Last Updated on 22nd April 2022 by
Boiling a chicken gives you a tasty, succulent meat that isn’t dry and crispy like other cooking methods. It also makes the meat really tender, and even the white meat tastes juicy after boiling.
If you’re one of those people who don’t like anything to go to waste, then you may want some ideas for what to do with chicken broth. The pot you boiled the chicken in will have a lot of broth left in it after you take out the chicken, and if you give the broth a taste, you’ll see it is very flavourful. You’re probably not tempted to put it in a glass and down it, but there are definitely some ingenious uses for the leftover broth.
That broth is basically chicken stock, and you can use it in the same way as the stock you could buy in the store. We have put together a list of what to do with a lot of chicken broth you might have left over. So, don’t toss the broth- put it to good use!
Spanish Rice
This is one of those classic dishes that people don’t realise use chicken stock unless they have made it before. A lot of us have probably tried to make Spanish rice using salsa and rice but not known that chicken stock was required. Well, now that you have some on hand, you can make this tasty dish, and it’s really simple.
What to do with a lot of chicken broth? You can put it in Spanish rice. For every three cups of uncooked rice you use, you will need four cups of chicken broth. Cook the rice in a large pan with the oil on low heat until the rice browns, and then add in two cups of salsa and any other ingredients you want (onions, garlic, peas, black beans, etc.). Cook that on low heat for about 20 minutes. Once the liquid has cooked out, the rice is done.
This is a great dish to serve with traditional Mexican food and an excellent use of chicken broth. You can put it all in the rice if you are afraid your broth will go bad soon, simply cooking the rice until the liquid evaporates. The chicken stock gives the rice a hearty flavor that makes it a family favourite.
Chicken Gravy
Homemade gravy can be a bit tricky to pull off, but with chicken stock on hand, you already have one of the main ingredients. You’ll need to keep a constant eye on the gravy as you cook it over a low heat, and then add water (or chicken stock) as the gravy gets too thick. If the gravy is getting too thin, you can add some cornstarch. Use it sparingly, though, as it can thicken quickly and unexpectedly.
The chicken broth is a great way to make a flavourful brown gravy, perfect for pouring over turkey or mashed potatoes.
Chicken Noodle Soup
You might have heard of people using bone broth to make their soup, and the potent flavour of slow-cooked bones is a great one for soups. What to do with chicken after making bone broth? You can use it in chicken and dumplings, but that broth can be used to make any kind of chicken soup.
We think chicken noodle soup is a good one to start with, if you aren’t very experienced at making soup. It’s not hard to get right, and you only need a few more ingredients on top of the bone broth. You can add in some noodles of your liking, but large flat ones are typically preferable. A few pieces of chicken can be torn into small strips, and you can use the chicken you made the bone broth from for that. Add in some peas and carrots if you like, and you have yourself a tasty chicken noodle soup.
Chicken Casserole
One of the finest foods you can make with chicken broth is a casserole. You can use the stock in turkey or lamb casserole too. The stock helps to give the casserole that wonderful liquidly texture, taking what would normally be a dish that is too dry and making it much more palatable.
You can add a bunch of veggies in there, like carrots, peas, potatoes, and onions. A chicken casserole can be topped with bread crumbs or cheese, but our favourite topping is biscuits. The rich, flaky butter biscuits give the casserole a hearty helping of carbs that will fill you up. If you can get the biscuits right, then the rest of the dish is a cinch. You can use homemade biscuits or bake the canned ones for an easy baking method.
If biscuits seem too tricky for the crust, you can always go with shredded cheese or breadcrumbs. The casserole takes about 30 minutes to cook, if the chicken (or other meat) is already cooked.
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Now, you can make potatoes up without chicken broth, but if you are trying to figure out what to do with chicken soup broth, you can use it in just about any kind of soup. It gives potato soup a more layered flavour and saves you some work trying to flavour itself.
You can use cream of potato soup as your base and add the chicken broth to that or you can make potato soup from scratch. You’ll need to make a roux (melted butter and flour, with milk), which can be tough the first time you make it, but everything after that is easy. Just add in boiled potatoes and any other veggies you want and then top the soup with bacon bits, shredded cheese, chives, and sour cream for that loaded look.
What to Do with Carcass after Chicken Broth?
If you have made up some chicken broth and plucked the meat off the bones and still have bits of bone, fat and gristle left, it doesn’t have to go to waste. You can simmer those leftover pieces in a pot with some water and make even more broth. There is lots of flavour left in the carcass, and it doesn’t have to be tossed out and unused. Let it simmer in water on low heat for about an hour, and then you can toss out the inedible pieces. You’ll have some flavourful broth you can use in the dishes we listed above and many, many more.
Now you have a few ideas for what to do with leftover chicken broth, and you don’t have to feel like you are wasting any part of the animal. Maybe you have never given these dishes a try, but the next time you boil some chicken, you’ll have the opportunity to test them out and see how simple they are to make and how delicious they can be.
I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!
Vernon Jones
Tuesday 15th of February 2022
I recently had a liver transplant and I need recipes for low sodium foods. Thank you.