Flavorful homemade Roasted Chicken Broth, lower in sodium than store-bought. Made with freshly roasted bones, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and fresh herbs, homemade broth is easy to make and great to freeze for use anytime!
I've been making homemade chicken broth for many years now. I used to call it "stock" but I have since discovered that because I make it with the chicken meat and not just the bones it is considered broth. Broth is also normally seasoned with salt, and stock is not. Stock is more of a base to be used in another recipe, which would then be seasoned. Broth is more of a finished product, because of the use of the meat giving it a richer flavor. I guess technically the way I made it this time is more of a stock than the other way I make it...Ok, I'm obsessing. For the most part you can use either interchangeably. Either way, homemade is much better than store-bought, and much less salty! In fact, I don't add salt at all, I think it's flavorful enough without it.
Roasted Chicken Broth
I'm updating this post a few years after it was first published. Back then, this was the first time I ever made roasted chicken broth, I've done it this way ever since. Before that I would just simmer the chicken with the carrots, celery, etc, but I found out many years ago that my turkey broth is MUCH better roasted, so I wanted to try it with chicken. I made a roasted chicken a few days before, so I had the bones right on hand, but you can also freeze a carcass with some leftover chicken meat in a freezer bag to make into Roasted Chicken Broth at a later time.
Roasted Chicken Broth
Ingredients
- 1 Carcass whole wings and legs ( meat and skin still on) of a 5-6 pound roasted chicken
- 3 carrots peeled with the tops cut off and cut in half
- 3 stalks celery with some leaves
- 1 whole yellow onion unpeeled
- 4-5 cloves garlic unpeeled
- small handful fresh parsley stems on
- 5 black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- cold water enough to cover everything in the pot
Instructions
- Put the carcass, legs, and wings on a roasting pan and put in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 40 minutes, turning after 20 minutes.
- Remove from the roasting pan, letting the grease drip off, and put in a large stock pot along with the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 2-3 hours, or longer. You can skim the foam that rises to the top with a spoon over the simmering time. The longer it simmers the more flavorful the finished broth will be!
- When it is done simmering, strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into another pot. Discard the vegetables. Reserve and remove the chicken from the bones if you are planning on making chicken soup with the broth. To cool the broth quickly, fill your sink with ice water, adding more ice as the water warms and stir the broth often. The easiest way I have found to skim the fat that rises to the top is to put the broth in containers and refrigerate until the fat hardens, but if you need the broth right away skim the top of the cooled pot with a spoon. You won’t be able to remove as much fat this way, but it's fine in a pinch. Once you have skimmed the fat, the broth can be frozen for up to 9 months.
Notes
Nutrition
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