How to Make Bone Broth (Recipe & Video)
Bone broth is a healing superfood that’s packed with minerals like calcium, magnesium, collagen, and gelatin that both nourish the body and support the gut lining. Making your own bone broth at home doesn’t have to be hard!
I started drinking bone broth when I was twenty and first discovered that I had gut issues. My mom would make me chicken bone broth and I would pack it up to bring it along to college. I made a lot of mistakes when I first started to try and transition to a healthier diet, but having broth was one of the things I really did right.
The benefits of bone broth
Bone broth helps to heal the intestinal lining.
The collagen and gelatin in broth help support and help the intestinal lining which makes it a great gut healing support. I really attribute bone broth to helping heal my gut!
Bone broth helps promote healthy hair, skin, and nails
The same nutrients also support the health of hair and skin and elasticity of the skin.
It’s a great way to start transitioning to eating meat
I’ve talked about my lifelong meat aversion on the blog before as a result of my gut health being so poor. The broth was my transition back to eating meat after years of disliking meat.
It’s a nutrient powerhouse that’s easy to digest
The broth is full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids that are practically already digested for you which is what makes it so great for those with gut issues.
It’s traditional food
Bone broth is how our ancestors made broth. They did not use cans, or cubes, or boxes. Bone broth is a traditional, properly prepared food!
How to make the perfect gut-healing broth recipe
Use the right kind of bones from a good source
This is crucial for a good quality broth that is gelatinous and actually tastes good. So, what do you use?
- 1.5-2lbs of soup bones
- Beef shanks or soup bones
- Chicken carcass w/ meat removed
- Lamb soup bones
- 1/2 – 1 lbs of joint bones
- Beef knuckle
- Lamb kneck bones
- Beef ankle
- Chicken feet
As for sourcing bones, many health food stores carry these options, as well as local farmer’s markets and CSA’s.
Roast the bones for flavor
If you’re using beef or lamb bones, roasting them adds a lot more flavor!
Add apple cider vinegar, veggies, and herbs
Adding about 1 tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar helps to pull the nutrients from the bones and is a step that you always have to include for perfect broth.
To add even more flavor and nutrients, add veggies and fresh herbs! To reduce waste, save vegetable scraps like the tops of carrots, pieces of onion, celery, leeks, and more and store them in the freezer to add to your broth.
Cook it low and slow for an extended period of time
For the minerals to really pull from the bones, you want your broth to cook slowly for a long time. For chicken, 24 hours typically works, but for lamb, beef, and bison, up to 36 hours can be a good option
Cool it down fast!
To avoid letting the broth sit out and reach room temperature to where bacteria can grow, I always cool my broth fast. I do this by adding it to a pot or metal bowl and placing that bowl into a larger vessel filled with ice (for me, that’s usually a big metal wok). By shocking the broth this way, you’re not diluting it with ice, which holds up the flavor and the concentration of the broth, while still cooling it quickly.
Enjoy a gelatinous, nutrient-dense broth
You want your bone broth to look like jello when it’s chilled! This indicates that it’s rich in collagen. All you have to do to bring it back to liquid form is simply heat it.
How to store bone broth
Freeze it in silicone molds
If you want to have broth on hand for cooking or drinking in the future, pour the broth into silicone molds and freeze in the freezer. The frozen broth will keep for several months.
Store it in glass
If you intend to use your broth within the next few days, simply store it in glass Tupperware or a large mason jar. In my experience, I like to use up broth stored in the fridge in about 5 days.
Troubleshooting bone broth
“My broth didn’t gel!”
It’s always a bummer when you don’t get a gelatinous broth. However, there are still lots of nutrients in your broth! Here are some factors to consider for getting your broth to gel next time…
- Was there too much water? Try using less water next time for more concentrated broth.
- Did you use bones that have collagen? Try using more joint bones or chicken feet next time.
“My broth has a thick layer of fat… what do I do with it?”
Simply skim the fat, and enjoy your broth! You can use the fat for cooking.
If you try this recipe out, be sure to leave a comment with a star rating to let me know how it turns out! Your feedback is so helpful to me and other Unbound Wellness readers!
Print
How to Make Perfect Gut Healing Bone Broth (Recipe)
- Total Time: 24 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8-9 cups 1x
Description
Bone broth is a healing superfood that’s packed with minerals like calcium, magnesium, collagen, and gelatin that both nourish the body and support the gut lining. Making your own bone broth at home doesn’t have to be hard!
Ingredients
- 2–3 lbs grass-fed beef soup bones or whole chicken carcass with meat removed
- 1/2 lb grass-fed beef knuckle or 2-4 chicken feet (toes removed)
- 2 cup vegetable scraps (carrot tops, onion pieces, etc.)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 sage leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Filtered water
Instructions
- If using beef bones (skip this step if using pre-roasted chicken carcass), preheat the oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the beef bones to the baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the bones cool.
- Place the bones in a slow cooker and add the rest of the ingredients. Add enough water to cover the bones with about an inch of water and place the lid on the pot.
- Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 24 hours for chicken or turkey bones, and 24-36 hours for beef or lamb bones. Skim the broth periodically to remove any impurities from the bones.
- After the broth is done, strain the bones and veggies and place the broth in a metal or glass bowl. Move the bowl into a larger vessel filled with ice to cool quickly.
- Store the broth in glass Tupperware, wide mouth mason jars or use a silicone mold to freeze into cubes for later use.
- Once cooled, skim the fat from the top of the broth and enjoy in soups, or drink by itself.
Notes
All nutrition facts are estimates.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 24 hour
- Category: Broth
- Method: Slow cooker
- Cuisine: global
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 86
Keywords: bone broth
This post was originally published on September 4, 2016 and was updated on May 13, 2019 with a video.
AIP
Low Carb
Paleo
Whole30
Okay, so I love bone broth and this is a great recipe for it and excellent explanation. My deal with making bone broth is that it tends to stink up the house for a few days. It tastes awesome but when it’s cooking for 48 hours, the smell is unpleasant. Any tips? I’ve only ever used chicken bones. Could it be the chicken???
Makeing the beef broth foe the 1st time now. Ill let you know. Did you smell the bones before you baked them? If chicken is bad you will know! Im just starting out on this, so ill wish us both luck!
Hi michelle how are you i just found your website and it awesome . If i want to store the bone broth in freezer what should inuse the mason jar cannot freeze and can i use the plastic tupperware that can be freezerable
And why if im making bone broth its not become gelatin texture its still watery is it too much water not enough bones or not long enough in crock pot? Thanks
★★★★★
Hi Marli! You can use a wide mouth mason jar, glass tupperware, or a silicone mold to freeze it. If it’s not gelling, it may be that there was too much water in the crockpot. Even still, it’s still a nutrient dense broth 🙂
You could cook it in a pressure cooker for 3-4 hours instead of a crock pot. You would have the same benefits and the smell would be contained
Pingback: 5 Foods to Eat Weekly to Support Gut Health - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: How To Maintain Gut Health At Every Stage of Healing - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: AIP Hot Chocolate - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: 8 Ways to Improve Your Gut Health... Right Now! - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: How I Reversed My Hashimoto's Disease Naturally - Unbound Wellness
Michelle, how do you keep your bone broth cooking for 24-48 hours? My crock pot only goes up to 10 hours. When 10 hours is up, do you press in another 10 hours and so forth?
Hey, Rena! My crockpot doesn’t have a timer so I never run into that problem. I would try to just keep resetting yours 🙂
Thank you
Michelle, what nutrients do the marrow bones add? Do you get your meaty lamb neck bones and beef knuckle bones from rangers at your farmer’s market?
Pingback: 26 Things I Did To Transform My Health - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: 50 Ways To Heal Your Gut & Be a Gut Healing Goddess - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: Basil Zucchini Summer Soup in The Instant Pot (Paleo, AIP, Whole 30) - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: The Ultimate List of Tools & Resources For Healing Your Gut - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: Turmeric Cauliflower Risotto (AIP, Paleo, Whole30) - Unbound Wellness
Hi Michelle!
What settings would you use to make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot?
Thannks!
Pingback: Episode 16: All About AIP with Dr. Sarah Ballantyne » Grass Fed Salsa
Pingback: Episode 15: » Grass Fed Salsa
Pingback: Episode 15: ‘AIP without diagnosis’ guilt, healing eczema with food, & bone broth » Grass Fed Salsa
Pingback: Paleo Thanksgiving Cauliflower Stuffing (AIP, Whole 30 & Low Carb) - Unbound Wellness
Hi! It is ok to make fish broth for Hashimoto?! I have also SIBO and chicken/Beef bone broth does not go well with me!:( Thank you!!!;)
Pingback: Easy Beef and Broccoli (Whole30, Paleo, AIP) - Unbound Wellness
Hi, where can I buy lamb neck and beef knuckles? Do grocery stores carry these items? It would I go to a butcher?
★★★★★
Beef and lamb bones are typically at butchers counters… sometimes regular grocery stores carry them. I always have the best luck and get the best quality at farmers markets.
See if there a local paleo group on Facebook. My local group has been a wealth of knowledge! Found out a local pasture raised farm does deliveries in my area every 5-6 weeks, and they have marrow bones, knuckle bones, chicken feet. Making a huge pot this weekend!
I get grass fed knuckle bones at Sprouts.
Pingback: I Reversed My Hashimoto’s Disease Naturally But How ? | Medical Digest
Pingback: I Reversed My Hashimoto’s Disease Naturally But How ? | Health Magz
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for this post. I’ve suffered from Hashimoto’s over a decade and recently, somewhat ashamedly, realized I need to care about my health as of now.
Please help: I really want to be able to embrace bone broth for its healing properties, but I feel really disgusted by the thought of drinking gelatinous bone soup. I’m not a vegetarian, either. I just can’t imagine drinking this kind of texture at all 🙁
Please if you have any advice for me to somehow not be so disgusted by it? p.s. I haven’t even tried it for it makes me nauseous just thinking about it. Thank you!!
