My tried and true method, here’s how I make a super simple chicken broth on the stovetop with a whole chicken and some items from the fridge.
Meal prep friendly, freezer-friendly, and oh so easy to make, I love having a batch of this chicken broth on hand. I especially love just how aromatic my kitchen smells when a pot is simmering on the stovetop!
What’s In Your Fridge Chicken Broth
This chicken broth was originally titled “What’s In Your Fridge Chicken Broth” because my chicken broth is usually made with whatever’s in my fridge. Chicken broth is what you make of it! It can be as simple or as “complicated” as you’d like. Today, I’ll be sharing the most common way I make this flavourful chicken broth.
Don’t worry too much about the ingredients – this is just what I have in my fridge and put in my chicken broth. If you don’t have certain items readily available, feel free to skip it or swap in a sub. Down below, I’ll have a list of suggested ingredients you can add in or swap with.
What is Chicken Broth?
What is the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth? We tend to use the words stock and broth interchangeably but chicken stock is usually made more from the bones, connective tissue and joint material, of the chicken, whereas chicken broth is made with more of the meat of the chicken.
Due to the gelatin released from the bones, you get a fuller mouth feel to the stock than the broth. Chicken broth does not gel when chilled like stock does. Regardless, they are both wonderful to have in your kitchen! I’m not here to argue what’s what other than being here to tell you that this is tasty and you need it!
What I Put in My Chicken Broth
- a whole chicken – a whole chicken is important as broth is made by simmering liquid that has had meat in it. Be sure to discard anything inside of the chicken cavity.
- onions – peeled and halved
- garlic – peeled
- leeks
- carrots – peeled and roughly cut
- whole peppercorn
- salt
- grape tomatoes
- baby potatoes
- bay leaf
The grape tomatoes and baby potatoes are my personal preference. I like that they add a different layer of flavour to the broth. I only add a small handful so it doesn’t overpower the chicken broth. You’re welcome to leave it out but if you have some in your fridge that you aren’t using, I recommend tossing it into your broth.
There is a lot of chatter online that making your own stock/broth at home is a great way to save items destined for the compost bin. However, I’m not really a fan of that ideology.
When I was taking cooking classes, the chef said something that really stuck with me, if you don’t think it’s fit to be eaten, why would you put it in your stock. While I’m not against freezing that random 1/4 onion in your fridge and leftover thyme for this, I would not be saving or using anything that looks like it’s about to be go bad because I don’t want muddy tasting liquid. This is also why I peel my carrots and garlic.
I also don’t keep my onion skins on – I find that there’s always some dirt in the onion skins and I can never seem to clean it all off so I just peel the skin off to make life easier for myself. You can always do as you wish!
Other Things You Can Put In Your Broth
Here are some other things that I have added to my chicken broth previously
- celery
- mushrooms
- fresh or dried herbs such as thyme, oregano, basil
- green onions
- parsnips
- peas
- shallots
- ginseng
- don’t have onions on hand? try onion powder
- don’t have garlic? try garlic powder
Equipment You’ll Need
- 6L stock pot with lid – I use a Zwilling one
- a strainer (or colander or a cheesecloth)
How To Make Chicken Broth on the Stovetop
- Add all the ingredients into the stock pot along with 9 cups of water or until the chicken’s covered with water.
- Place your lid onto your stock pot and bring everything to a boil on high heat before reducing it to a simmer, with the lid still on.
- Simmer for a minimum of 4 hours.
- If you’d like to use the chicken meat, after 2 hours, carefully remove the chicken and whatever meat you’d like from it. Place the chicken bones and whatever’s left on the chicken back into the stock pot.
- When done, strain your stock through a strainer, discarding the solids.
- Serve as is or use in your recipe of choice.
Tips and Notes
- Be sure to keep your pot covered to prevent the chicken broth from evaporating too much. Feel free to add more water back into the pot if too much liquid has evaporated.
- I usually just grab the chicken breasts and legs with two forks inside the pot and call it a day and don’t bother removing the whole chicken from the pot.
- After 2 hours, the chicken meat will be perfectly poached! I use that chicken for salads, meal prep, or to add back to the strained broth and consume them together. I found that if I cook the whole chicken in the broth for 4 hours, the meat ends up too tough for my liking.
- I like to drink this chicken broth as is. If you are storing it to use in other recipes, be sure to let the chicken broth cool to room temperature before storing it.
You can store your chicken broth in a large airtight container or individual mason jars for easy portioning in the fridge for up to a week.
If you plan on freezing it, you can freeze them in individual serving portions of your choosing for up to 3 months. If you are using glass mason jars, be sure to leave 1 inch of space in the top. Other methods for freezing include freezing them in an ice tray or in my case, souper cubes.
Simple Chicken Broth
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb chicken
- 2 onions, peeled and halved
- 5-6 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1-2 leeks, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly cut
- 1 tbsp whole peppercorn
- 1 tbsp salt
- 100-200 grams grape tomatoes
- 1 handful baby potatoes
- 2 bay leaves
Equipment
- 6L stock pot with lid
- a strainer (or colander or a cheesecloth)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients into the stock pot along with 9 cups of water or until the chicken’s covered with water.
- Place your lid onto your stock pot and bring everything to a boil on high heat before reducing it to a simmer, with the lid still on.
- Simmer for a minimum of 4 hours.
- If you’d like to use the chicken meat, after 2 hours, carefully remove the chicken and whatever meat you’d like from it. Place the chicken bones and whatever’s left on the chicken back into the stock pot.
- When done, strain your stock through a strainer, discarding the solids.
- Serve as is or use in your recipe of choice.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- How to Make Chicken Stock in the Instant Pot
- Whole Chicken Dutch Oven
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken
- Cast Iron Skillet Whole Chicken
Other places to connect with me
Instagram: @carmyshungry
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carmyycom
Email: [email protected]
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