If you’ve made our Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken, you likely have some chicken bones on hand. Don’t throw them out! We have the perfect use for them. Let’s make bone broth together.
This 3-ingredient, 1-pot recipe yields flavorful bone broth perfect for soups, sauces, and more. But first, let’s talk about what bone broth is and how to make it.
What is Bone Broth
Bone broth is quite simply broth made from animal bones — in this instance, from a whole roasted chicken. You can also opt to make bone broth out of beef or pork bones, but this recipe demonstrates using the bones from a whole roasted chicken.
How to Make Bone Broth
Making bone broth is actually quite easy.
- Simply save the bones from your roasted chicken (including legs and wings that may have been on the serving platter), and add to a large pot or Dutch oven. We also included the lemon wedges and rosemary that were cooked with our whole roasted chicken*, but this is optional.
- Then simply top with filtered water until generously covered (about 12 cups / 2880 ml).
- Next, add in a bit of salt to season the broth (you can add more later).
- Then add 1-2 Tbsp (15-30ml) apple cider vinegar, which is added primarily as the acidity breaks down the collagen and makes it more abundant in the broth. You can also sub lemon juice, but we prefer apple cider vinegar.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for at least 10-12 hours, or until reduced by 1/3 or 1/2, leaving you with 6-8 cups of bone broth. The more it reduces, the more intense the flavor becomes and the more collagen is extracted. We find 12 hours to be the perfect cook time.
- Strain and use or store.
*Alternatively, you can go to your local butcher and buy bones exclusively for making broth. But we find it’s much more streamlined to buy a whole chicken, roast it, and then use the leftover bones to make broth.
Bone Broth Benefits
Bone broth is high in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. It also contains a high amount of collagen, which may help support bone and joint health.
Because broth is easy to digest, these nutrients are easy for the body to absorb, making them more available to the body — especially for those with digestive issues.
What to Do with Bone Broth
Bone broth can be sipped straight as a health tonic. We like stirring in nutritional yeast, sea salt, and black pepper to taste, plus a little miso and some green onions and minced garlic. It’s comforting, warming, and nourishing.
It can also be used wherever chicken broth is used, such as in soups, gravies, sauces, and more.
How to Store Bone Broth
Once your bone broth has simmered for 10-12 hours and reduced, strain and store as desired. We prefer adding it straight to soup with some of the leftover shredded chicken. This 1-Pot Pumpkin Black Bean Soup or this 1-Pot Chicken Soup with White Bean and Kale are perfect applications.
But it can also be stored in glass jars and frozen up to 1-2 months or more. Just be sure to leave a couple inches at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer.
Note: Bone broth typically gelatinizes when refrigerated because of the collagen content. But don’t worry — that’s normal. When reheated it liquifies once again just like store-bought chicken broth.
We hope you LOVE this broth! It’s:
Comforting
Customizable
Versatile
Easy to make
& Incredibly nourishing
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
How to Make Bone Broth
An easy, step-by-step guide to making chicken bone broth! Simple ingredients and fool-proof methods yield a beautiful broth perfect for soups, sauces, and more!
Ingredients
- Bones and carcass of 1 chicken (we suggest starting with a whole roasted chicken)
- 12 cups filtered water
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 generous pinch each sea salt and black pepper (plus more to taste)
- Rosemary/herbs (leftover from roasting chicken // optional)
- 1 sliced lemon (leftover from roasting chicken // optional)
Instructions
-
To a large pot or Dutch oven, add the bones leftover from a whole roasted chicken (including legs and wings that may have been on the serving platter), or the bones from 1 chicken purchased from a butcher. (Note: This can also be done in a Crock-Pot or Instant Pot.)
We also like adding the lemon wedges and rosemary that were cooked with our whole roasted chicken (optional).
-
Top with filtered water until generously covered (about 12 cups / 2880 ml). This should reduce down by about 1/3 or 1/2, leaving you with 6-8 cups of bone broth.
-
Next, add in a bit of salt and pepper to season the broth (you can add more later to taste).
-
Then add apple cider vinegar, which is added primarily because the acidity breaks down the collagen and makes it more abundant in the broth. You can also sub lemon juice, but we prefer apple cider vinegar.
-
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for at least 10-12 hours, or until reduced by 1/3 to 1/2. The more it reduces, the more intense the flavor will become and the more collagen will be extracted. We find 12 hours to be about right.
-
Strain and discard the bones. Either use immediately or store in glass jars and freeze up to 1-2 months or more. Just be sure to leave a couple inches at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer.
Note: Bone broth typically gelatinizes when refrigerated because of the collagen content. But don't worry — that's normal. When reheated it liquifies once again, just like store-bought chicken broth.
Notes
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.
