Bone broth is a nourishing elixir made by cooking the bones of animals over low heat for at least several hours up to 24-48 hours. Consuming bone broth on a daily basis is a great way to make your diet more nutrient dense. Bones are loaded with nutrients such as glucosamine, chondroitin, gelatin, amino acids and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and trace minerals that we need to be healthy.
Adding apple cider vinegar to this bone broth recipe greatly helps to leach all of these nutrients out of the bones. Don’t worry though, you won’t be able to taste it when it is done. This bone broth recipe great staple to include in your diet on a daily basis as the benefits are incredible. I recommend drinking a minimum of 2 cups per day of this bone broth recipe. Bone broth must be homemade. The store bought brands do not have any of the benefits listed below.
Every culture in history consumed some sort of broth made from bones. In the 1930s, Weston A. Price, a Dentist who also studied nutrition, traveled the world and studied with indigenous cultures who were cut off from modern society. These people were very healthy and had almost no incidences of modern illnesses. All of them consumed some form of bone broth, and thrived from the benefits of bone broth.
Benefits of Bone Broth
- Bone Broth helps to heal the gut. Poor diet, chlorinated water, stress and bacterial overgrowth can cause our gut linings to become too permeable. When the gut lining becomes too permeable, food particles can slip through causing food allergies and sensitivities. Bone broth helps to heal this due to its large concentration of the amino acid glutamine and the gelatin it contains.
- Bone Broth helps to reduce joint pain. According to Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions, homemade bone broth or stock contains minerals that are easily absorbed into the body. These minerals are calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silica, sulfur and trace minerals. Bones also contain high amounts of glucosamine and chondritin, and by slow cooking bones with vinegar, all of these nutrients are extracted out of the bones and into your soup, and into your body when you drink it.
- Bone broth is anti-inflammatory due to the amino acids it contains; glycine, proline, and arginine.
Great source of minerals. Bone broth contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and trace minerals which are easily absorbable. Supports the nervous system due to the amino acids that is contains; glycine, proline and glutamine. - Bone Broth helps with insomnia also due to the glycine it contains.
- Bone Broth helps reduce cold and flu symptoms especially if chicken is used to make the broth. Research in the American Journal of Therapeutics showed that a compound found in chicken soup, carnosine, helped the body’s immune system to fight the early stages of flu. The benefits, however, only lasted until the soup was excreted from the body, so you need to consume it several times a day.
- Bone Broth can be used as an appetite suppressant when taken 30 minutes before meals due to the gelatin it contains.
- Bone Broth helps promote healthier skin, nails and hair due to its natural gelatin content.
Basic Bone Broth Recipe
- 1 Organic or Pastured Chicken Carcass
- Enough spring or filtered water to fill a large crock pot
- 2 Carrots
- 2 stalks of Celery
- 1 Onion
- ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 T Himalayan or Sea Salt
- Roast a chicken, remove the meat, and save the carcass.
- Place the carcass into a large crock pot.
- Roughly chop the carrots, celery, and onion (the carrots do not have to be peeled).
- Place in the crock pot.
- Fill the crock pot with the spring or filtered water.
- Add the apple cider vinegar and salt.
- Cook on low for 24 hours, adding more water when necessary.
- Strain everything out.
- You can save the bones and make another batch, but throw out the vegetables.
- Serve this bone broth recipe warm and enjoy!
I recommend drinking at least 2 cups a day in place of tea or coffee.
I came up with this superfood bone broth recipe when I was trying to find ways to make my basic bone broth recipe more nourishing. This bone broth recipe has shitake mushrooms which have immune stimulating properties and make the flavor more rich, ginger which is a natural anti-inflammatory, and turmeric which is also anti-inflammatory, good for the skin and immune boosting.
Superfood Bone Broth Recipe
- 1 Organic or Pastured Chicken Carcass
- Enough spring or filtered water to fill a large crock pot
- ½ c fresh Turmeric or 1 tablespoons of dried but please try to use fresh, if you have trouble finding fresh where you live, you can buy it here.
- ¼ c Ginger
- 8 ounces of Shitake Mushrooms
- 2 Carrots
- 2 stalks of Celery
- 1 Onion
- ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 T Himalayan or Sea Salt
- Directions:
- Roast a chicken, remove the meat and set aside, and save the carcass.
- Place the carcass into a large crock pot.
- Roughly chop the turmeric and ginger (they do not have to be peeled).
- Place in the crock pot.
- Roughly chop the carrots, celery, onion and mushrooms (the carrots do not have to be peeled).
- Place in the crock pot.
- Fill the crock pot with the spring or filtered water.
- Add the apple cider vinegar and salt.
- Cook on low for 24 hours, adding more water when necessary.
- Strain everything out.
- You can save the bones and make another batch, but throw out the vegetables.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Other ways to use Bone Broth
- A great way to use this bone broth recipe is as a base for soups. Just replace this bone broth recipe in any recipe that calls for canned broth or stock.
- Sometimes people get bored drinking bone broth as a tea and using it in soups. This post, 40 Recipes That Use Bone Broth and None of them is Soup, has recipes to use bone broth that doesn’t involve soup so you don’t have to worry about getting bored.
- Megan Stevens of the website Eat Beautiful recently suggested using bone broth in smoothies in place of water. She said that once you add the fruit and other ingredients, that you cannot taste the bone broth. I tried this and it really works.
Where to buy it if you don’t want to make it yourself
- You can order online from The Brothery.
- There may be health food stores in your area where you can purchase it.
- If you live in New York City you can get it at a Café called Brodo. San Francisco also has at least one cafe that sells it.
Sources
Book: Nourishing Broth
Book: The Nourished Kitchen
Article: Cooking with Bones
Article: Broth is Beautiful
What did you learn about bone broth from this article?
Have you ever tried bone broth?
What other topics would you like to read about here?
I love having broth on hand…it adds so much more to the meals. Great post.
Thanks so much.
I love the super food version of this. So simple to add and will add such a nice boost!
It really does add so many more nutrients and flavor.
I LOVE bone broth! This is going to be critical for my family in our healing process. We haven’t had any in a while because of moving, but I’m looking forward to getting it back into our diet soon.
I hope you guys get settled in soon to your new place.
I LOVE the sound of superfood bone broth! What a great idea! On that note, amother great addition would be kombu kelp or astragalus root 🙂
Hi Tash, I think that these would be good additions to a bone broth recipe. I am very soon going to make one with fish heads and think that kelp or kombu would go perfectly with it.
Fabulous! Love bone broth and the health benefits!
Love bone broth and all the ways to use it for cooking. Beef, fish heads, turkey and lamb all make great base for broth. And who would have thought this simple and inexpensive broth would become so wildly popular? My family has been making similar broths for Korean cooking for ages! Too funny.
I think it is so interesting that every culture in history has made some form of it. I am glad it is making a come back now, in modern times.