Homemade Chicken Broth

 

Pulled Chicken and Chicken Broth

 

Our family tries to cook with as little boxed and processed foods as possible. One thing that I like to do is buy 2 chickens at Costco, which is about $10.00. I them make three to four meals out of them plus about 11 32oz containers of broth. Chicken broth costs at least $3.00 - $4.00 a box at the store and we use it in nearly all our recipes. After the chicken is pulled I make 1 meal for that night such as chicken soup, chicken and dumplings, or chicken pot pie and use the vegetables that were cooked with the chicken. I then freeze all of the broth as well. Adding up the pure amount of broth and meat one could easily save $50.00 and have cooked meat on hand for a speedy meal another day.

Prepping the chicken:

Wash chicken

Ingredients:

Salt and pepper chicken
4-6 celery stalks roughly chopped
4-6 carrots roughly chopped
1 – 2 Onions or Leaks roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
Parsley (optional)
Garlic (optional)
1-2 table spoons of poultry seasoning or fresh thyme, sage, etc.
Large stock pot

Instructions:

Fill a large stock pot a few inches over the chickens. Throw everything in the pot. If you don't have every ingredient on hand, just use what you do have. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 2 hours or so. When you check on it, use a pair of tongs to pull on the chicken - if you do so and it starts to fall apart easily - your chicken is ready to come out. Once the chicken falls off the bones easily, you need to remove it from the pot. Then I carefully use two pairs of tongs or whatever I need to grab the chicken pieces out of the stock pot to set into the bowl. I get all the pieces out and let it cool in the bowl. Once cooled enough to touch it, I will pull all the chicken off of the bones and put it into a new clean bowl.

NOTE:

This can also be done in the slow cooker. High for 4 hours and low for 6-8 hours