Recipe: Basic Bone Broth (+ Bonus! Beet Soup)

Hi friends! I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s post on the reasons I’m doing this Whole30.

Today I’d like to share one of my favorite and most essential recipes: Bone broth. Bone broth is surprisingly easy to make (especially if you have an Instant Pot, but fear not if you don’t) and an excellent way to add protein, collagen, and gelatin to your diet.

Once you make bone broth yourself, you’ll realize just how lackluster the stuff in a box or jar is — homemade bone broth is gelatinous and thick, and flavorful enough to drink on its own. It’s also waaaay cheaper than buying it in stores — I’ve seen quarts of bone broth going for $16+ in natural grocers! This recipe costs about $5 total, and will yield 2–3 quarts of broth depending on the size of your pot.

Bone broth is also really good for your gut health, which makes it a great choice for anyone, but especially those struggling with symptoms of leaky gut (such as skin issues, energy issues, mood issues, digestive issues… so basically everyone). Since my celiac diagnosis, I’ve been chugging bone broth like it’s my job.

How to Drink/Use It

You can use bone broth to add depth of flavor and a nutritional punch to things like soups, stews, chilis, etc. Generally, I find I get best results when I make plain broth first (without vegetables), then boil the vegetables in once the broth is done. Some vegetables turn bitter if you cook them too long, which can affect the taste of your broth.

Cooking plain broth also gives you more flexibility — so you can make one batch of broth and turn it into savory chili, spicy Mexican-inspired chicken soup, or cinnamon-y pho.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with using bone broth in a traditional Polish soup — barszcz, more commonly known by the Russian borscht. I’ll add my super-easy barszcz recipe to the end of this post in case you’re interested!

Sourcing Your Bones

The key to making a great, thick broth is to find bones with a lot of naturally occuring gelatin and collagen — so basically, joints, cartilage, and marrow. Buy the best quality you can afford, organic and pastured if possible. Luckily, you can generally find bones for fairly cheap, even at Whole Foods, making it an affordable protein source.

While it’s nice to have both chicken and beef broth available, depending on your recipes, it’s totally fine to combine multiple types of bones into your broth, if that’s what you have. I’ve had success with chicken + turkey, turkey + beef, beef + pork, etc.

Here are some of my suggestions for finding affordable bones:

• Turkey necks (usually under $5 for 1.5–2 pounds at Whole Foods)
• Rotisserie chicken carcasses* (see note below)
• Beef knuckles (ask the butcher at WF to cut some for you)
• Beef marrow bones (samesies — although you can sometimes find them in the frozen section)
• Ox tails
• Chicken feet

*I don’t recommend using regular, grocery store (like Kroger or Walmart) rotisserie chickens because they’re unfortunately loaded with preservatives and usually sit in plastic for a long time. Whole Foods has rotisserie chickens that are Whole30-compliant — I usually get either the Naked or Salt & Pepper varieties. Buy a chicken, eat the meat, then save the bones for your broth. If you don’t have a natural grocer in your area, roast an organic chicken, then use those bones, or see if you can find some at a farmers’ market.

Basic Bone Broth Recipe

• 2–3 lbs. bones (whatever ya got)
• 1 tbsp. sea salt
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed (no need to mince)
• Enough water to cover the bones by 1–2 inches
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (this helps release the minerals from the bones)

Instant Pot Instructions

Place all ingredients in your Instant Pot. Using the manual setting, with the pressure on High, set your InstantPot to 60 minutes. If your broth doesn’t seem thick enough after 60 minutes, add another 15 minutes.

Allow to cool, skim the fat, then store in the fridge (for 7–10 days) or in the freezer until ready to use.

Crockpot Instructions

Place all ingredients in your Crockpot. Cook on low for 24–48 hours.

Note: Your home will smell like… bone marrow. Try to keep the lid on throughout the cook to reduce the aroma.

Allow to cool, skim the fat, then store in the fridge (for 7–10 days) or in the freezer until ready to use.

Stovetop Instructions

Place all ingredients in your largest stock pot. Cook on low for 24–48 hours.

Note: Your home will smell like… bone marrow. Try to keep the lid on throughout the cook to reduce the aroma.

Allow to cool, skim the fat, then store in the fridge (for 7–10 days) or in the freezer until ready to use.

Notes

Keep in mind — you can probably reuse your bones! I always use mine at least twice before tossing. Your second batch might be a little weaker than your first, but it will still add some flavor and nutrition to your dishes.

Bone Broth Beet Soup!

• 4 large beets
• 6 cups bone broth
• Salt and pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon (or red wine/other vinegar)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375. Peel beets, sprinkle with salt, and pack them into a pouch made of aluminum foil. Roast for about 40–50 minutes, until soft.
2. Shred your beets. I like doing this in a food processor or blender to minimize effort/mess, but you can use a cheese grater if that’s what’s available to you. If you’re doing it in a blender — add a bit of broth to your beets and just pulse until they’re chopped up.
3. Heat your broth in a pot, then add the beets and let it come to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the broth is a dark ruby red and tastes like, well, beets. And salt and pepper to taste.
4. I like to strain out the beets at this point, and then eat them as a side dish. You can keep them in your soup if you’d like.
5. Remove from heat and stir in your lemon juice/vinegar. Add more to taste — barszcz should have a nice tartness to it. Serve with fresh dill and cracked black pepper.