The inclusion of Bone Broth in nutrition planning is on the rise and for good reason! Bone broth reduces inflammation, improves digestion, enhances weight loss and much more. The only drawback on the broth is that it can be quite costly to purchase in stores and you may not know exactly how your broth was made or the quality of ingredients used. Luckily it’s not only cost effective but also extremely easy to make at home. Our personal favorite recipe is from Diane Sanfilippo below!

By Diane Sanfilippo

Mineral-Rich Bone Broth (Beef & Garlic)
Yield: Approximately 14 servings.

Ingredients
This recipe make approximately 64oz of broth depending on how much water, how much you reduce the broth and how strong you like the flavor to be.

4 quarts of filtered water
1.5- 2 lbs of beef knuckle bones or marrow bones (or any other kinds of bones – especially oxtail, which lends added gelatin and a delicious flavor). Chicken necks are inexpensive and also work great.
the cloves from 1 whole head of fresh garlic, peeled & smashed
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (organic, unfiltered- I like Bragg’s brand)
1Tsp unrefined sea salt – or more/less to taste (I like Real Salt)

Preparation
-If you choose, you may brown or roast the bones/meaty bones first in a separate pan/pot if using a crockpot, but this isn’t a necessary step. I don’t normally do it because I don’t find it enhances the flavor – and it saves dishes. You can choose to brown them in bacon fat or coconut oil before putting them into the water in the next step.
-Place all ingredients in a 6 quart crockpot and set the heat to HIGH.
-Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce the heat setting to LOW.
-Allow the stock to cook for a minimim of 8 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer it cooks, the better!
-Turn off the crockpot and allow the stock to cool.
-Strain the stock through a fine mesh metal strainer and throw away what you skim off.
-Place the cooled stock into glass jars for storage in the fridge (for up to a few days) or pour into freezer-safe containers for later use. (You can freeze it in ice cube trays and defrost a few at a time!)

When the broth is fully cooled, look for a gelatinous consistency. That means your broth is gelatin-rich! At times, a longer or very hot simmer may break down the gelatin and your broth won’t appear gelatinous. That’s OK! The minerals are still there.
If you like, you can skim off any fat that has risen to the top and solidified – consider this “tallow” – and feel free to cook with it!
You can drink stock any time of day, before or after meals, or use it as the base for soups and stews! Perfect in any recipe that calls for broth.

Variations
Use any other kind of animal bones you like – chicken, in fact, will take less time due to the smaller pieces.

Add chopped veggies like carrots, celery and onions for more flavor or variety.

A crockpot makes this recipe super-simple, but you can also use a large stock pot (hence the name) or an enameled cast-iron dutch oven.