Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
Tuesday I shared one of the easiest and BEST Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup recipes around. In my opinion, the key to making it the best soup around starts with the broth. I know the idea of making your own homemade chicken broth might be scary, but trust me, it’s not!
The best part, you can make a big batch now, use the leftover chicken meat in the soup recipe, and then freeze the rest for later. I even saw this great idea on The Kitchn for using ice cube trays to freeze individuals portions.
Email Me This Recipe!
Need to save time? Have this article emailed straight to your inbox + sign up for all the latest recipes!
Ok, back to the broth!
Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
- 3-4 pound chicken (organic preferred)
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and cut in half
- 2 turnips, quartered
- 2 celery stalks, cut in half
- 2 onions, quartered
- 1 head of garlic, halved
- 1 tsp. pepper corns (or cracked black pepper)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- Place the chicken in a large pot, remove giblets.
- Put the rest of the stock ingredients in the pot along with the chicken.
- Put enough water in the pot to cover the chicken- approx. 12 cups. Cover, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1-1 ½ hours or longer, until chicken is cooked.
- Remove chicken from stock and let cool.
- Finely strain the vegetables and herbs out of your stock. Discard skin and bones and hand shred chicken meat from chicken and set aside. Use stock immediately for The Best Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, or refrigerate up to one week or freeze for up to 3 months.
Here are some more soup recipes we love!
- Sausage Tortellini Soup
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
- The Best Crockpot Minestrone Soup
- The Best Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Crockpot Lasagna Soup
Easy Homemade Chicken Broth
Email this recipe!
Get this recipe emailed straight to your inbox!
Ingredients
- 3-4 pound chicken organic preferred
- 3-4 carrots peeled and cut in half
- 2 turnips quartered
- 2 celery stalks cut in half
- 2 onions quartered
- 1 head of garlic halved
- 1 tsp. pepper corns or cracked black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a large pot, remove giblets.
- Put the rest of the stock ingredients in the pot along with the chicken.
- Put enough water in the pot to cover the chicken- approx. 12 cups. Cover, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1-1 ½ hours or longer, until chicken is cooked.
- Remove chicken from stock and let cool.
- Finely strain the vegetables and herbs out of your stock. Discard skin and bones and hand shred chicken meat from chicken and set aside. Use stock immediately, refrigerate up to one week or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Make sure to share it with me below!
Post updated September 2020
I was just wondering could you use the chicken for another meal?
What if I use this recipe and included with the chicken noodle soup?
When I’ve made it I find that they chicken is dry and flavorless. It might be okay in a chicken salad but otherwise not really good.
Just thought I’d note that when dogs have belly aches my vet recommends they eat bland boiled chicken for a few days. So if your pup ever gets into anything they shouldn’t, it’s a great time to make soup!
I would like to add my vet’s recipe for a sick dog, specifically one with digestive issues (my dog has a very sensitive digestive system so I use this often) causing diarrhea, vomiting, etc. Add to the boiled white boneless, skinless chicken (1.5-2 lb.), white rice (1 boiling bag) and one 15 oz. can of pumpkin. Boil the chicken , tear into bite sized pieces, stir in the rice and pumpkin. Serve twice a day for 2 days (use a smaller proportion than you normally feed your dog, i.e. my dog normally gets 1 cup kibble twice a day so i serve about 3/4 cup of the mix). For the 2nd meal on day 2 serve 1/2 normal serving of the mix and add 1/2 normal serving of dog food. Just to be sure the digestive problem is resolved, give this same combo for 1st meal on day 3. If no issues recur, serve regular dog food meal at 2nd meal on day 3 and thereafter. If problem recurs go back to chicken/rice/pumpkin mix until problem is solved. The leftover mix can be frozen for future problems. I always keep some of the mix in the freezer for this use. NOTE: If your dog continues to experience vomiting, diarrhea, and/or lack of appetite, rush him/her to the vet for possible stomach/intestine obstruction which is life-threatening. Symptoms: Vomiting, Diarrhea, Abdominal tenderness or pain, Lack of appetite; anorexia, Straining to defecate; constipation,
Lethargy, Behavioral changes such as biting or growling when picked up.
Hi Corey,
Do you add salt to the broth?
Thanks!
I like to add salt to taste at the end of cooking.
Hi! Just checking that the “2 celery stalks” refer to the entire bunch of celery. Looking forward to making 🙂
Not the entire bunch… just 2 stalks pulled from the bunch.
I recall reading somewhere that “stalk” refers to the whole bunch of celery, and “rib” is that single piece that most of us think of as s stalk. Weird, huh?
I made this. It was the best chicken broth I’ve ever made! I also added freshly ground tumeric to the broth. Soooo good!