Homemade Chicken
Bone Broth Recipe

I love making my own homemade chicken bone broth.  I know it’s healthy, but mostly I love it because it tastes soooooo much better than store-bought chicken stock.  And, most importantly, it’s easy.  Homemade bone broth is much easier than most people think.

I’ll tell you a secret:              

It’s easy because your recipe does NOT have to be perfect.

Don’t have any onion on hand?  Skip it.

Too many carrots in the house?  Add them.

Love a lemon broth?  Do it.

Have beef bones instead of chicken?  Substitute it.

You get the idea.  Make this chicken bone broth once, in the easiest possible way for you, and you’ll be hooked.  The more you make homemade chicken stock, the more you’ll experiment and realize you CAN’T screw it up.  You can’t.

Here is the next must-have secret:

You have to add the apple cider vinegar.

I know, I know.  I just told you not to stress, and to skip things, and all that sweet-talking up there…  But seriously, don’t skip the apple cider vinegar.

First, the acidity of the vinegar will help dissolve some of the bones to increase the mineral content of your broth.  That’s pretty cool because minerals are good for you. 

Also, the vinegar is going to give your broth its signature flavor.  Don’t worry if you don’t like vinegar-tasting foods.  The way it cooks off will leave a good flavor that doesn’t actually taste like vinegar.  Trust me.  Try it.

Finally, I want to make sure you know that this is a great recipe for “eating down the fridge” (I love that term!).  It feels so good and frugal to use of the last bits and pieces of foods in our fridge to make something yummy and healthy. 

I have to give credit to the Healthy Home Economist for inspiring enough confidence in me to make this recipe my own over the years...

Ok.  Now, without any further ado, the recipe:

This Bone Broth Recipe is...

Allergen-Friendly

Gluten-free

Dairy-free

Egg-free

Soy-free

Corn-free

Nut-free

Ingredients

2 chicken carcasses (I always roast 2 chickens at once because it’s no extra work, really, and the oven is already heated.  That way, I have 2-4 meals cooked at once.  Slam dunk.)

¼ c apple cider vinegar

About 4-5 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (all of the veggies and chunks will just be thrown away, so don’t spend any extra time chopping.  Just get it done.)

1 celery heart, roughly chopped (the leafy, yellow part of the celery stalk that normally doesn’t get eaten finds purpose in this recipe.  Otherwise 4-6 celery stalks will work, too)

1 onion, roughly chopped (or if you’re like me, all the halves of onions in the fridge that I started using and then forgot about during the past week)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Water

Instructions

Place carcasses into a stock pot and cover with water.  Stir in apple cider vinegar and let sit AT ROOM TEMPERATURE for 30 minutes.  Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat.  Add all of the vegetables, and some more water to cover the veggies, plus a couple extra inches.  I like to add the extra water now at the beginning because I let it simmer overnight.  Some water will evaporate off, even though it’s covered.  Peak at it occasionally though, and make sure you don’t need to add any more water.  Cover, bring to a boil, and then lower heat to simmer.  Let simmer 12-24 hours.  See?  Even the cooking time is flexible!  I know people who make it in their crockpot and worry even less.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool to a manageable heat.  Strain the broth into a storage container, and discard all of the veggies and bones.  You can store the broth in the fridge to use this week, or freeze for future use. 

So, have you made your own homemade chicken bone broth before?  How do you tweak your bone broth recipes?  Are you inspired to try?  Let me know in the comments below…

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