If you’ve followed any food bloggers or influencers online over the past several years, then you probably already know the wonders of bone broth. Yes, it’s helpful to sip on when you’re feeling under the weather, but consuming it can also help with inflammation and the collagen in bone broth can help ease joint pain. It also contains protein, which is something I’m always trying to work into my diet.

If you’ve looked at the price of bone broth at the store, you might’ve experienced sticker shock. A quart of high-quality bone broth can run anywhere from $6-10 bucks (at least, last time I checked). What you might not know is that it’s really easy to make bone broth at home and you’re likely overlooking many of the ingredients, since most can be made using food scraps.

I make my own chicken, (and turkey after the holidays), and beef bone broth, as well as vegetable broth. These items serve as a great base for soup, gravies, a way to infuse dishes like Spanish style rice with loads of flavor, added protein, and of course, they impart lots of healing properties when consumed. 

The best part of making broth? They’re made with either very cheap ingredients, or things that many people often throw away. When it comes to beef bone broth, my favorite way to make it is to buy soup bones from my local beef farmer. I choose to buy from my local farmer because I know I’m making grass fed bone broth, something that can run a small fortune if purchased at the grocery store, yet, the bones are typically priced very reasonably. Although you may not have soup bones laying around in your kitchen, I guarantee you have the items you’ll need to make a nice chicken or turkey bone broth or veggie stock in your kitchen regularly, and you might even be tossing them out.

The best way to make a healthy chicken or turkey bone broth, which you can use as the base for a noodle or other type of broth based soup, is to utilize the bones or whole carcass of said bird. Instead of chucking them, place the whole carcass leftover from a rotisserie or home roasted whole chicken, or just the bones from something like chicken wings, legs or thighs, into a slow cooker. 

It does take a lot of bones to make a hearty batch of bone broth, and my secret to making sure I have plenty is storing my bones in the freezer until I have enough to make a batch. Have chicken legs for dinner? Put those bones in a freezer bag. Eat a rotisserie chicken the following week? Take the whole carcass and toss it in the freezer bag. Make chicken wings later in the month? You already know, but I’m going to say it anyway: add those bones to the growing pile in the freezer bag. Once the bag is full, or mostly full, you have enough to make your bone broth. Now, on to the recipe (finally!)

Add your bones or carcass to a large stock pot, instant pot, pressure cooker, or a slow cooker (my preferred method). To the bones add:

2-3 bay leaves

Small handful of peppercorns

Small handful of sea salt

1 tbsp. poultry seasoning

2 tsp. dried sage

2 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried thyme

2-3 tbsp. raw, organic apple cider vinegar (don’t skip this step, the ACV helps pull out the collagen inside the bones)

1-2 carrots, broken into 1-2 pieces to fit the cooking container (don’t bother chopping, they’re just there for flavor)

½ onion, cut in half or into quarters. Again, this doesn’t need to be chopped, it’s only to impart flavor and if you want, go ahead keep the skin on, it’s loaded with flavor

3-4 cloves of garlic, slightly crushed (you can keep the skins on as long as the garlic cloves are crushed or halved)

Water to fill the cooking container

Simmer all ingredients, plus the water together for 24-48 hours. If using an instant pot or pressure cooker, this process only takes between two to four hours, depending on the method you choose, but check the manual on your device for exact times.  

If not using a slow cooker, and you opt to simmer everything together in a pot on the stovetop, then it will require you to simmer during a time when you’re home and can watch the pot, as well as turn it off and let it cool a bit before placing the pot into the fridge overnight until you can pull it out and return it to the stove top to simmer some more. 

No matter the method, once the bones have simmered the appropriate amount of time, strain the broth through cheese cloth or by using a metal fine mesh strainer and pour it into your desired container(s). Opting for the strainer will allow bits of herbs to come through and the broth won’t look as clear, but that doesn’t bother me, so I almost always use the strainer. After the broth has been strained, just store it in the fridge or freezer.

That’s really all it takes to make bone broth at home. Veggie broth is also very simple to make and I’ll share my recipe soon. And just like with bone broth, you may be tossing out all the items you need to make a huge batch.