In the Kitchen with Katie: Super Secret Homemade Broth

I've had people ask me why my soup tastes so good and different from other soups.  Well...like many, I have a secret!  Okay, so maybe it's NOT a secret...but I like to think it is.  The secret is really basic, but makes insanely good eating!  Last year we blogged about our crock pot whole chicken.  If you missed that post, it forms the base for all our soups, so check that out right now and them come back and read this.  And please remember to SPRAY YOUR CROCK POT before cooking anything!  It makes clean up so much easier.

The final instructions on that post for making broth are the important steps here. Now, please note that the VOLUME of water you add is solely up to you.  After you have made your crock pot chicken and enjoyed it for dinner, make sure you follow these simple steps:

- Do NOT clean out crock pot. 
- Remove all the chicken meat from the crock pot.
- Pull off skin & bones and add back into crock pot and set aside the chicken to make meals from later.

- Add 1-2 quarts water, all bones, uneaten veggies, and any extra skin back into pot. (Side note: if you are like me, your fridge is full of "rabbit food."  What I call rabbit food is the things which need to go to the compost pile, but haven't made it there yet.  This could be the ends and tops of celery, funky looking carrots, onions pieces, and perhaps even half a potato.  As long as these things are NOT spoiled and rotten, add them to your crock pot too.)

- Add 3-4 bouillon cubes, depending on amount of water.

- Simmer ALL NIGHT (while you sleep). 

This is the secret to ALL my soups, homemade, semi-preservative free (why? Because I add store bought bouillon) chicken broth base.  To finish this homemade broth, just use these simple steps. In the morning, remove the bones and remaining chicken pieces. 

What you are left with is healthy, clean, and fresh chicken broth.  Put the broth through a strainer and separate all the pieces, parts, bones, skin, etc.  Then simply take the broth and put if in freezable containers.  I always put 2 servings in the fridge to use that week and then freeze the other 2-4 servings for use later.  Here's the best part, our $5.50 chicken provides hubby and I with over 3 meals from the chicken and about 4-6 from the broth.  Pretty easy on our budget...plus, there's not any added funky names I can't pronounce for ingredients and the most important, there's not a lot of added salt either.  

This simple broth forms the base for many of my recipes, from chicken stir fry to chicken noodle soup and even casseroles.  Enjoy experimenting with your chicken broth.  I can't wait to see what you come up with.