh) in the fridge with good intentions of doing this and have never known how, so my husband always throws it away! Now I can do this!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
I did this last week, only with a couple of Sam’s Club chickens 🙂 I didn’t even throw in any veggies and it made a very flavorful broth. Oh, and make sure you pick off all the remaining meat. I got a ton to use for soup.
Thanks for the recipe! I also make homemade chicken broth in the crock pot. I cook a whole chicken in the crock pot all day, remove it to pull off the meat and then put everything back in the cooking juices. Then I add ingredients as you suggested along with approximately 6 cups of water. Cook all night on low, place in fridge in morning for a couple of hours so you can skim the fat off the top. Then, the best part, I freeze in a muffin tin so that I have 1/4 cup broth cubes and can throw them in recipes during the week. I like to make our brown rice with it instead of water.
Love this idea especially totally get the carcass mess at the end and love the idea of actually using it. Love the cookbook. Totally obsessed with it.
I have thrown all of the ingredients into a crock pot and just let ‘er rip for several hours without having to watch it. Then I pull the insert out of the pot and refrigerate it and throw away the fat that floats to the top and solidifies.
Thank you! I was just thinking that I’m relying too heavily on canned (okay, those cardboard-like carton thingees) of broth and I should make my own. Sometimes. Maybe.
I need to admit that not chopping the vegetables was a revelation. Every Thanksgiving, my mother in law stops us from throwing out the carcass, saying we should make broth, and every year we end up tossing it out a few days later. But tossing it in a pot with some scrubbed, whole vegetables and a handful of seasonings? I can totally handle that. Great post, thanks.
(I also love the fauxtisserie/overnight broth suggestion. Brilliant!)
Using the Costco chicken is a great idea!! I was with my Sister in law at Costco in Orem, UT on saturday and we searched for your amazing cook-books and we bought 8 of them!!!! She’s giving them to all her friends at book club and I am giving them to my sisters!!!! Thanks so much!!!
Every time we have a turkey (which is about 6 times a year….love it) I am always thinking that I should make stock with it. But then the time gets away from me, and I just toss the carcass (yeah, gross word!). I’m doing it this time! Thanks! And thanks to Peggy, cuz I was wanting to know the easy way to strain this giant pot of gook….four sack towel in colander sounds perfect!
We don’t have Costco here….sounds like we need one!
Love your blog and all your recipes…..they are so great with all the pics, too!
I am always saying I am going to make my own but never do. I think I will try this cause I am planning on making chicken and dumplings. I also have to thank you guys for helping me start to use whole chickens (I had a weird goss out thing with them). After i read your fauxtisserie chicken post I decided to tackle my first whole chicken and found out it wasn’t so bad!
I also always feel guilty for throwing my ‘carcass’ (agree not a fun word for your food) away! Now I won’t have to!!! Thanks sooo much!!
I always make your fabulous Fauxtisserie chicken, and after we’ve eaten one meal and I’ve cut off any extra meat for another meal, I dump the carcass right back in the crockpot (I don’t even wash it out–just remove the balls of foil!). Add some water, veggies if I have them, and put the crockpot on low for the night. In the morning, fresh broth. My freezer is now packed with the stuff, since I make a chicken every week or so. 🙂
You can’t beat the Rotisserie Chickens at Costco. They are so meaty and have so much white meat on them. I buy them just because every time I am there too. I’ve made stock before with them before but got out of the habit. I am like you and kind of get squeamish about all the congealed leftover meat the next day. But if I make stock with it….great idea! Thanks for reminding me! Can’t wait for your cookbook!
I made my own stock for years, and finally I read an article about making it in the oven (in a stock pot) instead of on the stove, for super low, even heating. The results were SOOOOOO much better. the next time, I realized that my oven on low was going to be similar to a crock pot, so I transferred everything to the crock pot. Even better, and easier, and safer, and with much less wasted electricity.
I’m like you – I frequently pick up a costco rotisserie chicken just because you can do about a thousand things with them…. and they’re such a good value. One day I was pressed for time on the opposite side of town so I grabbed a rotisserie bird from the grocery store – it paled in comparison…. cost a dollar more, and was way smaller than Costco’s.
We always through any leftover chicken bones in a gallon ziplock bag in the freezer and then when there are enough I make a HUGE batch up. Our boys strip a chicken clean in something like 5 minutes flat so all we EVER have left is a bare naked carcass! LOL We also make our stock in a crockpot and strain afterwards using a colander lined w/ a flour sack towel or cloth diaper (yep much better than cheese cloth!)…
Umm now I think I need to make a run to go get a rotisserie chicken… once the youngest is off to school!!! I have to remember NEVER read your blog on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning!!
Have a great day! (still looking for your book in our area… off to check the ONLY bookstore in the are or maybe I should check Barnes & Noble in Indianapolis… I have an OLD giftcard plus birthday money!!)
I ALWAYS buy a rotisserie chicken at BJ’s, even when I don’t need it, and I ALWAYS start eating it before I leave the parking lot. Hehe 🙂
At the end of last year, I said, “I will start making my own chicken broth after New Year’s.” That hasn’t happened yet. But, thanks for the gentle reminder.