Homemade Bone Broth Recipe And Health Benefits

If you haven’t already made your own bone broth from scratch, you have probably seen or used the store-bought versions. Many recipes for soups, sauces and even gravy call for a broth as the base.

These broths in the shops that are generally just in the aisle have nothing compared to a homemade bone broth. And realistically they are quite expensive for this flavoured substance that doesn’t really hold any benefits to you.

The homemade version taste so much better, is cheaper and has so many health benefits! My first introduction to bone broth was through soup. The wonderful intoxicating aroma from this fragrant healthy drink was just so good!

It’s a liquid when it’s warm and generally a gelatine when it’s cold. Let’s learn a little bit more about bone broth before I share my extremely tasty bone broth recipe. I seriously drink this on its own it’s so good!

Is Bone Broth Nourishing?

The short answer to is homemade bone broth nourishing it yes! But why is it nourishing? When you slow cook the bones with some vinegar you will find the bones can start to disintegrate.

The minerals, collagen and nutrients are breaking down making it easier for you to absorb and drink! The more gelatinous your bone broth is the better! You want all that healthy collagen!

Collagen is needed for your skin, bones, muscles, tendons and more. It keeps everything elastic and helps with the structure of those things mentioned before.

Not only is bone broth filled with collagen, but it also contains electrolytes and amino acids which are essential for our bodies to function properly. Your body can absorb this a lot easier in a natural liquid form such as bone broth.

Benefits Of Drinking Bone Broth

Now that you know that homemade bone broth is filled with essential nutrients it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it has many health benefits. Here is a list of some of the benefits bone broth may have on you!

1. It can support joint health because of the collagen found in bone broth.
2. It can help with gut issues as it can help heal the lining of the gut. Most of our guts are not functioning as well as they should be which can lead to a lot of different health issues.
3. It can help with the health and elasticity of your skin.
4. It can help improve brain health.
5. It can help reduce inflammation in the body.
6. It can help to improve your immune system because it helps with gut health and has so many vital nutrients.

I’m sure there are many more health benefits to drinking bone broth, but here is a list of just a few!

Ingredients And Equipment To Make Bone broth.

So, I’ll share first the bare essentials of what you need to make bone broth and then add in the extra optional ingredients which makes it taste absolutely amazing!

Ingredients

1. 3-4 chicken frames or about 2kg of beef bones.
2. 3 litres of filtered water. Equates to about 12 cups.
3. 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
4. 1 tbsp of Sea salt
5. 1 tsp peppercorns

Optional Extras

These are worth adding it but you can play around with herbs and whatever spices you like! As A side not you do not need to peel any of your vegetables first just make sure they are clean, chop and pour!

You will be straining this all out of your finished product!

1. 2-3 carrots chopped roughly
2. 1 red or white onion chopped roughly
3. 4 celery sticks chopped roughly or 1 tbsp celery powder. (I made my own celery powder so had this on hand this time around)
4. 6 garlic cloves chopped
5. 1/4 cup of chopped herbs whatever you like! I love coriander whenever I can get a hold of it!

Supplies

You only need minimal supplies to make this which is great!

1. A stock pot or slow cooker. I personally love my slow cooker and feel more comfortable leaving it in the slow cooker for a 24 hour period.
2. Strainer for straining out the bones and vegetables.
3. Clean jars for storing your bone broth in.

How to make bone broth

Are you ready for just how easy it is to make this incredibly healthy, healing bone broth!

1. Place your bones into the crock pot or slow cooker and completely submerge in filtered water with 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar. I leave it to cook on low.
2. Rough chop your vegetable and herbs.
3. Place the vegetables, herbs and spices into the crockpot and let it simmer on low for about 24 hours.
4. After 24 hours or so turn it off. It can be a little more or less.
5. Let it cool a little before straining it out and placing the liquid into your glass jars and putting the lid on tight. Let it cool down and store in the fridge or freezer if you don’t plan on using it right away.

How To Store Bone Broth?

You can store bone broth in the fridge or freezer. I have found if I use herbs and spices my bone broth can last a whole week up to 10 days in the fridge before it starts to smell off! I don’t drink it if it starts to smell bad. But normally bone broth will last about 5 days in the fridge.

If you want, you can store bone broth in the freezer, and it will last about a whole year this way! Remember to leave at least 1 inch if not even 2-inch gap from the top. As it can expand in the freezer!

How To Use Bone Broth

There are many different ways you can use bone broth!

1. You can add bone broth into your soups and stews. It adds so much extra flavour and nourishment!
2. You can add bone broth into homemade gravy.
3. Drink bone broth warmed up as a tasty healthy beverage.
4. Add bone broth to casseroles.
5. For any dinner recipes that call for water why not add bone broth instead? I wouldn’t add into pancakes or anything like that but savoury dishes definitely!

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Do I Get Bones From?

You can save bones from your whole chicken frames, chicken legs or wings. I store mine in the freezer until I have a large enough amount to make a bone broth.

You can also buy bones from the butcher. Just ask them if you don’t see bones right away. I like to add chicken necks and chicken feet if possible to my bone broth for an extra gelatinous bone broth!

What Bones Are Best To Make Bone Broth?

There are some bones that you will find give you a thicker gelatinous broth once it’s cold than others. But any bones will work for a nourishing broth.

If you want the extra collagen though for beef bones you will want meaty bones that have more cartilage on them. You would be looking at getting oxtail, knuckles, necks shanks.

For chicken bones I have found chicken necks and chicken feet to really give your bone broth a boost.

Should I Roast My Bones First?

The short answer is no you don’t have to. And to be honest I don’t roast my bones first as I don’t want to take the extra step. But it can help give your broth an even deeper flavour if you want to roast it first.

Why Isn’t My Bone Broth Gelatinous

This can happen for several reasons! I still don’t make it perfect every time. It’s still delicious and healthy so don’t worry. Next time just either add more bones or less water.

You can also try and add a couple of chicken necks or chicken feet to increase the gelatine in your broth. If you can’t find those things cut your bones so the marrow is exposed, and you will get more of the gelatine extracted from the bones that way!