Bone broth is not gelatinous when you heat it before drinking. Imagine: you are just finishing a bowl of
your favorite meaty soup and at the end sipping the yummy broth. That”s what it’s like.
Hi Michelle, thank you for this. I keep trying to perfect the recipe. I feed it to my son with leaky gut. I just add some rice and sometimes organic meat chunks and call it beef or chicken soup. I also add my organic veggie scraps I keep in freezer bag, along with all the dried onion and garlic skins (this helps to don’t want to brown it first), the last few hours and the herbs the last hour as i thought i might lose the nutrients and flavor, but ids this not so? Thanks again! XO
I find it doesn’t but its up to you! 🙂
Does anyone have problems with their water evaporating too fast? I made this on the stove with the smaller, simmer burner on low. It was bubbling a little bit, nowhere near a boil but just kind of a simmer, I suppose. With the top on, I think the temp got too high which contributed to evaporation and also with the lid off and a lower temperature I had enough evaporation to make it so that I had to add water periodically. Does anyone else have this problem. Would a crock pot be easier? Should I just get one?
I use a crockpot and have much more consistent results. You can do SO many things with a crockpot, so it’s worth it! I don’t know what I did without it!
So this may be dumb question as I’m new at this….is the meat raw or cooked? I’m trying to decide if using chicken bones after we’ve eaten the meat would produce good bone broth?
Chicken bones would be perfect!!
Pingback: The Best Foods For Hashimoto's Disease - Unbound Wellness
I plan on making this today. I don’t like leaving anything cooking whether crockpot or stove while sleeping. Can I refrigerate overnight and continue cooking next day or will this change it? Thank you!
You would have to cook it continuously for it really work
Do you use the oil that comes from roasting the bones?
Sometimes!
Do you have a breakdown of the macros on this bone broth?
It honestly varies greatly depending on what bones you use, how much fat they have, etc.
My broth has Much fat. Do I leave it or get rid of it?
I skim it off the top and discard it 🙂
I found your site by searching for bone broth recipes. I’ve made the vegan version and this one and they both are amazing!
I have also been doing some suggestions and recipes (carrot leek soup YUM!) you have for leaky gut healing, and within ONE WEEK I feel better than I have in TWO years!!!
I knew I was reactive to gluten and had cut it out. I had testing done recently and am highly reactive to a lot more things. Your suggestions are the only thing that have made a difference.
THANK YOU!
Laurie, that is INCREDIBLE! I am so so happy to hear that! I hope you continue to feel amazing!
Hi Michelle, I am new to your website and found it looking for bone broth recipes. I am suffering from severe Leaky Gut and Candida overgrowth from too many antibiotics. Right now I cannot eat anything sweet, no carbs at all and am very sensitive to anything acidic because my mucosal membranes are so inflamed. I cannot tolerate even diluted apple cider vinegar. How can I pull the nutrients out of the beef shanks without using apple cider vinegar? Thanks.
You can try and just do without if you really don’t tolerate it.
After straining I put the broth in a stainless steel pot and covered it. Put it outside (it’s cold here in Denver) until morning. I skimmed off the solid white fat on top to reveal the gelatinous broth. If the fat from on top good for anything? When I take some gel out, do I just warm it or do you add some water to it before drinking? Thanks for the recipe and your reply – Mike.
I warm the broth before drinking it 🙂 I’ve saved the fat before, but my current understanding is that it should be discarded. Enjoy!
What about the lead content in broth. I read an article on the dangers of lead in bone broths.
It depends on the bones you use… everyone is different too. I consume a lot of broth and have two heavy metals tests and I never had high levels of lead. But again, it depends and everyone is different.
Do you get the same benefits if you use an instant pot for cooking?
Thanks
Stephanie
You do 🙂 Personally, I prefer a slow cooker, but the instant pot works as well.
Pingback: Baked Onion Rings (Paleo, Vegan, AIP) - Unbound Wellness
Pingback: AIP on a Budget - The Best Tips for Eating AIP on the Cheap!
Pingback: The Definitive Guide to AIP Bone Broth | Gutsy By Nature
How do you take your bone broth?
For example do you mix a Tbsp with one cup of water a sip that or do you just take the broth straight? Thank you
Straight 🙂 No need to dilute it. I mostly use it to make soup.
What about timing if we are using an Instant Pot? Thanks
Personally, I don’t have as much luck with good bone broth in the instant pot. I always get better results on a slow cook function!
My first time making BONE BROTH and it came out perfect. I followed your beef recipe and used an instapot on slow cooker mode for 48 hours. I chilled it quickly with an ice bath and placed it in a glass container in the refrigerator.
The fat rose to the top and was easy to skim. The broth became gelatinous. YAY. The flavor is delicious.
I hope this helps my stomach lining. I have crohns and I’m trying every natural way to increase my wellness.
★★★★★
so glad you enjoyed the recipe!!