Grandma's Boiled Chicken

Sandy in Houston's Note:

This is the base recipe I use to make chicken and noodles, chicken and dumplings and chicken with rice soup. You can use the chicken for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken and freeze the broth in one cup servings for any recipe that calls for chicken broth.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 (3 -4 lb) chicken, whole (Grandma said 1 fat hen)
• 1 large onion, chopped in large chunks
• 3 carrots, chopped into chunks
• 2 stalks celery, chopped into chunks
• 1 tablespoon peppercorn, whole
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Wash chicken well. Place all ingredients in large pot. Cover with water.
2. Cover and bring to boil over high heat. Set lid at angle so steam can escape from pot. Lower heat to gentle boil and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours. Add more water if needed.
3. When meat is falling off the bone, remove from heat. Remove chicken from broth and let cool. Once cool, remove skin and bones and discard. Chop or shred meat.
4. Strain broth and cool in fridge until fat hardens on top. Remove fat and discard. Freeze unused broth for future use.

Reviews

[wyojess]

Very good, Sandy! I used this to make chicken noodle soup and have a couple of changes if you're going to use it for this purpose. First, place the bay leaves and peppercorns in a spice bag so they are easy to remove. Next, add the carrots (sliced) about 1/2 way through cooking and the celery about 15 minutes after that. This way, you can "recycle" the veggies and not have to work around the peppercorns. Kudos!

[mommyoffour]

Oh wow! I used this today to make some broth and I needed cooked chicken for a recipe tonight. Decieded to cook a whole chicken and freeze the extra meat and broth. This tastes wonderful. Full of flavor. Thank you so much for showing me the way to wonderful broth.

[Mrs Bricker]

This was delicious. I used this as the base for homemade Chicken and Noodles. It was served with mashed potatoes and green beans. YUM!!!!