Rich in nutrients, bone broth is packed with vitamins, amino acids and essential fatty acids.
It’s made by boiling down meat bones and connective tissue together with vegetables. The savoury, nutrient-rich liquid can be used as a base for soups, sauces and health drinks.
Bone broth has amino acids that help support joint health thereby relieving symptoms of conditions such as arthritis.
Just like stock, bone broth is often graded by its thickness; thanks to the collagen-rich gelatine released from marrow-rich bones and its long cooking time.
To get some important nutrients, cook some broth with these healthy recipes.
Home-made broth stove top
Ingredients
- 1kg chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb, or other bones (try to get bones that have lots of connective tissue (feet, knuckles, necks, backs, etc.)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 cups roughly chopped carrots, onions and celery
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp peppercorns
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Filtered water
Method
- In a large soup pan, place the bones, apple cider vinegar, carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt.
- Fill pot with filtered water until it covers the bones by about 2cm. Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to as low as your stove will go. It should be just be barely bubbling. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 24 hours for poultry bones and 48 hours for red meat bones. If you’re not comfortable cooking overnight on the stove, you can place the whole pot (covered) in the fridge overnight, and restart the cooking time in the morning.
- When cooking time is up, strain through a fine mesh sieve, and transfer to jars for storing in the fridge or freezer.
- Once chilled, the broth should be jiggly and have a layer of fat on top. Scrape off the fat and use it for other purposes, if desired.
Slow cooker bone broth
Ingredients
- 2 carrots chopped medium
- 2 celery stalks chopped medium
- 1 medium onion chopped medium
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1.5 kg beef or chicken bones or combination of both
- Salt
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Water
Method
- Place the bones in your slow cooker. The bones should fill up about ¾ of the slow-cooker.
- Chop your vegetables and garlic, no need to peel. You can also add vegetable scraps and rinsed, crushed egg shells into your slow-cooker. You’ll be straining these out before consuming the broth.
- Fill the slow-cooker with water. Season with a generous amount of salt (about 1 teaspoon).
- Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (you won’t notice the taste).
- Cook on low and cook for 18-72 hours.
- Strain the broth through cheesecloth or a strainer and cool. A good broth will usually have a layer of fat on the top and will gelatinize when thoroughly cool. Remove the fat with a spoon and discard.