Slow Cooker Chicken Bone Broth
If you’re looking for a way to boost nutrition without any extra steps, this easy slow cooker chicken bone broth is the perfect recipe for you!
Not only is this recipe easy, but it’s also much more nutritious than the chicken broths that you buy in store. Not only do you not know what goes into their brother (and whether or not it is organic), but it’s more expensive and those boxes it comes in are lined with plastic that leaks into your broth. 😅 Homemade, however, is chocked full of the nutrients from your organic veggies, collagen from the bones and electrolytes. There really isn’t a better way to pack an affordable, nutritional punch into your recipes that this easy slow cooker bone broth!
How do you store chicken bone broth?
I always have homemade chicken broth on hand. This recipe makes just under a gallon of broth, so I always have a bit in my refrigerator to use for the week and then stow the rest away in my deep freezer into 32 oz containers. When I need it again, I just set it out on the counter for a bit to thaw or dump it into a pan on the stove if I need it more quickly. It will store well in the freezer for 3-4 days or in the freezer for about 6 months.
Do I have to use a slow cooker for chicken bone broth?
No, you can get a large stock pot and add all of the ingredients there as well, but it makes me a bit nervous leaving the stove on and unattended for that long. The recipe would work exactly the same way though if you do not have a slow cooker, boil until the chicken is cooked, then remove the meat and add the bones back in before turning the temperature down to a low simmer.
What do you make with slow cooker chicken bone broth?
We use bone broth for EVERYTHING in this house. Making rice or quinoa? Use bone broth instead of water. Making a soup? This easy chicken bone broth is the base. Chicken and Dumplings? We use the chicken and the broth from this recipe. If we are feeling sick or dehydrated, we’ll even heat up a steaming mug of bone broth to sip (and if we have a cold, we adapt the recipe to make my Spicy Jalapeño Chicken Bone Broth. Guaranteed to make you feel better and clear those sinuses for sure).
What do you use the “leftover” chicken for?
We are always using chicken in this house. It’s so versatile! We’ll chop it up and add in fajita seasoning and eat it as tacos, use it in Chicken and Dumplings, or chop it and use it for chicken salad. You get about (depending on the size of the drumsticks) 4 cups of cooked chicken from this recipe, which is also the perfect amount to use in Joanna Gaines’ Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas from the second volume of her Magnolia Table cookbook. We love these!
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Bone Broth
Equipment
- slow cooker
- tongs
- fine mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 8 antibiotic free or organic chicken drumsticks
- 1 organic lemon halved
- 1 organic head of garlic halved
- 1 organic onion halved
- 3 organic carrots rough chopped in large pieces
- 3 celery stalks roughly chopped in large pieces
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 organic bay leaves
- 16 cups water
Instructions
- Add chicken drumsticks to slow cooker.
- Halve the onion, head of garlic, and lemon. Add to slow cooker.
- Chop the carrots and celery into big pieces (you want them to easily be removed when the broth is done). Add to slow cooker.
- Add salt, pepper and bay leaves to crockpot. Fill the slow cooker with water (about 16 cups)
- Turn on high and let cook for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, remove the drumsticks. Separate meat and remove bones (make sure you remove the thin, needle-like bone as well. Separate skin and cartilage and throw away. Add the 8 thick bones back to the slow cooker.
- Turn temperature to low and let cook overnight or for 10-12 hours.
- Cut slow cooker off and let the broth cool. Poor through a fine mesh strainer and voila! You have chicken bone broth.