Bone broth is a wonderful staple to have in your kitchen due to its numerous uses and benefits.

This homemade beef broth recipe is a tasty base for soup or gravy, a nutrient-packed fluid replacement for a sick child, or adds tons of flavor to steamed vegetables.

I keep beef bone broth on hand at all times in the deep freezer in case anyone gets sick.

Any time we cook a whole chicken or bone in steak, I always save the bones for broth!

I like to make a big batch in the fall for the upcoming cold and flu season.

In this post you will find more information about the benefits of bone broth, my easy bone broth recipe, and tips to store bone broth in a deep freezer.

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Benefits of Beef Bone Broth

There are so many healthy reasons to consume beef bone broth!

• Beef bone broth boosts the immune system
• It provides collagen in the form of gelatin for joint and skin repair (Lord knows us mamas need that!)
• It soothes the digestive tract and is easy to digest making a great way to provide nutrition to sick children (and adults)
• Bone broth contains 19 out of the 20 essential amino acids and healthy fats
• Bone broth helps relieve constipation

Related: Morning detox drink that promotes health and weight loss

Homemade Beef Broth Recipe

For this recipe you will need:

• 4 pounds of beef long bone (about 3 bones)
• 3 sticks of celery
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic (shell on)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 1 small bunch of fresh thyme
• 2 tsps of Himalayan pink salt (purchase here)
• 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar (not shown)
• 12 cups of filtered water

Peel the onion and roughly chop the carrots, onion, and celery.

Divide the garlic cloves and smash them while leaving them in the peel.

Place beef bones, chopped veggies, garlic, 2 tsps of Himalayan pink salt, 2 bay leaves, and 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar in large crockpot.

Cover with 12 cups of water.

Turn crock pot on low and cook for 24 hours.

I usually start this recipe in the afternoon and go to bed with it cooking overnight. When I wake up in the morning I add the fresh herbs to the pot and continue to cook for the remainder of the 24 hours.

Alternatively, if made in the morning, the herbs could be added before heading to bed.

After 24 hours, turn off crockpot and let the broth cool completely before straining and prepping for storage.

You may search for other bone broth recipes and find that some say to roast the bones in the oven for a bit before throwing them in the crockpot.

They say this adds more flavor. To be honest, I have never done that. It is more work, more dishes, and you lost some of the great fat and nutrients to the pan!

My homemade beef broth recipe has higher fat content because the bones are not roasted beforehand. It still tastes very yummy!

Storage process

For this process you will need:

• A strainer
• 2 bowls (1 large and one small)
• A non-toxic freezer safe mold
• a measuring cup with a spout or ladle
• a food saver system if planning on long term storage (purchase here)

Process:

Scoop the large chunks of vegetables and bones out of the pot using the strainer and place them in the large bowl. Once you have scooped out as much as you can, turn your attention to the bowl of chunks to pull out the bones for discard. (I start to munch on the carrot chunks while doing this)

You will notice that liquid will pool inside of the bowl of veggies. You can transfer them back and for from the large bowl to the small bowl using the strainer to capture all the liquid and to return to the crock pot of broth. You don’t want to lose any of that yummy stuff!

Now you have a crockpot full of strained broth and some overcooked veggies to snack on.

Use the measuring cup to pour the broth into the freezer safe mold (alternatively you can use a muffin tin) and place in freezer until solidified completely, about 4 hours.

I also use tupperware of different sizes depending on what I anticipate using the broth for.

This mold is great for freezing an appropriate single serving size for a child. I use larger tupperwar for freezing soup base portions or an adult serving size.

Once frozen, removed broth from mold and individually vacuum seal. You can place these neatly in a gallon size ziplock with the date.

I like to freeze in different sizes. Smaller sizes for the kids and larger sizes for soup bases and adult fluid replacement.

Homemade beef broth can be safely kept in the refrigerator for 4 days, although I have been know to stretch mine out for a whole week. (This family tends to have strong stomachs!)

You can preserve this bone broth in a regular freezer for up to 6 months or a deep freezer for up to 12 months.

Always properly label and package food you intend to keep for longer periods of time. I used this vacuum sealer sealer for all food I store in the freezer. It works well and is not expensive.

The next time your family gets sick or you are making a soup you are ready to go! I hope you like this recipe. Feel free to leave a comment.