Make this simple chicken bone broth recipe, and have nourishing broth available whenever you need it. This recipe is simple, and I give you 3 different ways to make bone broth in your kitchen, and show you how to preserve it for later.

Two jars of golden chicken broth sitting on a wooden cutting board, with bones piled beside.

Making chicken bone broth at home is easy, and it's a wonderful way to keep nourishing food on the table at all times. Bone broth is delicious in homemade soups, stews, gravies, meat pies and more!

There are 3 basic ways to make broth: 1) on the stove top, 2) in the oven and 3), with an Instant Pot.

You can use bones from oven roasted chicken, or raw bones for making broth.

Tips for Finding Chicken Bones

There are several different places you can find chicken bones.

Save leftover bones from whole, roast chicken (or chicken cuts with bone in) and freeze in a bag until you are ready to make broth.
If you have a local butcher in your area who processes chickens, ask if they have extra bones after removing cuts of meat for customers.
Small meat operations or farms that raise pastured meat birds may have extra bones after butchering and cutting away breast meat, etc.
Those of you who keep chickens: butcher old laying hens that are on their way out, rather than disposing of them elsewhere.

Jars of golden chicken bone broth sitting on a wood cutting board.

Ingredients

Chicken bones (bones from 2-3 chickens is idea)
Water

This recipe makes a basic, chicken bone broth. I don't add anything to it, but you most certainly can add herbs, spices and vegetables to your broth for additional flavor.

Other Tasty Additions

Onions
Garlic
Leeks
Carrots
Celery
Sweet corn
Herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, etc).

3 Ways to Make Bone Broth

How to Make Broth in the Oven

Broth takes a long time to prepare in the oven, but it's a great option if you need to use your stovetop.

Preheat your oven to 400F.
Place your chicken bones (raw or cooked) in a dutch oven or a small roaster.
Add water until all the bones are covered.
Set your roaster in the oven and leave it for 30 minutes, or until the water boils.
Reduce the heat and let the broth gently simmer 6-8 hours, or until gelatine is gone from bones.
Replenish water every 2-3 hours, or as needed.

A cast iron dutch oven, filled with bones for baking in the oven. — Add bones to a dutch oven, cover with water, simmer in the oven until bones fall apart, and joints and ligaments dissolve.

How to Make Bone Broth on the Stovetop

The stove top is great for making bone broth. Here's a quick breakdown of the process.

Place bones (raw or cooked) in a stainless steel pot.
Add water, until the bones are covered.
Set heat to high until water boils, then reduce the heat so things gently simmer.
Check the water levels every 2 hours, so the moisture doesn't evaporate and bones burn.
Boil for 4-6 hours, or until gelatine is gone from bones.

Bones in a stockpot can be boiled with water for 6 hours, before straining and using the broth. — Dumping bones in a stockpot, and adding water to boil for making gelatine rich bone broth.

How to Make Bone Broth in the Instapot

Because it uses pressure to increase heat, the Instant Pot is best and fastest at making chicken bone broth.

Place bones (raw or cooked) in the Instant Pot insert.
Cover bones with about 1 inch of water.
Fasten the lid into place, and cook on soup/broth setting, increasing the time to 2 hours.
Check to see if ligaments and tendons have dissolved.
If not, run the Instant Pot through another 2 hour cycle.

Chicken bones being put into a stockpot, and water being added to cover the bones. — Adding bones to an Instant Pot and adding water, until bones are covered.

Tips for Making Quality Broth

Tip 1-not all chickens are equal. Pasture raised or backyard chickens are more developed with stronger muscle, bones, tendons and ligaments. These birds will take longer to break down in the soup pot!

Tip 2-you don't have to cook bones until ligaments dissolve. While long cook times are best for getting all the gelatine from the joints, you can stop after an hour or two and still have delicious, healthy broth.

Two images of chicken bones: one with ligaments and joints, and another showing clean bones after boiling. — Top: chicken bones with joints and ligaments attached.
Bottom: clean bones after joints and ligaments have boiled away.

Tip 3-always strain broth to remove small bone fragments. Small bits of bones will likely be found in your broth, so always strain it through a cotton cloth (or fine mesh strainer) before using in the kitchen!

How to Strain Bone Broth

In my kitchen, I always strain broth through a cotton cloth to be sure bone fragments are removed. Plus, it leaves you with a clear, pure broth without floating bone marrow or bits of soggy skin.

To strain broth, just line a heat-safe bowl with a cotton cloth.

Pour the broth into it, and lift the cotton cloth, letting the broth drip through. Discard the solids and move to the next step with your broth: using it, refrigerating it, or preserving it!

Four images, showing 1) lining a bowl with a cotton cloth, 2) pouring bones and broth into the bowl, 3) broth, bones, fat and skin sitting in the bowl, lifting the cotton straining cloth with clear broth left in the bowl. — Steps in filtering broth: 1) line a bowl with a cotton cloth, 2) pour the broth and bones into it, 3) collect all broth into the bowl, 4) lift the cotton cloth to separate solids from the bone broth.

3 Ways to Preserve Bone Broth

Refrigerator Preserving

I know the term refrigerator preserving seems ridiculous! But there actually is a way you can make broth last longer, in the fridge.

Pour hot (not boiling) broth into glass jars.
Fill jars very full, leaving no more than 1/8 inch open space at the top.
Fasten a canning lid and ring tightly into place.
Lay a thick tea towel down on your fridge shelf, and set jars of hot broth on it.
Only open jars when you are ready to use.

A jar filled to the rim with bone broth, ready for a lid and refrigerator preserving. — Jar of broth filled within 1/8 inch of the rim for refrigerator preserving.

Hot jars going into a cold fridge-with little (or no) headspace-will form a gentle vacuum seal. If left unopened, these jars will usually last 14-21 days longer than an open jar of broth.

Freezing Broth

If you want to store chicken bone broth for longer, freezing it is a good option. To do this, you'll want some freezer containers with lids.

You can use:

wide mouth canning jars (yes, its best to use wide mouth)
reuse plastic yogurt, sour cream or dairy containers
small, stacking plastic pails with lids

To Freeze in Glass Canning Jars: leave 2 inches of headspace. Lid, label and cool broth to room temperature before putting jars in the freezer. Glass is fragile and may crack, so as a precaution be sure to put a baking dish below.

A glass, wide mouth jar with broth, leaving 3 inches of headspace at the top of jar. — A freezer jar with 3-4 inches of headspace, ready for expansion when broth freezes.

To Freeze in Plastic Containers: unlike glass, plastic can expand and contract. Plastic containers only need 1 inch of headspace, and should have a tight fitting lid.

A gallon pail with a lid, filled with golden bone broth. — Plastic is friendly than glass in the freezer. Pails with lids are particularly nice, and you just have to leave 1 inch of headspace before lidding and freezing.

Helpful tip: always store containers of liquid in a flat, upright position, and put a tray or dish below, in case of a spill!

Canning Broth

I love canning broth! It's always in a liquid state, is shelf stable and ready whenever I need it. But broth isn't safe to preserve in a water bath canner. It need higher temperatures to be safe, so it must be pressure canned.

A quart jar of bone broth being set in a pressure canner with a jar lifter.

I have a small course I teach: Pressure Canning for Beginners, and I also have a tutorial on how to pressure can chicken broth.

Ways to Use Chicken Broth

You can use chicken bone broth just like regular bone broth, in any of your favorite recipes. Here are some ideas!

Soup base
Stew base
Poached eggs
Gravy
Meat pie
Shepherd's pie