Wholesome Beef Bone Broth
Why Bone Broth?
Bone broth is an incredibly nourishing food. It’s become increasingly popular due to the health-promoting benefits of it’s contents, such as
How To Make It
The process for making bone broth is simple. While the recipe takes a long time from start to finish (which is what gives bone broth it’s amazing health-promoting benefits when compared to other broths or stocks), it’s mostly a hands-off process!
Prepare the Bones
Start by preparing your broth bones. You can use any variety of beef bones, such as marrow, shank, knuckles, and oxtail. Sometimes we like to add a meatier bone like short rib for more flavor. We also like to purchase grass-fed beef bones whenever possible, as they are more nutritious than the bones from conventionally-raised cattle. One of our go-to brands is Primal Pastures for grass-fed bones. Regardless of the types of bones you choose, to make about 10-12 cups of broth, you’ll need around 4 pounds.
We like to start by blanching our bones. This isn’t a required step, and doesn’t do much in terms of the nutrition of the broth. However, it does help us remove any gunk left on the bones that might cloud our broth or alter the taste. You can blanch the bones by placing them in a large pot and covering them with cold water. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it cook for about 20 minutes. As time goes on, you’ll see white foam and residue form at the top of the pot. This is exactly what we want! Use a spoon or, better yet, a fine mesh strainer, to skim the unwanted gunk out of the pot. We also like to get the oven ready for the next step during the blanching process by setting the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
After 20 minutes of following this procedure, drain the bones and pat them dry. Place the bones on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Optionally, brush them with olive oil (it can help brown the bones and improve flavor). Once your oven is preheated, roast the beef bones for one hour. Rotate the bones by turning them over halfway through the roasting time, around 30 minutes. When the bones are almost finished, you can start assembling the other ingredients for the broth.
Start the Broth
After an hour of roasting, pull the bones from the oven and transfer them to your cooking container of choice (large stockpot, large crockpot, or large instantpot). Make sure you scrape down the pan you used to roast the bones and transfer any browned bits to the cooking container with the bones, they’re flavor-boosters!
Add the remaining ingredients except water, including the onion, celery, carrots, and vinegar. If you have them, be sure to add the garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, herbs, and green onion. They’re not required, but can greatly improve the depth of flavor in your broth. Once you’ve added everything, pour in the water. Typically, we use anywhere from 10-12 cups. The amount of water will vary depending on your cooking container. Use enough water to submerge the bones but not overfill your container. You’ll add a bit more water as the broth cooks as well.
If you’re cooking the broth on the stove, turn the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low. Allow your broth to simmer for 12-24 hours. This may seem like a long cooking time, but it’s essential if you want to pull all those amazing nutrients from the bones and end up with a nourishing bone broth. As the broth cooks, add more water as needed to keep the bones submerged. We typically need the most water when cooking over the stovetop.
If you’re using a crockpot (we like this one!), cover the pot with the lid and turn the heat to low. Allow your broth to simmer for 12-24 hours. This may seem like a long cooking time, but it’s essential if you want to pull all those amazing nutrients from the bones and end up with a nourishing bone broth. As the broth cooks, add more water as needed to keep the bones submerged.
If you’re using an instantpot, you’ll only be able to fit around 5-6 cups of broth, depending on the size. Lock the lid in place and cook the broth on high for about 120 minutes. After 120 minutes of cooking, let the pressure cooker naturally vent for about 30 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the pressure.
Strain the Broth
The broth has been cooked! All that’s left to do is strain and store it. Carefully strain the broth from the bones. The fine the strainer, the smoother and clearer your broth will be. We use a fine mesh strainer (like this) and then run a fat skimmer (like this) to strain our broth. You can discard the leftover bones and vegetables once the broth has been strained.
Remove the Fat
Move the broth into a container to chill. We like to use a shallow bowl like this. We need to cool the broth completely in the fridge to allow the fat to solidify on top of the broth.
Once the broth has cooled completely in the fridge, you can remove the fat from the broth. You’ll notice the fat has accumulated in a white disk on top of the broth. You can use a spoon or your hands to pull the fat from the broth.
