Homemade bone broth. Simply save your leftover bones from chicken legs and wings and simmer with garlic, onion and veggies in a crockpot for 12-24 hours. Simple, delicious and filled with tons of joint-loving collagen and gelatin. Low-carb, ketogenic, Paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, Whole30 compliant.
What could be more perfect for a homemade soup than some homemade bone broth? Now, stay with me for just a minute. I know you are thinking “homemade broth, really? I just simply do not have time for that.”
Oh, but you do have time for it. It will require no more than 15 minutes of your time from start to finish. You don’t even have to chop a bunch of vegetables if you follow my suggestions below.
Grab a gallon-sized freezer bag (or a freezer-safe reusable container for you greenies out there), and label it as “bones and veggie scraps”. After you eat your chicken wings, legs or bone-in thighs, simply add the leftover bones to the bag and stick it in the freezer.
You can do the same with your onion and garlic skins, carrot tops, celery leaves, or even cilantro or parsley that is on the verge of expiring.
Once the bag or container is full, it’s time to make some broth! The only note of importance here is that sticking with one type of animal bone is best. Mixing your beef bones with chicken bones can create a flavor that some find to be a bit off. Beyond that, the sky is the limit as far as customization goes!
Some staple flavors that play well in any broth are carrots, garlic and onions. I usually add several carrots, one garlic bulb and one medium onion, coarsely chopped. Feel free to customize the flavors however you’d like.
Do you enjoy spicy? Add in some red pepper flakes and a 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne. Looking for some Asian flare? Chop up some green onions and ginger and toss that in. The beauty of this is that you can use any ingredients you like.
Simply toss all of the ingredients into a crockpot and fill up to the top of the ingredients with water. Let it all simmer on low for 12-24 hours. I usually do closer to 24, just because it is more convenient and it gets all the delicious collagen and gelatin out of those bones. Start the homemade bone broth at night before bed, and after work the next day, it’s ready!
It helps to stir the broth occassionally, although as long as you have enough water, I find that this is not really all that necessary. I just like to check on it periodically because I get anxiety about electrical appliances burning the house down, haha.
Once the homemade bone broth is ready, you will want to strain it, put it in containers (I find ball jars are fantastic), and cool it down quickly. I will usually place the jars into a cold water bath to cool them down. It’s best to do this rapidly so the broth does not spoil. If you leave it out for several hours, it can go bad rather quickly.
Once it has reached room temperature, you can stick it in the fridge or freezer, then simply take it out whenever it’s time for soup. Speaking of soup, I have a nice recipe planned next using the broth, which I am very excited about! Stay tuned!
Homemade Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken or beef bones
- 2-4 carrots diced roughly, including greens if you have them
- 1 medium onion diced roughly, including skins
- 1 in head garlic choppedhalf to expose cloves
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Whatever other ingredients you like. Some I recommend are ginger salt, peppercorns, parsley, cilantro and thyme
- Fill remaining crockpot with filtered water enough to cover the other ingredients
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to crockpot or stockpot and simmer on low for 12-24 hours.
- Turn off heat and strain liquid using a collander or slotted spoon. Pour broth into a freezer-safe container. You want to cool the broth quickly, to prevent bacterial growth. Place broth containers into a container filled with cold water. Once they reach room temperature, place in fridge or freezer.
