Winter is soup season. It's cozy, comforting and nourishing. About every 10-14 days, I prepare bone broth using the bones from an oven-roasted organic chicken. If there are leftovers, I freeze a quart of stock in a ball jar. Bone broth is an essential item in the "medicine cabinet" to support healing when you are feeling run down, fighting an illness or sick.
Bone broth health benefits include being low in calories, while high in micronutrients. It is a great source of bioavailable minerals that support bone, skeletal, immune and amino acids for digestive health. It aids in weight loss, hormone balance, and joint healing, among other benefits. Bone broth is an ancient traditional food.
Keep reading below if you prefer or need a store-brought option.
Ingredients:
One chicken carcass (everything left after you have removed the meat and skin)
Filtered water, enough to cover the carcass in a heavy pot
Add 1 TBS lemon juice or vinegar
1-2 bay leaves
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp unrefined sea salt unrefined salt (Frontier Co-op Finely Ground Himalyan Salt)
pepper, bay leaf.
Optional Add-Ins:
Halved peeled:
peeled garlic clove
onion or leeks
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
Any additional fresh herbs, such as a pinch each of thyme, sage, rosemary, or parsley
Instructions:
Place the carcass in a heavy pot and cover with filtered water
Cover and bring to a boil
Once boiling, reduce to lowest setting and skim any film off the surface.
Add your chosen vegetables and herbs (optional add-ins listed above)
Cover and simmer for at least 6 hours.
Note: If you prefer not to leave a pot simmering overnight, you can cool the broth, refrigerate it, then bring it back to a boil and continue simmering the next day.
If cooking for more than 6 hrs, check fluid volume and top off as needed with hot water from the kettle.
Remove from heat, allow to cool, then strain to separate your bone broth.
Way too busy or out of time?
Here are some easy swaps:
Premade organic bone broth. Look for this at your local farm stand. Look for ingredients that include vinegar or lemon and exclude refined oils, sugars, starches, preservatives.
Some brands we love include:
Trader Joe’s (love the 2 cup package)
Pacific Foods, choose the organics
Powdered Shelf Stable Bone Broth is another option. Same ingredient guidelines apply.
We recommend Paleovalley. It doesn’t taste great straight to me but with a pinch of herbs or spices and the simplicity of just adding boiling water, it works well. Their ingredient sourcing , quality and process is exemplary. It can also be added to the below rec canned soups to up your micronutrient game and get all the benefits while you are really busy!
Our Picks for this Recipe:
We recommend you always use organic ingredients when available to reduce chemical exposure for your good health.
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