Bone Broth with Leftover Bones and Veggie Scraps Recipe
The best bones include the knuckles, feet (e.g., chicken feet), marrow bones, and joints.
Equipment
- 1 large pot, slow cooker, or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 chicken carcasses (about 2 lbs) OR 3-4 lbs of beef bones include skin, cartilage, feet, scraps, or knuckles
- scrap veggies you can even freeze veggies that you haven't used up (e.g., I always have leftover parsley and coriander, as I can never use the whole thing)
- 4-5 garlic cloves chopped; optional
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 pinches sea salt or Himalayan salt you can add it later, if you want, to taste
- 10 cups water
- fresh herbs optional
- 2-3 pieces astragalus root optional; you can find this in Chinatown, Chinese herb shops, and some specialty grocery stores; it's also called huang qi; this herb helps support immune health and is an energy tonic (but not a stimulant)
Instructions
- chop veggies
- If you're using beef bones, you may want to blanche them first to help remove impurities. To do this, submerge the bones in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.
- If you're using raw or blanched beef bones, preheat oven to 425 degrees F and roast the bones for 30 minutes. You may need to flip the bones so they brown equally on each side. You can skip the roasting, if the bones have already been roasted when cooked. Optional to roast the veggies too for added flavour.
- Add all your ingredients to your large pot, slowcooker, or pressure cooker.
- For the stovetop pot or slow cooker, cook on low heat (covered) for 24 or more hours. I feel like the slow cooker is the much safer option. But, if you're doing stovetop and are nervous about leaving it on overnight or when you're out, you can take it off, refrigerate, and then restart. Cook in pressure cooker for 3 hours and let it release pressure on its own time, ideally.
- Remove the big chunks and strain it with a fine mesh strainer. Pour the liquid into jars. Keep refrigerated or you can freeze extra.
Notes
I'm not an expert at bone broth, as I don't eat much meat, so rarely have bones to make it. So, if you want more details or have some issues, I found this blog helpful, especially for the troubleshooting Q&A toward the end.