Chicken broth is often used in homemade recipes such as soups, spaghetti and meat sauces, or risotto. The homemade chicken broth is a good alternative to a grocery bought broth. It’s fresh and doesn’t have any preservatives. So, it’s definitely a healthier choice.  I usually cook the chicken broth at home and store it in a fridge or freeze using these plastic food containers.

I use organic chicken to prepare the broth. It could be a whole chicken or legs, thighs, breasts, wings with skin and bone in. I don’t add any salt to the broth while I cook it. I add it later when using the broth in a recipe.

To prepare 3 quarts of broth which makes 6 full 16-ounce containers, you will need a list of ingredients which quantity can vary depending on how deep flavor and taste of the broth you want to get.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs organic chicken
• 12 cups water
• 1-2 medium onion, peeled and cut into quarters
• 2-3 medium carrots, peeled and halved
• 2-3 celery stalks, peeled and halved
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

 

Cooking Directions:

1. Wash the chicken and place it along with all other ingredients in a large pot.
2. Pour about 12 cups of cold unboiled water to cover the chicken and vegetables.
3. Bring it to a boil. Remove the foam crud. It will start to pop up to the top as soon as the water just starts boiling. Make sure to remove all the foam crud. Then add an additional cup of cold unboiled water. Once the liquid came to the boil, remove all the crud again – this trick would help to make a crystal clear broth.
4. Lower the heat to a medium-low, cover the pot with a lid and cook for about 1 1/2 hours or until the chicken is tender and fully cooked.
5. Remove the chicken from the broth. You can use it in other recipes.
6. Finely strain the vegetables and herbs out of your broth.

To store, pour the broth into containers and put in a fridge or freeze. The broth can be refrigerated up to one week or frozen up to 3 months.