Nutrition Per Serving (1 of 8 cups)
- Calories: 53
- Fat: 2.9g
- Saturated fat: 0.9g
- Trans fat: 0.04g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 0.61g
- Monounsaturated fat: 1.32g
- Cholesterol: 2.63mg
- Sodium: 342mg
- Potassium: 208mg
- Carbohydrates: 0.9g
- Sugar: 0.4g
- Protein: 5.3g
Hi, this is wonderful! I can’t find no antibiotics ever chicken feet near me and wondered if I could make this using chicken legs? Thank you in advance.
Hi Debbie, we haven’t tried that, but maybe? We’ve only made it with a whole chicken carcass.
If your main drawback is the time investment, a pressure cooker or instant pot DRASTICALLY reduces the required cook time for bone broth. A slow cooker will eventually get there, but it’s way slower because it can’t get to temperatures above the normal boiling point.
Do u skim the chicken fat off the broth after cooking?
You can! But it will be more flavorful with it.
My daughter says that Jello contains collagen sources from equine sources. The packages list collagen but dont give a measurement or source. As an “oldster” jello aspic and jello ring salads were quite common back in the day. Rarely seem em nowadays. Any ideas on amount of content or source?
Not sure, sorry!
Wouldn’t you want to use antibiotic free and grass fed, clean, ect meat prior to cooking these bones for bone broth?
Hi Sheri, yes, we would recommend organic and free-range or pasture-raised whenever possible.
Is it okay if there is still some meat left on the bone of the chicken when you add in the carcass? Or should it be as meatless as possible?
That’s fine!
Hi! Is it ok to cook this in several steps? Like 6 hours one night, cool it and put it in fridge and then 6 hours the next day?
Thanks!
Hmm, I think that would be OK? And probably the safest.
Or you could do this in the Instant Pot set on manual for 90 minutes. Then natural release method for 30 minutes (or longer).
Super easy recipe and tastes great! I used the bones, tendons and skin from a roasted chicken I bought at Safeway. Added some herbs, onion and garlic. The only downside to making this is it takes so long, so you have to make sure you have no real plans for the day. Might try using my slow cooker next time. I’m excited to try making the vegetable broth next!
Hey, How to consult the nutritional value of recipes? What reference source did you use?
Hi Jessica, we like to use cronometer for calculating nutrition info.
Delicious! I roasted the bones a second time, without the chicken of course, prior to boiling them for a more intense flavor! I added onion and garlic! I’ve used celery, carrot too. I knew I was using this stock for soup so got a head start on flavoring.
It beats any plain broth and so inexpensive compared to what is available on the grocery shelf. Plus you KNOW what’s in it for certain.
I swear you can even feel the difference while eating this nutritionally! Maybe it’s just me I’m really in tune with what my body needs.
Thanks for sharing!
Forgot to say I began cooking bones on high in my pretty hot slow cooker for an hour. I then turned it down to simmer/low for 12. Perfect.
Agreed that it’s much better than store-bought. Thanks for sharing, Julia!
Looks like the bones were roasted in the oven before the soup was made, is that what was done? Looks delicious. I Love making my own broth.. its so fast in the instapot.. and also so yummy I tend to add fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary to enhance the flavor.. its so satifying in the tummy.. thanks for sharing.
jeannie W.
Hi Jeannie, the chicken was cooked using this recipe prior to making the bone broth: https://minimalistbaker.com/lemon-herb-roasted-chicken/. Hope that helps!
Hi Dana! I’m going to try this in a slow cooker and also add some chicken breast so I can use everything in a soup. Do I add the chicken breast at the start or should I add it much later in the cooking process?
Can’t wait to see how this turns out, it’s my first time making broth!
Either should work. Though it might be best to wait to add the chicken breast until later so some of it doesn’t get lost in the straining process.
It seems a lot of people cut the skin off the chickens and just toss it, but it can be saved and added to stock too. (Before or after roasting. Though, it adds the most flavor if roasted first.)
I am not one of them. Roasted skin is yummy. ;)
Sadly, the skin can’t go into the bone broth because it goes into my belly first. The roasted skin from her roast chicken recipe is too good to go uneaten.
Can I do this in a slow cooker overnight on low ? Instead of it being on the stove for so long?
Looks great defo wanna give it a go –
Ps I love your insta page !!!
Xoxo
Absolutely! 12-24 hours in the slow cooker on low should be perfect.
I’ve had it in the slow cooker for 12 hours and it hasn’t really reduced much. Should I leave it Til it’s reduced further? I used 11 cups of water and I’m thinking maybe I should have used less. Should I have “just covered” the bones with water?
Hi Luna, we would recommend taste testing and seeing if it is flavorful enough. It might still work, but perhaps use less water next time as it sounds like less evaporates in a slow cooker?
I have a question, if it boils down way faster than 12 hours can you add more water?
Yes! You can, just be sure to cook it for a couple hours after that to integrate the flavors well.