Homemade Chicken Broth in the Oven
Homemade Chicken Broth in the Oven is hands down the BEST way to make chicken broth. Chicken backs are slowly simmered in the oven with tons of veggies and a few seasonings until it’s a deep golden color with tons of flavor. It’s rich in collagen and makes every dish that much better.
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Why This Recipe is So Good
I love-making chicken broth in the instant pot. It’s so much quicker than the stove and pretty hands off. But really, the cheat code for making chicken broth from scratch is slow roasting it in the oven. All the ingredients are added to a covered pot to simmer for 4 – 5 hours. It gets those roasted flavors without *actually* having to roast the chicken bones and the veggies.
Because we are cooking the broth in the oven covered, the flavors of the broth really get a chance to meld together and give you a deeper flavor and color than boiling the broth over the stove. It freezes wonderfully in either bags, jars, or an ice cube tray so you can easily add it to any recipe.
This broth is really thick and rich in collagen. Once it has chilled, you can really see how gelatinous it really is. If you have chicken feet or wing tips, totally add them to the pot, because those parts of the bird are rich in collagen, which is perfect for your broth.
So, use this roasted chicken broth in anything and everything. These Smothered Chicken Wings, this Chunky Cauliflower Potato Soup with Mixed Veggies, this Spicy Ground Turkey Chili with Black Beans, or replace the water with chicken broth in this vegan Enchilada Sauce recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken backs: You’ll need 2 – 3 raw chicken backs or carcasses. If you break down whole chickens, you can save the backs for broth, or ask your butcher for them. You can use any assortment of raw chicken bones. Adding wing tips is always great because they contain a good amount of collagen, which will make your broth even more gelatinous.
- Vegetables: Veggie scraps or yellow onions, celery, carrots, and garlic are my go-to additions for making homemade chicken broth. Adding tomatoes or zucchini makes the broth even more flavor-packed.
- Seasonings: Very simple seasonings because we really want the flavor of the chicken to shine. Dried herbs like rosemary and thyme, all-purpose seasoning, onion and garlic powder, and of course, kosher salt and a few bay leaves.
How to Make Oven-Roasted Chicken Broth
All ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
To a large stock pot, add chicken backs and bones, water, chopped vegetables, and seasonings.
Cover the pot with a lid, then cook in the oven for 4 – 5 hours or until the chicken looks golden brown. The chicken backs and the vegetables should be very soft.
Use broth immediately or allow it to cool slightly before straining and storing in the fridge or freezer.
Use This Chicken Broth to Make These Recipes
- Southern Turnip Greens with Turkey Bacon
- Leftover Turkey Pot Pie with Biscuits
- Smothered Turkey Necks
- Smothered Chicken Thighs with Onion Gravy
- Cajun Smothered Turkey Wings
- Southern Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
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Homemade Chicken Broth in the Oven
Equipment
- Large stock pot with a lid at least 8 quarts
- Laddle
- Large mixing bowl or pot to strain the broth into
Ingredients
- 2 raw chicken backs or carcasses about 4lbs of chicken bones
- 8 cups filtered water
- 1 medium-sized onion peeled and quartered
- 1 carrot peeled and cut in half
- 2 – 3 celery ribs
- 2 – 3 large cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 – 3 bay leaves
Optional
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose seasoning no salt, optional
- 1 – 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to really pull out all the collagen and nutrients from the bones you can’t taste it in the broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- To a large stock pot, add chicken backs and bones, water, chopped vegetables, and seasonings.
- Cover the pot with a lid, then cook in the oven for 4 – 5 hours or until the chicken looks golden brown. The chicken backs and the vegetables should be very soft.
- Allow the broth to cool slightly then set a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl or pot to strain the broth. Transfer broth to mason jars. Can use the broth immediately or keep in the fridge for 3 – 5 days.
- Freeze broth by portioning it into freezer-safe bags or containers or an ice cube tray.
Notes
How To Store/ Make Ahead
- Store broth in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze broth in plastic bags or glass jars. After the broth has cooled, portion 1 – 2 cups into freezer-safe bags. Don’t overfill because the broth will expand as it freezes. You can also freeze broth in glass mason jars, just don’t fill the jar past the “shoulders” to leave room for the broth to expand as it freezes, to prevent the glass from breaking in the freezer.
- Freeze into an ice cube tray. These are about 1 – 2 tablespoons of broth, which is perfect for thinning too-thick sauces or gravy, or for adding additional flavor without too much liquid. After freezing, store in a gallon freezer bag for up to 6 months.
Tips and Tricks
- Carrots: Too many can make your broth too sweet, affecting the flavor of your dishes when you use it in cooking.
- Avoid leafy greens like spinach and chard(except cilantro and parsley) and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage, because they can give the broth a bitter or weird flavor.
- Raw chicken bones: I prefer using raw chicken backs because the broth tastes better. I don’t like using cooked bones because the broth can sometimes taste like cooked bones instead of a delicious broth.
- Freeze vegetables for broth. A great way to store vegetables for broth is to freeze anything that might go bad. Have a large freezer-safe gallon bag in the freezer that you can fill with onion pieces, celery stalks, and the celery tops, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. Just anything that you might throw away but could be used to make broth at a later time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a rough estimate. Recipe card may include affiliate links.
