Honey Free Homemade Chicken Bone Broth

Total time4 hr 30 min

Prep time15 min

Cook time3 hr 45 min

4.5

(12)

Rich, golden, and deeply savory, this homemade chicken bone broth is the kind of kitchen project that makes your whole house smell incredible. A lot of store-bought broths and bouillons sneak in sweeteners — including honey — to round out the flavor, which can make label-reading a frustrating chore. Here, every drop of depth comes from slow-simmered bones, aromatic vegetables, fresh herbs, and a splash of apple cider vinegar that gently draws minerals out of the bones during a short rest before cooking. The blanching step at the start is a small but brilliant move that pulls out impurities early, so your finished broth comes out clear and clean rather than murky. A low, lazy simmer over several hours coaxes out a light, slightly viscous body that store-bought versions rarely match. Use it as a base for soups, braise your vegetables in it, or sip it straight from a mug on a cold afternoon — it's that good on its own.

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Ingredients

8 servings

3 lb chicken bones and carcasses (backs, necks, wings, or a mix)
2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fine sea salt
10–12 cups cold water, or enough to cover by 1 inch
1 tbsp fresh ginger, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

1
Place the chicken bones in the stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then drain and rinse the bones under cold running water, discarding the blanching liquid. Wipe out the pot. This step removes impurities that would cloud the finished broth.
2
Return the rinsed bones to the clean pot. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, apple cider vinegar, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, salt, and ginger (if using). Pour in enough cold water to cover everything by about 1 inch (10–12 cups). Let the pot sit, uncovered, for 20 minutes — the vinegar begins drawing minerals from the bones during this rest.

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