How to Make Beef Bone Broth

Learn to make homemade Beef Bone Broth with our easy recipe. Start by roasting the bones to achieve a rich, flavorful beef bone broth that is satisfying to drink on its own or use in a soup.

What is Bone Broth?

Bone Broth is a clear savory soup made by simmering bones and their connective tissue in water for a long time. As they simmer, the bones release their collagen – which has lots of health benefits for skin, joints, and hair.

A little bit of apple cider vinegar is often added to bone broth as it cooks because it helps the bones release their collagen and breaks down the connective tissues. Vegetables can also be added to the pot as the bones simmer, adding additional flavor and nutrients.

Bone broth can be made with beef, chicken, or pork bones – or a combination of all three – and the result is a clear broth that is thick and gelatinous when chilled, but savory and satisfyingly delicious when served hot.

In the photo below, you can see that any fat will rise to the top as the broth chills. Remove that to reveal the gelatinous broth below.

Beef Bone Broth vs Beef Stock

There are a lot of similarities – both are made with beef bones, water, vegetables, and seasonings.

But the goal of a beef bone broth is to extract the collagen into a drinkable broth for its health benefits, while the goal of making a beef stock is to create a flavorful base for soups and other recipes calling for beef stock.

A beef bone broth is simmered for far longer than a typical stock – up to 18 to 24 hours on a stove top – to ensure the full extraction of the collagen and other nutrients from the bones.

Our beef stock recipe (you can see that here) is simmered for six hours or so and we include lots of additional ingredients in the stock to create a rich, beefy base for recipes.

• It’s nutritious – Assuming your bone broth recipe was made with a variety of bones and connective tissues, the broth may contain vitamins and nutrients including calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous from the bones. Collagen from the cartilage of connective tissues provides the body with amino acids – which are the building blocks of proteins in the body. If you are able to include bone marrow in your recipe – that can add iron, vitamins A and K, fatty acids, selenium, zinc, and manganese as well.
• It may help protect your joints and also help fight osteoarthritis – Bone broth is a great way to add gelatin to your diet – which breaks down into collagen in the body. This can help protect the cartilage in your joints.
• Reduce inflammation – Bone broth can be a great source of anti-inflammatory amino acids including glutamine.
• It may aid sleep – The amino acid, glycine, found in bone broth helps some people sleep better and have less fatigue the following day.
• It can support weight loss – The high levels of protein in bone broth help many people feel fuller for longer after eating – which can help with weight loss over time.

Please Note – We aren’t medical experts. The source of this great info above is Medical News Today. Read more details here.

• Beef Bones – If possible, buy mostly beef marrow bones plus a combination of other bones available including neck, knuckles, oxtail, short ribs, or beef shank. Many butchers and supermarkets will sell packages of the bones right in the meat section. You can add other types of bones if you’d like such as chicken feet, pork ribs, etc.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – A few tablespoons are needed to help extract the collagen in the bones and connective tissues.
• Other ingredients – These can vary but in our bone broth, we added rinsed and scrubbed unpeeled carrots, celery stalks with leaves, yellow onions, whole split garlic heads, fresh cleaned leeks, fresh parsley with stems, fresh thyme sprigs, bay leaves, black peppercorns and salt only after the long cooking time to taste. All of these extra ingredients help give the bone broth flavor and more nutrients, but any can be eliminated if you want just the bones cooked down in water.

1. Roast bones and vegetables in a high heat oven. This roasting process helps intensify the flavors.
2. Simmer roasted bones and vegetables with water and other ingredients (except salt) for 16-24 hours.
3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard all solids. Strain through cheesecloth if you want the broth clearer.
4. Chill broth overnight, then remove and discard fat that solidified across the top.
5. Serve heated by the cup or bowl, seasoning with salt as needed. Or fill sealable zipper bags and freeze, then pull from freezer and heat as needed.

• Can I make Beef Bone Broth ahead of time?  Yes – since it takes so long to simmer, we suggest that you cook up a big batch, then store some portions in the freezer.
• How do I store leftovers?  Store refrigerated for up to three days or freeze in portion-sized zipper seal bags.
• How do I reheat leftovers? Heat in a saucepan or microwave as needed.
• Is it possible to can this bone broth?  We haven’t tested the acidity level of the finished bone broth – so we don’t know. (Safe canning practices require you to know the acidity level to determine the canning method and timing.) We suggest freezing it in small zipper seal bags or containers unless you are a canning expert.
• Can I make beef bone broth in a pressure cooker or slow cooker? Yes – although we haven’t tested this recipe using either alternative cooking method so don’t have specific timing, steps, or guidance to share with you at this time.

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