There’s something deeply comforting about having a batch of Homemade Chicken Bone Broth simmering away in the kitchen—or even better, already stocked in the fridge. It’s a total workhorse. Use it as the base for soups, cooking grains, sautéing vegetables, or just sipping it straight from a mug. This nutrient and mineral rich staple adds deep, satisfying flavor and feel-good vibes to your everyday meals.
How to Make Chicken Bone Broth
Making chicken bone broth is easier than you think—all you need are a few basic ingredients, a slow cooker or pressure cooker, and time. Start with high-quality chicken bones like carcasses, wings, or necks (bonus points for chicken feet, which add extra collagen). Add filtered water, apple cider vinegar to help extract minerals, and aromatics like onion, carrot, and celery scraps to help boost the flavor.
Cook the broth low and slow in a crockpot for up to 36 hours or use an Instant Pot to cut the time down significantly. You’ll get a deeply nourishing, mineral-rich, collagen-packed broth with a silky texture and rich flavor. Once strained through a fine-mesh sieve, it stores beautifully in the fridge or freezer.
Health Benefits of Chicken Bone Broth
In addition to being a comforting drink and a flavorful addition to meals, nutrient dense bone broth is a good source of protein and offers other health benefits.
- Joint Health: Bone broth is a good whole food source of collagen, glucosamine, and chondroitin, which are essential for maintaining healthy joints.
- Digestive Health: The broth contains gelatin, which can soothe and protect the gut lining. It also provides electrolytes and amino acids that support digestion.
- Immune Health: Bone broth is rich in amino acids, such as glycine, which can boost the immune system and help fight off infections.
Why It Takes 36 Hours
The long simmer time allows the collagen to fully release from the bones, giving your broth that luxurious, silky mouthfeel and rich roasted flavor.
While some recipes suggest roasting the bones beforehand, I’ve found it often results in a bitter stock—this version skips that step while still delivering incredible depth of flavor.
Recipe Tips & FAQs
Need It Faster?
No worries—you can speed things up with an Instapot. The pressure cooking environment extracts collagen much faster, making it a great option if you’re short on time.
Can I use roasted bones instead of raw?
You can, but in this recipe I recommend raw bones. Roasting can sometimes make the broth bitter if it’s overdone.
What if I don’t have veggie scraps?
You can use fresh onion, carrot, and celery instead of scraps—same quantities apply. For next time-keep a ziploc bag in the freezer and whenever you cook add any onion, mushroom, carrot and celery scraps to the bag. Please be judicious though. This is not a trash bag. Most other vegetable scraps are not going to make your stock taste better.
What do I do with the ingredients once I strain the broth?
The solids left in the strainer should be composted if possible. It is worth it to grab the rehydrated shiitakes (if you use them). They are a wonderful addition to soups and sautéed veggies if you slice them thinly.
Why is there jelly on top after chilling?
That’s a good sign! It means your broth is rich in gelatin. Once heated, it will melt into liquid gold.
How do I avoid getting a cloudy broth?
Make sure to strain it very finely—use a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer. Cloudiness won’t affect flavor but if you want a clear broth, take care with straining.
Where can I find chicken feet and kombu?
These ingredients are readily available at most Asian grocery stores. If they aren’t available, don’t worry. These ingredients are optional.
Ingredient Substitutions
- No chicken feet? Don’t worry, it’s an optional ingredient.
- No turkey neck? Substitute with additional poultry bones.
- No dried shiitakes? Try dried porcini or simply skip them—your broth will still be rich and flavorful.
- No kombu? It’s optional—just leave it out if you don’t have any on hand.
- No apple cider vinegar? Use white wine vinegar or lemon juice to help extract minerals from the bones.
Storage and Shelf Life
- Fridge: Store bone broth in the refrigerator for up to 7 days
- Freezer: Store for up to 3 months in the freezer.
If freezing in glass jars, leave 1 inch of headspace to prevent cracking. Look for the freeze-fill line just below the threads on mason jars.
Final Thoughts
Incorporate this homemade chicken bone broth recipe into your meal prep routine and use it the next time you make a soup, sauté some veggies, or even heat a cup of it up to sip on when you need a warm, cozy beverage.
Homemade bone broth is a great substitute for store-bought chicken broth or chicken stock. Try it in homemade chicken noodle soup or any other recipe calling for chicken broth.
I’d love to hear what you think of this recipe. Once you give it a try, please rate it below in the comment section.
Chicken Bone Broth
Special Equipment
- 1 five quart crock pot
Ingredients
Base Ingredients
- 3 quarts purified water
- 4 pounds chicken carcasses, raw
- 1 turkey neck bone
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Vegetable Scraps
- 2 cups onion scraps
- 1/2 cup carrot scraps
- 1/2 cup celery scraps
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Optional Ingredients
- 10 shiitake mushrooms, dried
- 2 chicken feet, raw
- 2 inch piece of kombu
Instructions
- Make your base. Place the chicken bones and turkey neck in a large crock pot along with the chicken feet. Add 3 quarts of purified water, salt and apple cider vinegar.
- Set the crockpot to high and allow the stock to cook for 24 hours.
- Add your vegetable scraps. After 24 hours, turn the crockpot to low. Now you can add your onion, carrot and celery scraps, black peppercorns and shiitake mushrooms. Also add either one bay leaf or a piece of kombu.
- Continue to cook for another 8 hours.
- Strain and Store. Strain the stock through a very fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a glass or metal container.
- Cool down the stock and refrigerate it until ready to use. It will last 7 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer.
Notes
Hi, I’m Julia.
I’m a chef and wellness advocate passionate about helping others live well through nourishing food. I trained at the Culinary Institute of America and now work as a personal chef and community food advocate in Atlanta.
Want to know what inspired me to start Everyday Alchemy? Read my story here: https://kse.iop.mybluehost.me/about/