Easy Bone Broth Recipe
One of our most coveted and regular weekday recipes is a roasted chicken. It's an all around hit for everyone in the family and never fails. We usually pair it with roasted potatoes and call it a day. I love Thomas Keller’s roasted chicken and this adaptation of the recipe is simple and easy to follow as well.
The best part about making a roasted chicken is the easy homemade bone broth that I can cook up afterwards. It’s like a healing tonic for the gut and it’s especially important to have on hand through the cold and flu season. I also love that I can use the entire chicken and sustainably use the whole animal to nourish my family.
Before we get into the benefits of bone broth and how it’s been used in TCM, let’s talk about sourcing. One of the many reasons bone broth is so powerful has to do with all the vitamins, minerals and collagen that are extracted from the actual bone of the chicken. So when you’re roasting your chicken or cooking bone broth, it’s incredibly important to make sure your chicken is a happy chicken. Ideally, we’d all be sourcing our chickens from butchers and farmers markets but if that’s not your reality, make sure you buy an organic or pasture-raised chicken from your grocery store. Of course, you can make bone broth from a variety of bones whether it’s fish, beef or chicken and the same theory applies. High quality bones will make all the difference since you’re drinking the nutrients in such a concentrated form so always search for pasture-raised poultry, wild caught fish or grass-fed cattle.
Now - let’s talk TCM and bone broth. Apart from being an amazing, healing base for soup, bone broth has been used as a remedy within Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. TCM has used bone broth to nourish the kidneys, build blood and support the qi. For anyone experiencing chronic stress, inflammation and poor immune support, bone broth is the ultimate magic elixir and health booster.
Benefits of Bone Broth
Improves the quality of your sleep
Contains easy to digest minerals like calcium, phosphorus and magnesium
Supports and heals gut health
Boosts your skin, hair and nails
Lubricates the joints and speeds up recovery time from injuries
Fantastic for postpartum care
Now that you know where to find your bones, and why bone broth is so good for you, let’s dive into our simple bone broth method. Here’s an easy recipe to follow:
Bone Broth Recipe
Put the remnants + bones from the chicken into the crockpot and cover in filtered water with 2 tsp of salt.
Add a splash of apple cider vinegar - this helps to draw out the minerals.
Keep overnight on low.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Strain using a fine metal strainer to remove all the bits of bone and fat.
When cool enough, store in a gallon size glass jar in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for later use.
Suggested serving: drink bone broth in the morning warm with turmeric, ghee and 1/2 tsp of salt