When people see a recipe with chicken broth, they are most likely to open a can or box of chicken broth from the supermarket. What they may not realize is that making homemade chicken stock is no more difficult than boiling water. The only difference is that you add some vegetables and spices to the water for flavor. Once you make your own chicken broth, you won’t want to go back to canned or boxed broth (except when you’ve run out of homemade broth from your freezer).

The basic ingredients of a good homemade chicken broth are chicken bones (and sometimes the skin), onion, celery, carrots, peppercorns, and bay leaves. You can also add parsley, ginger and thyme. If you’re making rotisserie chicken, save the bones and skin. While doing the dishes after a roast chicken dinner, simply place the chicken bones and skin in a stockpot, along with some onion, celery, carrots, peppercorns, and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer. slow for a few hours. If you don’t have a rotisserie chicken carcass, you can use chicken tenders, chicken wings, or other chicken parts. After the chicken broth finishes cooking, let it cool to room temperature, then strain the broth and divide it into freezer-safe containers.

Once you have a batch of homemade chicken broth, you can refrigerate the broth if you plan to make some chicken-based soups in the next few days, or freeze it for later. Either way, it’s best to skim off any fat that floats to the top. It is easier to remove the layer of fat when the soup is cold, as it will solidify.

Some of my favorite chicken-based soups are chicken noodle soup or chicken soup with rice and vegetables, lentil soup, and minestrone soup. The great thing about making your own soup is that you can choose your favorite beans, grains, and vegetables to add, and the sodium level is much lower than store-bought soup.

Homemade chicken broth

Ingredients:

1 roasted chicken carcass or 2 pounds of chicken pieces

2 carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 3″ pieces

2 celery stalks, cut into 3″ pieces

1 large onion, chopped

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 inch piece of ginger, crushed, optional

a few sprigs of fresh thyme, optional

1/2 bunch of fresh parsley, optional

Addresses:

Put all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook, covered, for 2 hours. Strain the soup and store in freezer containers (4-cup containers work well for most soup recipes).

Note: If using chicken pieces, such as chicken legs and thighs, cook the chicken pieces for 35-40 minutes until cooked through. Then, remove the chicken from the pot and remove the meat for another use. Return the bones and skin to the pot and continue cooking the broth. Chicken meat would be delicious if you add it to the soup, for example, if you make chicken noodle soup.

Copyright 2011 by Jeanette Chen