One of my favorite things to recommend to people is making homemade bone broth. Not only is it super nutritious for you, but it is also super easy to make.

Below you will find a general guide how to make a simple bone broth from any kind of bones and cartilage from most meats, including poultry, beef, lamb, and fish bones.

Making bone broth is a tradition in many cultures for its nourishing and flavorful qualities. It is also a food remedy for times when people get sick and eaten to maintain good health and immunity. It is especially prepared for women during pregnancy and post-partum period. It is also considered a super-food for babies when they start to eat solid food.

Bone broth is very nutritious and helps nourish the blood, promote strength, and prevent bone and connective tissue disorders. Bone broth contains chondroitin sulfate which helps reduce inflammation and helps the cartilage and joints of the body. Bone broth contains many micronutrients including proline and glycine, and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. It helps heal the gut and promotes healthy digestion.

You can use bones leftover from cooking other dishes to make bone broth. You can also buy bones from the butcher shop specifically for making bone broth.

It is best to find good quality bones for broth, preferably pasture raised and organic bones.

My favorite kind of bone broth soup to recommend making is bone marrow broth. Ask the butcher to cut the bone marrow in 2-3 inch pieces.

For beef and lamb bones, you can roast them first in the oven at 400 F for 45-90 minutes to make a more flavorful broth. If you don’t have time, or prefer not to, it is also fine to cook the bones directly without roasting them first. I often just make bone marrow broth without roasting and it turns out fine.

I usually use a crockpot to cook the bone broth because I can just leave it to cook all day. Select what type of bones you will make into a soup. Place about 2 pounds of bones in the stockpot or crockpot and cover with cold water. Add about 2 Tbsp. of rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, or balsamic vinegar, per quart of water or per 2 pounds of bones. You need to add this to extract the minerals and nutrients in the bones.

At this time, you can add onions and ginger to enhance the flavor of the broth, but is not necessary (you can add this later). You can also add other vegetables such as carrots, celery.

6-48 hours is ideal for cooking chicken bones, and 12-72 hours for beef. You can cook it on a stovetop, but I find it easier to cook in a crockpot because of the long cooking times.

If you are cooking bone marrow broth, after cooking the broth, don’t forget to scoop out the bone marrow before throwing out the bones. This is a super food and very nutritious to eat, especially for babies and children, pregnant women, and for women after giving birth. Since my son started eating solids, I would give him the bone marrow to eat in his soup. At four years old, he still loves to eat it.

When finished cooking the bone broth, strain the broth in a colander.

The broth should be set to cool until the fat hardens on the top. I usually let the broth sit at room temperature until it is warm, then put in the refrigerator to let the fat harden on top. Then I remove the fat and refrigerate the broth. It will keep about 5 days in the refrigerator, it will keep months in the freezer.

When re-heating, remove any residue from the top. Drink the broth warm.

You can drink this bone broth plain by itself or you can use it as a stock base to make many kinds of soup. I often like to add herbs like astragalus and ginseng in my soup for the extra immunity and nutrient boost. These herbs for bone broth are available at Little Sage. 

I would love to hear from you how it went after making the bone broth. I would also love to hear from you if you have a special way of making the bone broth or a special recipe from your family to share.