How to Make Chicken Bone Broth in a Slow Cooker
/Making bone broth is a great way to get more nutrients, save money, and make meals that taste delicious. Good news is, it's super easy to do in a slow cooker or Crock Pot! You get to go about your day while a yummy pot of broth simmers away on your counter.
Slow Cooker Chicken Bone Broth
Ingredients
Bones from one chicken
Assorted broth veggies like celery, carrot, onion, garlic, and herbs (whatever you have is fine)*
12 black peppercorns
Salt (to taste, I probably use about a teaspoon)
Splash of apple cider vinegar
Water
Directions
- Add all ingredients to your slow cooker with enough water to cover everything. Put on lid and cook on low for 12 to 24 hours.
- Once broth is done, turn off slow cooker and allow broth to cool a bit. Then, strain the broth into jars or containers to remove solids. Store broth in the refrigerator if you want to use it within the next few days or the freezer to save for later.
*Note: I keep a bag in my freezer for storing vegetable scraps like onion peels, carrot ends, and celery ends. Then, whenever I make broth, I can just go in my freezer and toss some of these veggies in the slow cooker. This saves money and time. Other scraps you can keep in this bag include garlic ends, asparagus ends, ginger peels, and fresh herbs that you won't be able to use up before they go bad. Don't include cruciferous veggies like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower because they can make things a little stinky.
using those odds and ends that we pay for but throw in the trash or compost every day such as carrot and celery ends, mushroom stems, the woody pieces of asparagus, fennel fronds, onions peels, and the leftover carcass from a whole chicken. These little bits are full of flavor and nutrition and can be used to make a great vegetable or chicken stock that can be frozen and then thawed to use in recipes or in place of water to cook brown rice, couscous, and quinoa. It's as simple as keeping a bag in the freezer to store all of those little veggie pieces and, when it's full, simmering the contents in a big pot of water. The recipe below is a good jumping off point, but feel free to make adjustments depending on what you have on hand or what's in your bag of frozen veggies. This is not an exact science so use what you like and have fun with it! Not only will you be getting the most out of the dollars you do spend, you won't have to waste money on all of those boxed stocks at the store (which are often times loaded with sodium) and you can control the quality of the ingredients. One guideline is not to use cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, etc.) as they can make things a bit stinky and dominate the flavor of the stock.