Bone broth is medicine for the gut, it boosts the immune system, seals the gut lining and remineralizes the body. Our ancestors have been making it forever but in modern times we often feel too time constrained and overwhelmed to make our own.
But modern technology provides short cuts. I’m not talking about buying it. Packaged, shelf stable broth is dead and processed. Don’t waste your money.
If you’re already on the bone broth train, I’ll show you how to make the ride smoother and more stream line with a few holiday-inspired recipes to try.
If you’ve been wanting to jump on the bone broth train I will show you how with minimal effort and fuss.
Grossed out? I get it.
I used to find the taste of bone broth disgusting. But if I could fall in love with it then anyone can. Add it to your life slowly and find ways to dress it up, and never over do too much of a good thing as bone broth can be highly detoxifying.
My bone broth making skills have come in quite handy. I used broth as a dietary foundation to heal my husband’s leaky gut a few years ago. It took him 3 to 4 months to recover on a broth heavy diet. You can read about it here.
This spring I did a 4-day bone broth cleanse, which was the perfect reset after feeling stressed and run down. Did you know that broth helps boost your mood? It’s all the amino acids. I will share my 4 day broth protocol at the end of this post.
Lazy broth recipe
We perfectionist types tend to over complicate things. Broth only needs three ingredients: 2 pounds of bones of any kind, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 4 to 5 quarts of water.
Don’t worry about the veggies or spices. You can add flavor later.
Here’s the trick that makes bone broth making easy… buy a slow cooker! You can leave a slow cooker unattended on low heat. It’s totally safe. Just let it bubble quietly for 24 hours while you do more important things.
Owning a slow cooker is like having a personal chef in your kitchen. Just throw in ingredients in the morning and dinner is made at night without any effort. They’re inexpensive and uncomplicated. I think anyone who loves saving time should own one.
You can use left over turkey bones to make your first batch. Then enjoy your turkey broth in a mug or as a base for soups or stews. The tastiest way to treat joint pain, skin rashes and food intolerance. As broth helps seal your gut lining, your inflammation lowers and you feel lighter.
I love this 7 quart slow cooker because it’s digital and can be programmed to turn off. It’s also large enough to slow cook a chicken. Or make a 3 pound portion of pastured pulled pork that you can eat for a week. It’s also under $30.
I typically use beef femur bones to make my broth. Beef bones have lots of marrow, which is one of those nutrient dense super foods. I ask the butcher to cut the bones so they fit in the crock pot.
You can buy bones anywhere these days, including online. Or you can eat chicken and save the bones in the freezer until you have enough for the first batch.
You can also mix and match bones. There are no rules, except the 24 hour rule. That’s how long you need to cook it for to get maximum nutrition. And it’s a successful batcheven if it doesn’t gel.
If you are crunched for time you can break the 24 hour rule too.
An Instapot is a pressure cooker that can make broth in two hours.
The instapot is a combined pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, warmer and yogurt maker. It cuts down the cook time of soups, stews and super tender cuts of meat. Perfect if you didn’t plan ahead.
Prepetual broth
This is one of my favorite bone broth tricks. You make broth in a slow cooker and leave it on the counter turned on and bubbling for a week. It’s always hot and ready to serve. Just skim the fat off the top. And don’t worry, the heat kills the harmful bacteria.
Every time you ladle out a mug’s worth of broth you replace it with a mug of fresh water. The bones will produce enough broth to last one week. This is a time and money saver.
Storage
After I turn off the slow cooker and it cools, I ladle the broth into a wide-mouthed gallon mason jar.
Instead of skimming the fat off the broth when it’s still hot/warm I put it all in the fridge and the fat rises to the top and congeals, making it easy to remove in a solid chunk.
You can use that broth fat for cooking, just like you use ghee or coconut oil. It will give your eggs or sauteed veggies a meaty flavor.
The broth lasts 5 days in the fridge when the fat layer is removed or broken. But when intact, the fat layer forms an air tight seal that preserves the broth for a lot longer than 5 days.
If you can’t drink it that fast, there’s a great way to store it.
I bought 2 extra large silicon ice cube trays to freeze the leftovers. That way I can throw a cube or two in any dish or recipe that calls for broth. I love to use cubes to make stew in my slow cooker. Or to melt to put on my dog’s food. Pups need gut support too!
Recipes
Broth is an amazing foundation for a Thanksgiving meal.
Use it as a base for pureed butternut squash soup, to saute your green beans, or to make stuffing. Add a bit of bone broth fat to your mashed potatoes (sweet or regular).
You can also add grassfed gelatin to your cranberry sauce and collagen to your maple sweetened pumpkin pie, making your meal healing for your gut and immune system.
Below are some of my favorite Thanksgiving-themed and regular bone broth recipes.
This was the Pho recipe that made me fall in love with broth
Butternut squash and apple soup (leave out apple to make it low FODMAP)
Plantain and broccoli soup (leave out the broccoli to make it low FODMAP)
Stuffing made with my favorite nut based grain-free bed mix simple mills artisan bread
So easy to make: Muscles in curry sauce
Pumpkin pie with collagen (no bake)
Bone broth cleanse
After Thanksgiving, most people feel like they want to do a cleanse. And if you’ve made your turkey broth you’re ready.
I did a 4-day bone broth cleanse this spring and felt both light and stable at the same time. I also lost some weight.
Bone broth has lots of amino acids and is easy to digest. This will give your system a much needed break.
How to:
Simply drink a mug of broth 3 times a day, with each meal. I like to add a tablespoon of coconut oil, a tablespoon of collagen and salt and spices to my mug. Tumeric and oregano are particularly gut-friendly spices.
You can eat food with your broth but only low fat protein like eggs, turkey or fish and low-carb veggies, like greens, zucchini, spaghetti squash, eggplant, cucumbers, red peppers etc. You can also eat fresh berries for dessert.
In between the broth you drink two 16 ounces servings of green juice. I made mine with kale, parsley, spinach, cucumber, lemon, and ginger and added a splash of coconut water for sweetness.
I don’t recommend doing this more than 4 days. If you’re hungry you can drink extra servings of broth. I wasn’t hungry during this cleanse and am looking forward to doing it again as a reset.
Though going low carb is not a good idea for the long term, a 4 day reset is reasonable for most people. I would not suggest this cleanse if you are underweight or suffering with severe adrenal issues and/or debilitating fatigue.
I hope you find this bone broth tutorial useful and inspiring. Just in time for cold weather, holidays and comfort food season.
Making bone broth part of your daily diet is giant leap towards healing your gut.
Now that you know how easy it is there’s no excuse.
Drink up and feel better.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease or a disease at all. IBS is a body out of balance. It’s an invitation for change. After solving her own IBS mystery more than a decade ago Angela trained as a health coach to help others.
Angela uses both science and intuition to help people figure out what’s out of balance in their body. She works with lab tests, dietary changes, supplementation and nervous system rebalancing. Get help rebalancing your digestive system and solving your IBS mystery here.
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