Our family frequently eats a whole chicken, usually once per week on Sundays during the winter time. A whole chicken meal makes such an economical meal because you can get at least two meals out of a chicken. For the second day, I usually make some type of soup with a chicken broth base. This bone broth soup is so nutritious and yummy. You can use this recipe for a variety of different things: chicken stock, your chicken recipes, and medicine — how about making your own, homemade chicken noodle soup for the cold & flu season?
The first step is to boil the insides of the chicken (the part that comes stuffed inside the cavity and usually inside of paper). I think it is called the giblets. (Sorry, I don’t have a picture.)
I use the boiled chicken giblets and the chicken juice from the bottom of the roasting pan to make the chicken gravy. But there is quite a bit left over, and we’ll be using that, too.
Once dinner is over, throw the carcass and some vegetables into a slow cooker. I save the scraps from the meal that I made and throw them in, plus an extra onion or two (paper and all!).
Now, I add the broth from the boiled giblets and the bottom of the roasting pan. That’s usually enough to bring this bad boy to the top of the slow cooker. If we haven’t finished our veggies at dinner, I’ll throw those in, too.
Strain this out with a cheesecloth inside of a colander. Sometimes, I’ll strain in two or three times.
I forgot to take a final picture, but the one in the first picture is pretty good to see how deeply colored and wonderfully tasting this broth is!
The bone broth is now ready for use as a soup base. You can freeze it in freezer-safe jars, or it will last approximately a week in the fridge. My family is so used to have soup the day after we cook a chicken that this stuff gets used up immediately.
Please note: the store-bought soup is loaded with salt as a preservative. If you are used to the salty flavor, add a tablespoon to your broth before using it as a soup base. For deeper flavor, you can also add a bouillon cube or two. If you add a bouillon cubes, do not add additional salt or it will be too salty.
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With love,
Have you tried to make your own bone broth?
Thanks! This is very helpful for me as I usually don’t have a good idea of what to do with my chicken left-overs. I’ll add it to my recipe folder!