This is something I think everyone feels is super daunting and it’s just not. Homemade broth is SO good and so much better than boxed, you’ll never turn back. It’s easy to make, easy to store, and feels like sipping healthy.
I make the broth mostly in context of making a homemade chicken noodle soup (though you can obviously make it to store for future soups). The key is something I always saw my mom do – make all the soup elements separately, and just combine when you assemble the bowl you’re gonna eat! It makes your bowl of soup feel so fresh and gourmet, and it prevents everything from getting too mushy when you store it.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 yellow onion
- I like to use rainbow carrots (3-4ish big carrots)
- Celery (like 3-4 stalks)
- Box of mushrooms
- Egg noodles
- 1 whole garlic clove
- Thyme, rosemary, parsley, dill – all fresh
- Black peppercorns
- Bunch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Stuff your dutch oven with:
- Whole chicken first
- Cut your onion in a little smaller than quarters, and put the whole thing in the sides. Skin included
- Same with your garlic, you’ll peel off like the super extra skin and then just throw the cloves in the sides of the dutch oven skin and all.
- I keep calling the skin the peel – you know what I mean!
- Cut your carrots and celery into ~3” chunks and stuff them down in there
- I cut my herb bunches in half and stuff them on the sides
- Pour in some black peppercorns and generously salt
- Add your water to the BRIM
Simmer anywhere from 2-4 hours. When I’m crunched on time, I let it get to a bit of a bigger simmer for shorter amount of time. Lid on, lid off, alternate at your leisure
Okay so when its feels like it’s gonna be the last ~hour of the simmering, cut up your remaining carrots. Make sure they’re thin and then slice your mushrooms. Saute those slow and low with butter olive oil salt pepper for a while.
Boil your noodles so they’re ready.
When you have tasted your broth and it’s good to go, I pull the chicken out with tongs first and put on a cutting board to deal with shredding it. Then I pour the broth + veggies into a strainer that is sitting inside a big mixing bowl, so I can easily get the vegetables/herbs outta there.
Pour your broth back into your dutch oven and keep on super low heat just to keep it warm – soooometimes if I didn’t get to simmer long enough, I’ll add a spoonful of chicken bouillon to get the flavor a little intensified. But that’s rare.
Construct your bowl with all your fixins! I shred the chicken + pop in some noodles, add in the caramelized carrots and mushrooms, ladle your broth, top with fresh parsley. Then I save everything individually so the soup doesn’t get mushy, and I can sip on the broth on its own if I want!
I store my leftover broth in mason jars, and if I freeze it, I put in baggies and lay flat in the freezer so they freeze in thinner “block” shapes.
I should never make a cookbook, these instructions are like reading the inside of my brain lol.
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