Cook it Fresh

Swanson boxed chicken broth on the left, homemade on the right

There are a few items that appear on my grocery list almost every week and one of those is chicken broth. I use it in soups, sauces, stir fry, and to add it to rice to make it more flavorful. I’ve tried many methods for making homemade chicken stock and, although it was always noticeably more flavorful, it took so much effort that I’ve reverted to buying boxed most of the time. This past weekend, with my husband I both feeling a bit under the weather, I remembered how good my mom’s chicken soup tastes with homemade chicken stock and I resolved to try making my own broth again. I combined several different recipes that I’ve tried before, and the result was fantastic! It was by far the richest, most flavorful stock I’ve ever made. Here is my recipe for delicious chicken stock:

prepared ingredients ready to become chicken broth!

Chicken Broth

Makes about 12 cups

• 1 whole chicken cut up (I buy mine already cut up)2 carrots, cut into 2 inch chunks
  2 celery ribs, cut into 2 inch chunks
  2 medium yellow onions, unpeeled, cut into quarters
  2 Tablespoons olive oil
  kosher salt
  several whole peppercorns
  1 sprig parsley
  1 sprig fresh thyme
  2 bay leaves

1. Place the chicken wings and drumsticks and vegetables in a 9×13 inch pan. Toss with the oil and a big pinch of salt. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 1 hour, or until chicken starts to get browned.

2. Tie the parsley, thyme and bay leaves into a bunch with a strand of kitchen string to make a bouquet garni.

3. Place the bouquet garni, roasted chicken and vegetables, the rest of the whole chicken, and peppercorns into a large pot or dutch oven. Cover with water and add another large pinch of salt.

4. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the chicken and cut the meat off the bones. Reserve the chicken meat and return the bones and skin to the pot.

5. Continue to simmer the stock for another 2 to 3 hours, tasting and adding salt or more water as needed. The longer you simmer the stock, the more flavor it will have.

6. Pour the stock through a fine mesh sieve or a strainer lined with cheesecloth into a large container. Refrigerate overnight and, once it is chilled, skim off the fat. Freeze any of the stock that you don’t plan on using within the next few days.

I made two bowls of my mom’s recipe for chicken noodle soup (see below) one using my homemade stock, one using Swanson’s chicken broth from a box. The results were astonishingly different. The homemade stock was noticeably tastier and more flavorful as well as having a darker, more appealing color. I make chicken soup with boxed chicken broth all the time and never realized how little flavor it had until I compared it directly to homemade. After eating the homemade stock, the boxed tasted very watery. The drawback with homemade is, as usual, the time and effort involved. But really, this stock didn’t take a whole lot of effort, mostly just time. You can pretty much throw everything in the pot and just let it simmer all day, filling the house with delicious, savory smells. As another bonus, you get a whole chicken worth of seasoned, tender meat to use in meals for the rest of the week. That said, I know that I will continue to keep a box of chicken broth around for those times when I just don’t have time to simmer a chicken all day long!

Bottom Line: Homemade chicken broth is noticeably more flavorful and richer in color than boxed, but takes a lot of time to make.  I will definitely be using homemade broth from now on in things like soup or gravy where the broth is a main ingredient.  For other uses, where the flavor is less important, I’ll likely continue to give in to the convenience of boxed.

Homemade chicken broth                                     Swanson boxed chicken broth

Cost:  70 cents per cup                                           Cost:  75 cents per cup

Time:  4 to 5 hours                                                  Time:  none

Bonus Recipe:  This is my ultimate comfort food and great with cold and flu season just around the corner!  You can, of course, omit or adjust the amount of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.

My mom’s Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

serves 2

• 1 medium baked potato, diced
• butter
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup warm, diced, cooked chicken
• 1 cup cooked wide egg noodles
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups chicken broth, canned or homemade (but you know which is better!)

1.  Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the diced potato and season with salt and  pepper.  Saute until potatoes are browned all sides.

2.  Divide the potatoes, noodles, and diced chicken between two bowls.

3.  Pour 1 cup of chicken broth into each bowl and top with the sliced green onions. Enjoy!