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Gut Healing and Sealing Chicken Broth — Why This Is Not Bone Broth

By The Real Clean Living

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Everyone is talking about bone broth. And while bone broth has its place, what I am going to share with you today is something different — something more targeted, more specific, and more powerful for healing and sealing your gut lining.

This is not bone broth.

This is a gut healing and sealing chicken broth built around one of the most collagen rich ingredients on the planet — chicken feet — combined with a whole pasture raised chicken, filtered water, and Celtic sea salt. That’s it. No long list of ingredients. No 24 hour simmer. Just a simple, intentional recipe designed specifically to flood your gut with the collagen and gelatin it needs to heal.

I have been making this broth for years. It is one of the most nourishing things you can put in your body, and once you understand why it works, you will make it on rotation for the rest of your life.

This Is Not Bone Broth — Here’s The Difference

People use the terms chicken broth, chicken stock, and bone broth interchangeably. They are not the same thing and the differences matter — especially if your goal is gut healing.

Bone broth is made primarily from roasted bones simmered for 12 to 24 hours or longer. The long simmer is designed to extract minerals from the bones themselves — calcium, magnesium, phosphorus. It is mineral rich and nourishing but the focus is on the bones.

This gut healing broth is different in both ingredients and intention. The focus here is not minerals from bones — it is collagen and gelatin from connective tissue. Specifically from chicken feet, which are almost entirely made up of collagen rich connective tissue and cartilage.

When you simmer chicken feet low and slow, that connective tissue breaks down and releases gelatin directly into your broth. Gelatin is what heals and seals the gut lining. It coats the intestinal wall, fills in the gaps that cause leaky gut, reduces inflammation in the digestive tract, and supports the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.

Bone broth gives you minerals. This broth gives you the collagen and gelatin your gut wall is made of.

The spoon test tells you everything. Make this broth, let it cool, refrigerate it overnight. The next morning take a spoon and try to scoop it. If it scoops like thick jello — gelatinous, dense, and rich — you made real gut healing broth. That texture is pure collagen and gelatin and it is exactly what you want. When you reheat it, it returns to liquid. Store bought broth pours like water because it has none of this. You cannot buy what this broth gives you.

Why Chicken Feet Are The Star Ingredient

Chicken feet look strange. Most people have never cooked with them. But if gut healing is your goal they are non-negotiable in this recipe.

Chicken feet are composed almost entirely of skin, cartilage, tendons, and connective tissue — the densest sources of collagen in the entire chicken. There is very little muscle meat on a chicken foot. What you are getting is pure connective tissue that breaks down during the simmer into gelatin that goes directly into your broth.

Seven to ten chicken feet in this recipe is what transforms ordinary chicken broth into something genuinely therapeutic. They are inexpensive, often available at farmers markets, Asian grocery stores, or through your local butcher — sometimes for free or just a few dollars a pound.

Do not skip them. They are the whole point.

What This Broth Does For Your Gut

What You Need

Ingredients:

Equipment:

How To Make It

Step 1 — Place chicken and feet in your stock pot

Put your whole pasture raised chicken and chicken feet into a large stock pot. Fill with filtered water until the water sits approximately 1 inch above the meat. Do not add salt yet.

Step 2 — Bring to a rolling boil

Turn heat to high and bring to a full rolling boil. You may see foam rise to the surface — skim it off with a spoon if you prefer a cleaner broth.

Step 3 — Immediately reduce to a slow simmer

This step is critical. The moment your broth reaches a rolling boil move the pot to your smallest burner and reduce heat to the lowest setting possible. You want a slow, lazy simmer — just a few gentle bubbles breaking the surface every few seconds.

Do not let it continue to boil. A hard boil breaks down the gelatin you are trying to extract, makes the broth cloudy, and toughens the meat. Low and slow is everything.

Step 4 — Simmer for 2 to 2.5 hours

Maintain that gentle simmer for 2 to 2.5 hours. If your chicken was frozen extend the simmer to 3 hours. Add Celtic sea salt to taste in the last 30 minutes.

Step 5 — Turn off heat and let it rest for 2 hours

Once your simmer time is complete turn off the heat completely. Leave the pot undisturbed and let the chicken sit in the hot broth for 2 full hours. Do not rush this step. The resting period allows the remaining collagen to continue releasing into the broth as it slowly cools and keeps the chicken meat moist and tender.

Step 6 — Remove the chicken and feet

After 2 hours carefully remove the whole chicken. Pull the meat from the bones and shred it — you now have beautifully tender shredded chicken for soups, salads, or any recipe. Remove and discard the chicken feet. Save the bones in a freezer bag for future use if you choose.

Step 7 — Optional but recommended: blend the chicken skin back in

For maximum collagen, fat soluble vitamins, and nutrient density take the cooked chicken skin and blend it with a small amount of broth until completely smooth. Strain it through a fine mesh strainer back into the pot. This adds another significant layer of collagen and richness to your finished broth. It sounds unusual but it is absolutely worth doing.

Step 8 — Pour into glass mason jars

Ladle your finished broth into glass mason jars. Leave lids off and allow to cool completely at room temperature before sealing. Never put hot broth directly into the refrigerator — it can crack glass and raise your refrigerator temperature dangerously.

Step 9 — Refrigerate and do the spoon test

Seal your cooled jars and refrigerate overnight. The next morning open a jar and take a spoon to it. Real gut healing broth will scoop like thick jello — gelatinous, dense, and rich. That is your collagen. That is what heals your gut. When you reheat it, it returns to liquid completely.

If your broth pours like water your simmer was too hot, your chicken was low quality, or you need more feet next time.

How To Use Your Broth

Storage

Refrigerator: Up to 5 days in sealed glass mason jars

Freezer: Up to 3 months in freezer safe glass jars or silicone ice cube trays

A Note On Store Bought Broth

Store bought broth — even the ones labeled bone broth — almost universally pour like water. That tells you everything. No gelatin means no gut healing benefit. Most also contain natural flavors, yeast extract, and excessive sodium to compensate for the lack of real flavor that comes from proper collagen rich broth.

If you genuinely cannot make your own, Kettle & Fire is one of the few store bought options that is actually gelatinous and made with clean ingredients. Available on Thrive Market. But it is not this. Nothing replaces homemade.

Where To Source Your Ingredients

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider before starting any supplement, especially for children or if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications. The Real Clean Living is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided.

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