Collagen Rich Chicken Broth

A deeply savoury, collagen-rich chicken broth you make in one big batch, two ways: a straightforward simmer, or roast it first for a richer broth and a week's worth of meal-prep chicken from the same pot. Made for batch cooking, freezing and using all week long.

Broth is one of those things that feels like a bit of a project and then quietly becomes a habit. You make one big pot at the weekend and suddenly you've a base for soups, grains and quick ramen sorted for days, and plenty of protein to build meals. There are two ways to go about it, and each gives you a different kind of chicken to prep with. The straight simmer gently poaches the meat until it's soft and tender, lovely shredded through salads or dropped back into the broth. The roast-first method gives you golden roasted chicken that's perfect for sandwiches, plus a deeper, richer broth if you're after that extra depth of flavour. Either way, the real payoff comes the next day, when the chilled broth sets to a soft wobble. That wobble is the collagen, and it's the whole point. We're big believers in it at oac, it's the hero of our Collagen Crumb, and this is collagen the slow, homemade, savoury way.

Makes roughly 2.5 to 3 litres

Serves 6 to 8 as a bowl, plenty more as a cooking base

The Base

Makes one big batch 

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg), or 1.5 to 2kg chicken bones, carcasses and wings
• 2 onions, halved, skins left on for colour
• 3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 whole garlic bulb, halved across the middle
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• Water, to cover (about 3 to 4 litres)
• Salt, to taste at the end

Method One: Straight Simmer

The everyday way | 3 to 6 hours

Method

1. Put the whole chicken or bones into your largest pot with the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns. Pour over enough cold water to cover everything by a few centimetres.
2. Bring up to a bare simmer, never a rolling boil, and skim off any foam that rises in the first 20 minutes. Keeping it gentle is what gives you a clear, clean broth.
3. Simmer, partly covered, for at least 3 hours, and up to 5 or 6 for a richer, more collagen-heavy result. Top up with a little hot water if the bones start to peek above the surface.
4. If you started with a whole chicken, lift it out once it's cooked through, at least 2 hours depending on its size, and pull off the meat. Poached this way it comes off soft and tender, ideal shredded through salads or added back into the broth. Return the bones to the pot to keep going.
5. Strain through a sieve, keeping the cooked veg back if you fancy the quick soup below, and season with salt to taste. Cool, then chill or freeze.

Method Two: Roast First

The collagen maximiser, and your meal prep sorted | 1 hour plus 6 to 8 hours

Method

6. Heat the oven to 200°C. Roast a whole chicken, or bone-in pieces, for about an hour, until golden and cooked through. This is the two-step trick: one bird gives you both the meat and the broth.
7. Rest the chicken, then take off every scrap of meat and set it aside. Golden and roasted, this one is perfect piled into sandwiches, or anywhere you want that extra depth of flavour. That's your meal prep done for the week (see Ways to Use Your Batch below).
8. Return all the bones, skin and carcass to a big pot with the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns. Scrape in any roasting juices too, then cover with cold water.
9. Bring to a bare simmer and cook long and low, 6 to 8 hours on the hob or overnight in a slow cooker, so the bones give up as much collagen as they can. Roasting first gives a deeper, golden, almost nutty broth.
10. Strain, season with salt and cool as above.

Asian Twist

A fragrant, Asian broth style variation | Works with either method

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 star anise
• A thumb of fresh ginger, sliced
• 3 spring onions (optional)
• A splash of light soy or fish sauce, to finish

Method

11. Add the star anise, ginger and spring onions to the pot along with the other aromatics, in either method.
12. Finish the strained broth with a little soy or fish sauce for a warm, fragrant base that's lovely poured over noodles.

The Collagen Bit

The satisfying part comes once it's cold. Chill the finished broth overnight and it should set to a soft, wobbly jelly. That wobble is the collagen, drawn slowly out of the bones, and it melts straight back to silky liquid the moment you warm it through. The longer and lower you cook, the better.

Ways to Use Your Batch

• Sip a warm mug on its own, morning or evening
• Build a quick ramen or noodle soup with the pulled roast chicken
• Cook rice, orzo or other grains in it instead of water for instant depth
• Stir it into risottos, soups and stews as your base
• Whisk an egg through for a quick egg-drop soup
• Blitz some of the reserved stock with the strained veg for a quick, waste-nothing soup
• Freeze in portions or ice-cube trays so it's always to hand
• Pack the broth into freezer bags with a little spring onion and shredded chicken, then it's a ready-to-eat broth straight from the freezer, just add noodles or rice

Kitchen Tips

• A temperature probe is your best friend here. It's the surest way to know your chicken is fully cooked through, right into the thickest part.
• A splash of apple cider vinegar added to the pot helps draw the collagen and minerals out of the bones.