Recipe: Chicken Feet Broth

Apr 13

Chicken feet broth is a gelatin rich broth made by simply adding chicken feet to filtered water with onion, celery and carrots.

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Chicken Feet Broth is a Nutrient Dense, Collagen and Gelatin Rich Broth

This makes a nutrient dense, collagen and gelatin rich broth that can be eaten as is, or used as the basis for wonderful soups and gravies. My mother always added chicken feet to her soups, but this important ingredient has been lost to most people.

I wanted to try out a new crock pot that I bought for my son to use in his apartment and I just happened to be making my roasted chicken and broth in my own 6.5 quart crock pot. I had already set up my crock pot with vegetables and so instead of transferring the vegetables to his pot, I thought I would do two crock pots at the same time and fill his with 2 package of chicken feet!

I am fortunate enough to purchase the chicken feet from a farmer that provides what he calls a “soup pack”. It has four chicken feet (and two heads, yikes!) that have been cleaned and frozen. Each pack is extremely inexpensive and worth every penny for the beautiful gelatinous broth it makes.

The feet have a yellow membrane over them that comes off when you put them in boiling water for a few minutes. Most farmers have already done that, so the feet are very clean and pink looking. The heads are full of minerals and should also be used (really it’s OK — after a while you do not even blink).

For people with allergies and/or leaky gut, chicken feet broth is the ticket to healing. It is an essential part of any healing protocol as the collagen and gelatin in the broth not only helps the joints, but the mucous membrane lining of the intestine as well.

I wound up making almost 5 quarts of gorgeous, gelatinous broth! I love using two crock pots at the same time!

Chicken Feet Broth

Ingredients

2 packages of “soup pack” which amounts to 8 feet and 4 heads
4 quarts filtered water
1 large onion
4 stalks celery
4 carrots
3 bay leaves
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (where to buy)
Add salt and pepper to taste if eating plain broth

Equipment

6 Quart Crock Pot (where to buy a Crock Pot)

Instructions

Clean the vegetables
Defrost and clean the feet and the heads
When I make the roasted chicken and broth I usually brine the chicken overnight and I put the feet and heads in with the brine — but that is not necessary if you are just using the feet and heads
I usually leave the outer skin on the onion and the leaves on the celery
Add all the feet and heads to the pot and fill with filtered water leaving room for the vegetables so that you will have at least one inch from the rim
Add the apple cider vinegar and let sit in the cool water for one hour — this starts the leaching of the minerals from the bones
Add the rest of the vegetables
Set the crock pot to low, for 12 hours
I usually do this in the afternoon and reset the crock before I got to bed so that it cooks for a total of about 15 hours
In the morning shut off the crock pot, uncover and let cool for up to 4 hours
Strain and place into mason jars and cool in the refrigerator — you will notice the beautiful gel you will get from this broth
Pack into smaller freezer safe containers for small portions for stews, soups and gravies