Recipes Whole30

How to Make Your Own Beef Bone Broth

Whether you’re doing a Whole30, eating paleo, or just enjoy good, nutritious food, homemade bone broth is one of the best things for you. I use this in recipes that call for beef broth, or drink it on its own as a terrific source of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. The first time I made my famous curry beef stew using homemade beef broth instead of the thin, flavourless store-bought broth, it was like an entirely new recipe. I honestly had no idea it would make such a huge difference. Hubby and I kept remarking on it the entire time we ate the stew. (Yes, you’re right, we do lead very exciting lives!) Try this once, and I guarantee you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Make your own beef bone broth

A good bone broth does take a long time to make, so start at least a day or two ahead of time if you have a particular recipe in mind. The good news though is that it requires very little actual work from you – it’s almost all simmerin’ time. The biggest pain I find is the real estate it takes up on my stove for two days. It’s totally possible to make this in the slow cooker and save stove space that way, but in the amounts I make it, I have to use my stove because I need my giant stock pot to hold almost twice as much as my slow cooker.

Start with a big batch of beef bones. I’ve mentioned before that we buy pastured beef a quarter of a cow at a time from the farm down the road. Some people leave the bones at the butcher, but not us! You can also get bones from your local butcher or beef farmer, just let them know you’re making broth. Estimate about 7 pounds of beef bones per gallon (about 4 litres) of water, and choose as many joint bones (knuckles, tail bones, chine bones) as you can for the collagen.

Start by roasting the bones on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for about an hour. We’ve skipped this step before and the broth still tastes good, but roasting the bones gives it extra flavour and colour.

roasted beef bones for broth

Put all the bones into a big stock pot and add enough water to cover all the bones. Add a chopped up onion, two or three carrots, any vegetable scraps you might have, and a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to help leach the minerals out of the bones and into your broth.

Bring the water to a boil, then turn it down to simmer on the back of the stove for 24-48 hours. Once it’s done, strain out all the solids, skim the fat, and use your bone both anywhere you’d use stock. If I’m not using it right away, I find it simplest to let the broth cool and refrigerate before skimming off the solid fat.

beef bone broth

Bone broth freezes very well too, so we like to make big batches and use some now, some for later. Don’t be alarmed if it cools into a big lump of jello in the fridge. That’s the sign of lots of yummy healthy gelatin in your stock and exactly why you wanted those joint bones in there. Clearly there’s way more going on in homemade stock than the stuff you buy from the store!

And the nice thing is that you can do it all over again with the same bones. Just add new water, vinegar, and vegetables, and make another batch!

Beef Bone Broth

Ingredients
  

  • 7 lbs. beef bones at least half of them joint bones
  • 4 litres water
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 3 chopped carrots

Instructions
 

  • Roast bones for an hour at 350 degrees.
  • Add all ingredients into a large stock pot and bring to a boil.
  • Turn heat down and simmer for 24-48 hours.
  • Strain out the solids and skim the fat.

Notes

Store in the fridge for up to 7 days. Freeze the excess.
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Leave a Comment

40 Comments

  • I love this stuff and the health benefits that go with this are awesome too, I like doing chicken feet for chicken broth and I use my crockpot, it does take forever but the house smells so good and we like just drinking the broth when it’s all done, very tasty, yummmm!! I’m going to have to go back to the market and get me some more feet, I’ve got a craving for some bone broth now..lol!!

  • This sounds amazing. My husband would be thrilled if we bought a quarter/half a cow too. He loves his beef!

  • I’m actually making this right now. A smaller batch though, in our crockpot. I’ve made chicken bone broth before but this is the first time I’ve made beef. I’m hoping it turns out alright.

    • It tastes so much better, there’s virtually no comparison. I don’t find the packaged beef broth has any flavour at all. The homemade stuff though, you can eat like soup. 🙂

  • We make our stock all the time at home for beef, chicken, and pork. It is so much yummier then the store bought broth, plus we don’t add as much salt so it’s healthier, too.

    • The store bought stuff has both salt and sweetener (what the heck?) added to it. Homemade is definitely the way to go!

  • This is a great recipe for this and much easier than what I was doing, I find making your own broth just makes your food like soups and stuffings taste so much better.
    @tisonlyme413

    • If you cannot find it locally, you can buy grass-fed beef and bones online through US Wellness Meats. I’m not sure how the cost stacks up though.

  • I will have too try this one looks like be good one bones do give flavor too so many things

    • I don’t find it much work at all. It’s basically just putting some bones and veggies in a pot and simmering them for a long time. The payoff is worth it!

  • I love having broth on hand its good for many things,soups,stews i also use it in savory dressing,rice.

  • I have never done beef broth but have done chicken broth for soups and the difference in taste is amazing so can imagine how delicious this would be.

  • Thanks for sharing! I always have beef bones on hand but didn’t realize it was so easy! I freeze my homemade chicken and turkey stock, I will be adding beef broth now too! Thanks!

  • I’ve never tried making beef broth but would love to try! Thanks for the recipe. I know people who save the bones from their cooked roasts or steaks and then make the broth. Not sure how that would turn out??

    • You’d need a lot of them, and you’d need to add some connective bones (knuckles, joints, etc.) for the collagen, but you could totally recycle bones from dinner to make broth!

  • This looks fantastic! We’re moving soon and I’m going to be near a butchers. Can’t wait to see if I can snag some bones to try this recipe out. So many good uses for bone broth!

  • This is such a great idea… I am always needing broth for one thing or another. I am going to check with my local butcher or even at our store to see if they can be purchased there or not. I make homemade noodles and soups and can’t wait to see what I can get from the store to start making my own broth!. thanks for the info.

  • I’ve never tried to make beef broth but with the price of beef these days I’m going to use as much of it as I can.

  • This is good stuff! I started making bone broth after our family had a nasty battle with a stomach virus. I was looking for a great way to reset our gut flora and begin to heal. Well this did the trick! Now anytime the kids have even the slightest upset stomach, regardless of the cause, they ask for “beef juice”!

  • Thank you for sharing and making it very clear instructions, with explanations why you chose to do this why….it makes me believe even I non-cooker..like me can do it too!

  • I have never heard of roasting the bones! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing!