My love of my slow cooker is well documented, and often this chicken broth is blipping away in it. I made the broth through out the year, by saving the bones from a roast chicken or two. It is a simple and economical way to stretch out a roast chicken across multiple meals. If you haven’t recently had a roast chook, good supermarkets and butchers will sell you a bag of chicken frames for a few dollars. This broth freezes well, allowing you portion it out as needed.
Below is the basic recipe. I regularly add to this foundation, depending what I need the broth for. A knob of ginger, some lemongrass and a star anise adds an Asian spin. Handfuls of thyme, parsley and sage add a beautiful depth of herby flavour.
Ingredients
- 2 x chicken carcasses
- 1 x brown onion
- 6 x garlic cloves
- 1 x lemon
- 3 litres water
Instructions
In to your slow cooker put the chicken bones, an unpeeled brown onion, garlic cloves and the lemon. Top up with 3 litres of water and turn the slow cooker on. Low or high, it doesn't particularly matter. Just be wary if you leave it on high for a while, you may need to top up the liquid levels later on.
Leave it for 24 hours to simmer and bubble away. You can leave it longer, it really does deepen the flavour. Turn your slow cooker off and strain everything through a sieve into a jug. Discard the bones and the vegetables, while reserving the liquid. It will have a slight shimmer from the fat off the chicken bones.
This freezes really well, I keep it in one litre containers for soup, and some smaller portions to add flavour in cooking.
Notes
Freeze your leftover chicken frames from a roast in a container in the freezer. Continually add to it and eventually you will have enough to make broth.
