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I’ve received a number of requests from readers who want to learn how to make bone broth and soup using chicken feet on their own without any other bones or meat. Of course, the feet should ideally come from free range or pastured chickens – not conventional.
Why would you want to do this?
Reasons to Make Chicken Feet Soup and Broth
First of all, a 2-pound bag of chicken feet used to make about a gallon of chicken bone broth is very budget-friendly. In some places, it costs less than a pastured chicken.
Another reason is that making broth with chicken feet is a failsafe way to get tons of gelatin. Check out the short video in the recipe below of my recent batch of chicken feet broth. Sooooo much gelatin and very little chicken fat to skim off after it is refrigerated to obtain clarified stock which is best for making soup.
If you are having trouble getting your bone broth to gel, try making a batch with just chicken feet. You can’t miss!
I made a batch the other day and took loads of pictures to show you the simple process. I use a Vita-clay slow cooker to make bone broth and soups whether using chicken feet or not. This is to avoid the potential for leaching nickel from stainless steel as properly made broth uses a bit of apple cider vinegar (only buy brands packed in glass bottles!).
Chicken Feet Soup
Easy recipe for making broth and soup from chicken feet, which can be more budget friendly than a whole chicken and creates a lot of healthful gelatin and collagen.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken feet cleaned, preferably free range or pastured
- 1 gallon filtered water
- 2 tbl apple cider vinegar
- sea salt
- pepper
- 4 stalks celery optional, chopped
- 3 carrots optional, chopped
- 1 onion optional, chopped
Instructions
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Place cleaned chicken feet in pot. I use a Vita-Clay slow cooker.
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Add filtered water.
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Add optional chopped vegetables and stir in apple cider vinegar.
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Simmer mixture for 9-18 hours. If using a Vita-clay, set it to "slow" for 9.5 hours (this is the max setting for time). If you wish to go longer, you can reset for another 9 hours when it is done.
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Strain into a glass bowl.
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Cool on the counter until the broth is slightly warm or room temperature.
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Pour into mason jar, seal the lid and refrigerate. Rewarm on the stove, add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy on its own or use as a base for all your favorite soup recipes.
Recipe Video
Hi, I noticed you didn’t clip the chicken feet nails, why is that? I couldn’t find the link on how to cleans the chicken feet. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I recently purchased a Vitaclay pot following a link from your website. My first batch was excellent – full of gelatin and flavorful. Second batch not so good but I had only used chicken wings so I thought that explained the lack of gelatin. Third batch, I used chicken feet – which I have always had success with in making gelatin-rich broth – but there is no gelatin! I’m very frustrated as my goal is to get as much gelatin as possible. I thought maybe I cooked too long, but it was no longer than 9 hours. I noticed that the cooker switched from slow to warm at some point – so then I thought maybe it was not at a slow simmer long enough. Ultimately, I have no idea. Any ideas? I had perfect results every time with the Instapot!
The Vita-Clay will only go for 9 hours on the broth mode … you have to reset it if you want to simmer longer. This is for safety purposes.
I make chicken feet stock using pastured feet when I can get them. But pasture raised feet may not come completely cleaned. It would have been helpful to “newbies” if you could have shown the prep. That said I am happy that you are spreading the word about this nutritious, neglected animal protein.
I describe the steps for cleaning chicken feet in the linked article on chicken feet if you want to take a look at that … it is pretty simple so hopefully that helps! That’s a good idea for a video though!
I’m so glad that I found you! Thanks for all the great info and presenting it in an entertaining way. Looking forward to your next article.
My mother and grandmother always made chicken feet broth. I make broth at least once a week using lots of things including chicken feet whenever I find them. They produce the best gelatin. Fish heads also produce an awesome broth.
That’s pretty much the way I’ve been doing it for a couple of years, minus the optional veggies and in an ancient ceramic crock pot on lowest setting for about 20 hours. Interestingly, I’ve found that if I cook it for much longer than that it doesn’t gel as well. Also, it only gels in the fridge, so I leave one quart jar out on the counter so it pours more easily for measuring instead of having to spoon it out of the jar. Since I drink (or make chicken-vegetable soup out of) two 8 oz cups of it every day, it keeps fine at room temperature for that long. I don’t have any use for the chickens feet after cooking, but I have a friend who has four dogs who go absolutely crazy over them. After “harvesting” my broth I simmer the leftover feet for another 24 hours before giving them to her, so the bones and claws are so soft that they can’t possibly choke on them.
It is appreciated that you limited your article to helpful information.