Homemade Chicken Stock/Broth

Homemade Chicken Stock/Broth

There's nothing better than eating 100% pure chicken stock/broth. If it's homemade, you know exactly what's in it. There aren't any weird fillers or preservatives inside, just wholesome goodness. Stock or broth can be used for soups, stews, sauces and many other ways. I'll show you how to make your own stock and it's as easy as throwing everything into a pot and simmer for an hour or two. Easy stuff!

Ingredients:

Chicken bones and any leftover broth from cooking a whole chicken

2 bay leaves

1Tbsp peppercorns

1cup coarse chopped carrots (wash but don't skin them)

1cup coarse chopped onions

enough water to cover all of the ingredients

(There's no salt since most of the time when you cook a recipe, it asks for salt. You can add it if you want, but I leave it out)

Directions:

Place everything into a large stock pot and bring to a boil. In my picture above, I had everything frozen and ready to go. If I have already cooked my chicken, I wait until I have the bones and broth from two whole chickens since it will produce more flavor. (So I freeze everything until I'm ready to start cooking.) Turn the mixture up to a boil and then reduce to simmer and cover for one to two hours.

Simply strain into a freezer container or go ahead and start cooking your soup or stew now. I place a strainer inside of a large bowl and make sure nothing except liquid gets transferred into the bowl for future cooking.

You can freeze for as long as it'll last in your freezer so keep an eye on it and don't forget it's in there. Before I freeze it, I place it in the fridge and let the fat come to the top and then I scrape off with a spoon and throw it away. You can transfer to the freezer after that. You don't have to, put that's how I prefer to do it. I think it would last 4 days in the fridge which is why I freeze mine.

The fat will be white and you can use a wooden spoon, spatula, or regular spoon to scrape it off and throw it away.. it really doesn't matter.

Use with my paleo chicken 'noodle' soup recipe. Or you can use it in my regular chicken noodle soup recipe. How about some cauliflower soup? Homemade gravy, anyone?

There's a lot of different ways to use chicken stock/broth so make some of your own and start cooking healthier. Give it a shot!