Name: Chicken Bone Broth
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 5 min
Yield: 9
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 chicken carcass; 1 onion, roughly chopped; 1 carrot, roughly chopped; 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed; 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar; 1 teaspoon salt; optional: herbs like parsley, thyme, sage, or bay leaves

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Easy homemade Chicken Bone Broth made with simple ingredients! Use this for soups, casseroles, gravy, etc. Instructions for Instant Pot, slow cooker, and stovetop.

I make a big batch of chicken bone broth probably twice a month and keep it in the freezer to use through the week. That number will be going up soon, though, because soup season is upon us!

We do a lot of shredded chicken dinners in my house so I’ll buy a whole chicken or split breasts, roast them, shred the chicken, and save the bones. I’ll also use rotisserie chicken bones.

I just keep a freezer ziploc bag in the freezer and toss any bones in it.

I make mine in the Instant Pot because it’s the fastest way but I included the methods for slow cooker and stovetop.

You can use it in soups, casseroles, cook rice in it, anything that calls for chicken broth!

It’s so good for you, so easy to make, and so much cheaper than buying those cartons of chicken broth!

Ingredients

Chicken bones – I used a whole chicken carcass that I had put in my freezer after I pulled the meat off of it. You can use any cooked chicken bones that you have.
Onion
Carrot
Garlic – peel it and then smash it so that it’s kind of open.
Apple cider vinegar – this helps to extract the collagen and nutrients from the bones. You just add a little so you don’t end up tasting it.
Salt – I don’t heavily salt my bone broth so that I can salt as needed when I use it in a recipe. If you plan on drinking the broth plain, you may want to add more salt.
Herbs – these are optional. You can add parsley, thyme, sage, bay leaves, etc. I don’t add herbs – partly because I could never fully strain them out and I like a pretty clear broth. And partly because I never know what I’m going to use the broth for and I wouldn’t want an herby broth for some recipes.

How To Make Chicken Bone Broth

Add ingredients. Add all ingredients to either your Instant Pot, slow cooker, or large stock pot.
Add water. Add filtered water up to fill line.
For Instant Pot: cook on high for 2 hours.
For slow cooker: cook on low for 12 – 24 hours.
For stovetop: gently simmer for 12 hours.
Strain. Pour the contents over a strainer, into a bowl.
Transfer. Transfer broth to container and cool completely before storing.

What To Make with Bone Broth

How Long Is It Good For?

Homemade chicken bone broth is good for up to 4 days in the fridge. Make sure to store it in an airtight container.

It is good in the freezer for up to 3 months. As soon as it is cool, I put the entire batch in the freezer because I don’t want to waste any of it. I use these takeout style soup containers.

I defrost it in the microwave when I need some for a recipe.

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Yield: about 9 cups