Black Pepper Free Italian Restorative Broth
There is something deeply comforting about a pot of golden broth simmering low and slow on the stove, filling the kitchen with the scent of fresh herbs and sweet root vegetables. This Italian-style restorative broth is built on bone-in chicken, carrots, parsnips, turnip, celery, and a trio of fresh herbs — thyme, rosemary, and flat-leaf parsley — with nothing more than sea salt to season it. For anyone avoiding pepper, that simplicity is the whole point: no spice blends, no pre-seasoned stock cubes, no hidden heat hiding in the background. A clever blanching step at the start removes surface impurities from the chicken before the real simmer begins, which is what gives the finished broth that clear, clean, almost luminous quality. The long, lazy simmer — never a rolling boil — coaxes every bit of flavor from the bones and vegetables without clouding the liquid or muddying the taste. You end up with something that feels genuinely restorative, the kind of broth that earns its reputation. Shred the tender chicken back into the bowl, finish with a little fresh parsley, and you have a meal that is as nourishing as it is quietly beautiful.
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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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