A Simple Chicken Broth Recipe

Now whats the difference between a broth and just a stock?

To put it simply a stock bubbles away for an hour or so and a broth bubbles away for 12 to 24 hours. That means a broth has more time to extract all the valuable nutrients from what ever you put into it.  So the flavour is deeper and its nutrient packed. For me in most cases it is made pretty much the same way, just one is cooked longer.

Why is broth so good?

Broth is amazing for not only gut health but also joint health. Containing valuable nutrients that we find hard to source from our modern diet including collagen, gelatin and glucosamine. These are nutrients that are required for strong bones, joints and a healthy digestive system. Not to mention all the amazing minerals present like calcium, magnesium zinc etc. For me while I was healing my leaky gut and adrenal fatigue broth become a valuable part of the healing process and a daily stable.

Today it just gets created each time we have roast chicken or I get my hands of some quality bones of some sort. Now one thing to really note is the quality of the bones you are going to use. Remember you are trying to pull out nutrients and minerals from those bones, in that same process any chemicals and hormones would also be extracted. So make sure your chickens are organic or at least free range and hormone free and your bones are equally as good a quality. Until recently I have sort of cringed at what sort of chicken was available and tend not to buy it often so I decided to look more into sourcing organic chicken and I found these guys. Bostock chicken, I popped an order through and within a few days I had a freezer of amazing organic chicken. So good! So could be worth checking it out if your in NZ and looking to upgrade your chicken quality.

How to make basic broth

There are many ways you can make broth and I want to share with you my absolute basic recipe and my rolls royce version. More often than not I just make my basic and all that happens is when ever I do a roast chicken I save all the bones.  I then pop it in the slow cooker, with one onion and one bulb of garlic and cover with water. Turn it on and let it bubble away for 12-24 hours. Easy! Anyone can do that. If I can’t be making it on the day I have the bones left over, they get popped into the freezer until I want to make a broth. This is often the case with hot summer days and saving them up for rainy cold days.

This basic recipe is then an amazing base for me to add to stirfries, to get creative with soups etc. You will need to add in some himalayan salt to taste once its done.  Freeze what you don’t use and you can use in dishes that call for stocks.

Now when I want to jazz things up a bit more and get more creative it starts with looking at whats in the fridge and often I just throw some things in from there. For this recipe all these ingredients are in season now and add incredible flavour.  Don’t feel if you don’t have them all you can’t do it, remember start with the base then add in. One onion and some garlic adds a new flavour level and celery is always a great addition.

When chopping the vegetables don’t be to picky as these get sieved out once cooked.

Cooking Instructions
Add everything into a slow cooker and cover with water. Let it simmer away for 12-24 hours.
Once cooked, drain and add salt to taste.
I then grate some fresh tumeric for its anti- inflammatory properties and place a teaspoon of butter into each glass for extra nutrients and gut healing properties.

Enjoy a glass of this daily for extra nutrients into your diet.