Homemade chicken broth

nhmom80

How do you calculate the calories? Or do you just go by a store brand and call it a day.

I make my broth by throwing leftover chicken bones and skin into a crock-pot with water and if I have veggies on hand I will add those too. I let it cook all day or over night, drain, cool and skim fat. The chicken bones are from the chicken I would've made the day before and had been plenty seasoned so I don't have to add any additional seasonings.

DX2JX2

As long as you skim the fat, calories should be fairly negligible. I'll just use estimates for the boxed stuff (something like 20 calories per 1 cup serving) and call it a day.

RaeBeeBaby

I make it the same way as you - in the crockpot with leftover bones and skin plus random veggie scraps. I actually let it cook for at least 48 hours (or longer) because then it can be considered "bone broth" and you get the additional benefit of all the minerals from the bones as they break down.

Calorie-wise I usually go with the MFP average for either homemade chicken broth or bone broth - about 50 calories per cup. The MFP database ranges from about 25 calories up to 85, so I pretty much split it down the middle.

FYI - I keep a zip-loc bag in the freezer and add chicken bones to it until I have enough to fill a 6 qt crock-pot (usually about 2 chickens worth of bones). Then after it's all cooked and strained I freeze it in pint jars so I always have some on hand.