Beef Free Italian Restorative Broth
There is something deeply comforting about a pot of golden broth simmering on the stove, filling the kitchen with the scent of fresh herbs and sweet root vegetables. This recipe leans entirely on chicken — bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks — along with carrots, parsnips, turnip, celery, and a fragrant bundle of parsley, thyme, and rosemary to build its flavor from the ground up. A clever blanching step at the start draws out surface impurities before the real simmer begins, which is what gives the finished broth that clear, clean, almost luminous quality you rarely get from a store-bought carton. The slow, lazy simmer — barely a bubble for nearly two hours — coaxes every bit of richness from the bones without clouding the liquid or muddying the taste. When you strain it and ladle it into a bowl, you have something genuinely restorative: light but deeply savory, with shredded chicken optional on top and a little fresh parsley to finish. It's the kind of recipe that works equally well as a standalone meal when you're under the weather or as a base for other dishes, and every ingredient in it is straightforward and easy to source without any concern about hidden meat products sneaking in.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 3 lbs whole chicken pieces (bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks), fresh — not previously frozen and thawed more than 24 hours ago
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and halved crosswise
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and halved crosswise
- 1 medium turnip, peeled and quartered
- 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 10 cups cold water
- 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
For serving
- 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the chicken pieces in a large 6–8 qt stockpot and cover with 10 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately drain and rinse the chicken under cold running water. Wipe out the pot. This blanching step removes surface impurities and produces a clearer, cleaner-tasting broth.
- 2
Return the rinsed chicken to the clean pot. Add the carrots, parsnips, turnip, onion, celery, parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, and rosemary sprigs. Pour in 10 cups of fresh cold water — the water should cover the chicken and vegetables by at least 1 inch.
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