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 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. ;)
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 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.