During the cooler months, I make at least one pot of bone broth every week. It is a warming, nourishing, flavorful part of most of our days. We love it as a basic chicken soup with noodles, or as a base for minestrone or other soups and stews.
There are many benefits to bone broth:
- minerals – calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, plus amino acids and gelatin are needed for strong bones, ligaments, and tendons.
- gelatin (comes from the collagen in the bones) – the building blocks for healthy joints (potentially reducing joint pain and increasing joint mobility), strong hair, and glowy skin; it also feeds good bacteria in your gut, and helps strengthen digestive tract lining (important to avoid or heal leaky gut)
- glycine (an amino acid) – helps reduce inflammation, strengthen your immune system, and even help you relax. (Glycine supplements are used to reduce anxiety and panic attacks.)
I’ve been making this exact recipe for over ten years. Using it almost daily is a major reason I was able to health my leaky gut and go from strong digestive symptoms after eating gluten to being able to enjoy gluten-containing foods again!
Bone broth is so easy to make – add a few ingredients in a pot and simmer for several hours.
Bone Broth Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, any size that fits in your biggest pot – I use around 4 lbs; OR 4 lbs beef marrow bones; OR 3-4 chicken carcasses
- 3-4 chicken feet or additional chicken backs (optional: adds great collagen, but can be hard to find. Sometimes they’re in the freezer section in the grocery store.)
- 2 carrots, cut in thirds
- 2 celery stalks, cut in thirds
- 1 onion, peeled and cut in half
- 4-5 garlic cloves, smashed
- ~2 tsp. dried oregano
- ~2 tsp. dried thyme
- ~1/2 T peppercorns
- ~ 1 1/2 tsp. salt. (I add more salt later when making soup.)
- 2 T apple cider vinegar
Those are my basic ingredients, but you can add these in also: A few leaves of romaine lettuce; Parmesan cheese rind; Corn cob (no corn left); potatoes; sweet potatoes if you want a sweeter broth; parsley towards the end of cooking; celery leaves. This is a versatile recipe, so experiment with different flavors!
Steps
- Put the chicken in the pot and fully cover with water. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 20 minutes. Skim off the foam that gathers.
- Put rest of ingredients in the pot and bring to a boil again.
- Lower heat and simmer for about 2.5 hours. Take the chicken out (it should fall off the bones easily) and put on a cutting board. Use tongs to remove meat from the bones and put it in a container for later. See
- Optional step: Take a knife and press on the bones to expose the marrow. Put the the bones, skin, and fat back in the pot.
- Simmer for about 6 hours. When done simmering, the broth should be a rich, golden color.
- Strain the broth and press the veggies with a large spoon to get more liquid out. Discard the veggies and bones. You can eat the veggies, but they will just be bland and mushy.
- Your broth is ready!!
Notes:
If you are not home, you can put the broth in a crock pot to simmer for 8 hours on low.
The broth is easy to freeze for up to six months. Freeze in soup portion size containers or in ice trays, which are perfect for using as a base for sauteing.
How to use it
- Drink it in a mug (My daughter loves it like this!)
- Make soup
- Sauté vegetables in it
- In any recipe that calls for broth
