“We use a lot of slow cooker chicken broth in my house. It is a beautiful thing when crafted from scratch, and who knew it could be so easy? Drop all of the ingredients in and walk away. It’s like a culinary mic drop. This recipe is technically a broth, not a stock, because it’s made from meat as well as bones, giving it richer flavor, but you can certainly use stock wherever you’d use this broth, and vice versa.” -Hugh Acheson
Slow Cooker Chicken Broth
Makes about 4 quarts—Recipe adapted from The Chef and The Slow Cooker by Hugh Acheson (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2017)
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 garlic cloves
- Several sprigs fresh thyme
- Several sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium white onions, quartered
- 3 large carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 3 celery stalks with leaves, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 6 black peppercorns
Instructions
- Butcher the chicken. Keep the gizzards, heart, neck, and backbone for the broth, but set the liver aside for another day. (Livers are great to accumulate in the freezer for use in a pâté or to finish a sauce.) Season the chicken pieces with the salt.
- Put the chicken pieces in a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, and add the garlic, thyme and parsley sprigs, bay leaves, onions, carrots, celery, coriander, and peppercorns. Add 4 quarts of cold water, or enough to cover. Cover with the lid, turn the cooker to the low setting, and walk away for 8 to 12 hours. (Some people call that going to work, but you could do whatever you want.)
- Strain the broth into containers, discarding the solids, and use it within 5 days or freeze it for up to 6 months.
Learn more about Hugh Acheson at hughacheson.com and find The Chef and the Slow Cooker online or wherever books are sold.