You might also notice your broth has gelatinized and looks like Jell-O. This is normal! All that amazing collagen in your broth turns into gelatin when cooled. Hence the Jell-O-like consistency. When you heat the broth, it will turn back into a liquid.
Store the Broth
Congratulations! You’ve made delicious, nutritious beef bone broth. You can immediately consume the broth or use it in recipes. If you don’t plan on using the broth right away, you can store it in glass jars (sometimes we reuse pasta sauce jars for this) in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If you choose to store your broth in the freezer, make sure you leave a couple of inches of space at the top of the jar, otherwise the expanding ice might break your jar as it freezes.
Wholesome Beef Bone Broth (Stovetop, Crockpot, or InstantPot Options)
This homemade beef bone broth is a nourishing and flavorful recipe that’s perfect for boosting the protein and micronutrients in soup, stews, and more. Simply roast beef bones for added depth of flavor, then simmer them with aromatic vegetables, herbs, and water. The result is a rich, nutrient-dense broth packed with collagen, minerals, and essential amino acids. Not only is it incredibly wholesome, but making it at home also saves you money compared to store-bought versions. Enjoy it on its own, in soups, or as a base for sauces.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 13+ hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 10-12 cups
Ingredients
- 3 pounds grass-fed beef bones (such as marrow bones, shank, knuckles, and oxtail)
- 10-12 cups of water
- 1 large onion, cut into 8 sections
- 2-3 large celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2-3 large carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar (such as apple cider or white)
Optional, but encouraged for better flavor:
- 3 cloves of garlic, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- handful of fresh herbs (cilantro, rosemary, parsley, basil, etc.) or a few teaspoons of dried
- 1-2 stalks of green onion
Instructions
1. Start by blanching the bones (this removes impurities and results in a clearer broth). Place the bones in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil and allow the bones to cook for about 20 minutes. As the bones boil, use a scoop or fine mesh strainer to skim the white gunk that forms at the top of the pot.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Drain the bones and pat them dry. Place them on a baking sheet and, optionally, brush with olive oil. Roast the bones for one hour, rotating them after 30 minutes.
The following instructions depend on your cooking container:
Stovetop:
3. Place the roasted bones into a large stockpot. Make sure you scrape in any leftover juices from the roasting pan. Add the remaining ingredients, including 10-12 cups of water, enough to submerge the bones.
4. Bring broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot with a lid, giving it a bit of a room to vent. Simmer the broth for 12-24 hours (the longer the better). Add extra water, if needed, to make sure the bones stay covered.
Crockpot:
3. Place the roasted bones into your crockpot. Make sure you scrape in any leftover juices from the roasting pan. Add the remaining ingredients, including 10-12 cups of water, enough to submerge the bones.
4. Cover with the crockpot lid and set the heat to low. Allow the combination to simmer for 12-24 hours (the longer, the better). Add extra water, if needed, to make sure the bones stay covered.
Instant Pot:
3. Place the roasted bones into your instantpot. Make sure you scrape in any leftover juices from the roasting pan. Add the remaining ingredients, including around 5-6 cups of water. Instantpots often have less capacity than crockpots or stockpots. Lock the lid in place.
4. Cook the broth for 120 minutes on high pressure. Once done cooking, let the instantpot naturally vent for about 20-30 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the steam.
After cooking the broth (on the stove, in a crockpot, or in the instantpot),
5. Strain the broth. This is best done with a fine mesh strainer. You might also consider skimming the broth with a fat skimmer to get the finer pieces that can cloud your broth.
6. Place the broth into the fridge to cool. You can speed this up with a bit of ice, if desired. Allow the broth to cool completely.
7. Once cooled, remove the broth from the fridge. At this point, you’ll notice a layer of solid white fat on the top of the broth. Use a spoon or your hands to scrap the fat from the broth. You might notice the broth is gelatinous – that is a great sign you have created a nutritious, collagen-rich liquid!
8. You can now use this broth for any recipes or drink it straight. We like to store our broth in mason jars in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
