Bone broth is one of nature’s true superfoods. While dealing with actual bones may be a little off-putting at first, don’t be afraid – bone broth is one of the best things you can do to improve your gut health. And just case you didn’t know, gut health is the cornerstone of your health and immunity. Read ‘Gut Health 101‘ to find out more.
The health benefits
- Bone broth is packed full of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. No, you don’t need to drink milk to obtain calcium. Here’s why: ‘Dairy: the scoop!‘.
- Bone broth provides gelatin, which facilitates digestion and helps with joint recovery and hair, skin and nail growth.
- Bone broth is full of glutamine, which is essential for small intestine integrity, digestion, exercise recovery, muscle building… (I hope all you athletes out there are picking up what I’m putting down).
- Bone broth contains collagen, which is essential for cell integrity and healing. Some say this even helps reduce the appearance of cellulite!
- Bone broth heals and in turn, improves nutrient absorption. While everyone will benefit from adding bone broth, it is absolutely essential for those with leaky gut, celiac disease, Hashimoto’s and other autoimmune conditions.
The added bonus
Never buy expensive organic stock, or gluten and sugar laden supermarket versions again.
This mineral-rich drink or stock is also one of the best ways to ensure your kitchen is wastage free. Simply save your meat bones or chicken carcass and follow the instructions below.
Super Easy Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 0.5kg beef bones or oxtail or 1 chicken carcass (always free-range and grass-fed, you know the deal)
- Enough water to completely cover bones
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (this helps to extract the calcium)
- A pinch of salt
Method
- In a large pot or slow cooker, combine all ingredients.
- Bring to the boil on the stove before simmering for 24-48 hours.
- Allow to cool before straining and retain only the liquid yield. There will be fat to skim off and potentially leftover bone, depending on which time frame you chose. (Please note: if you use chicken, most of the bones should have dissolved. Expect to have bones left if you use beef or oxtail, which you can in fact re-use).
- Serve warm or reheated on the stove and aim to drink one small cup per day.
Bone broth tips and tricks
*Keep what you will use in the next few days in a glass container in the fridge.
*Freeze the rest into single serves to drink with a meal or to use as stock for soups, stews and any recipe requiring stock, like my Super Easy Pulled Pork Tacos. Your bone broth will last a few months in the freezer.
*Freeze in ice cube trays and defrost a few at a time as required.
*After 24 hours of cooking time, add vegetables such as garlic, onion, carrots, celery and zucchini for flavour and variety.
*If you really want to minimize wastage, save the top layer and use as cooking fat!
So there you have it. Nothing to be afraid of. Ready to make some this weekend now I hope?
Hi! When you say bone broth needs to be cooked for 24-48 hrs, I am just wondering how to do this practically without burning the house down? I wouldn’t want to leave the stove on overnight!!
A slow cooker will do the trick!
hello,
How much should one drink per day to receive the health benefits?
Thanks 🙂
Great question! A small cup is sufficient.
Hi,
When using a slow cooker, should it be on the high or low setting?
TIA
Good question – definitively low as it requires time to extract minerals from the bone.
Hi Steph, you mention reusing the beef or oxtail bones. Is this for in your next broth?
Kind regards
Julie
Yes, you can make a number of batches until the bones obviously dissolve. Very cost effective and waste free!
when i tried this the water basically evaporated and I didn’t even leave it the full length of time, and it was in a slow cooker, very strange
In a slow cooker? You can top it up and it will be just fine.
trying again today
Steph, I’ve been using chicken wings, and after cooking for 24hrs the bones literally crumble between my fingers. Are they ‘dissolved’ at this point or can I reuse them again being careful to keep them in tact? Or is it ok to break them up and make another batch?
Cheree
Hello Cheree,
If the bones have dissolved we recommend using new bones for your next batch given they are so full of rich goodness. I can often get no more than two batches of broths out of my chicken bones.
I made my first batch from beef bones and I’m absolutely loving adding it in my cooking. You mentioned that the bones can be re-used and I was planning on doing another batch soon. I’ve got the bones in a ziplock bag in my fridge but they smell a bit funky. How long should they be kept in the fridge and are they really okay to use again if they have a smell? Many thanks.
Glad to hear that you are loving the broth! It’s surprisingly easy to add it into your meals. I wouldn’t keep the bones in the fridge for more than 5 days. Next time I recommend put them into the freezer until you are ready to use them.
I was just wondering can you put a whole chicken in with the meat still on it or should it just be the carcus?
Thanks!!
Just the carcass to make broth so cook your chicken first and remove the meat before you get started.
Where can a person buy Chicken that has roamed free without any thing added
Check out Milking Yard Farm.
Hi Steph,
Can you cook for a whole day turn off over night and then cook it again for the following day? And just keep adding water so it doesn’t evaporate?
Thankyou Gina
That should work!
Can you put cooked bones in the broth?
Absolutely!