Bone broth is something that has been around for centuries and has been used for medicine, food, and a tasteful fuel for our bodies. This form of nourishment is a perfect remedy in my opinion; one because it’s so versatile and two it’s seasonally adaptable and gives us a beautiful chance to connect to the earths rhythms as well as our own ancestral roots. We start to attune, align, and nourish our being on every cell level. I’m a firm believer in the Life/Death/Life cycle of the world and feel that if we do choose to eat meat, then it should be done in a way that can respect the animal and leave little to know waste. It’s a gift, an honor, and a privilege to be able to make such potent medicine from our fellow furry friends and the usage of the bones is just another way to give them gratitude.
A broth can be as simple or alchemised as you wish and is such an amazing way to get herbal remedies into the body. I wanted to share my favorite chicken stock recipe that you can make at anytime of the year and adapt it to the season present. This is something you can do with an old chicken carcass from a whole roasted chicken or from frozen bones that you can get from the butcher. Personally, even if I use a carcass, I still will throw some chicken feet into it due to their richness in collagen. Why is collagen so important? It can help with skin health, bone and joint health, blood sugar regulation, and a supportive aid for digestive problems. Pretty amazing right? When buying your bones, it’s always good to make sure that they came from an organic, free-range, antibiotic-free chicken. This will assure more of a chance that the chicken had a good life and was fed properly. The better the chickens quality of life, the better quality of life it will supply to us.
Below I will post the recipe and the step by step how to. I should warn you that once you start to make your own broth, there is an exciting world ahead of creative exploration and no looking back, hehe.
I do want to add, if you are in a pinch and can’t make your own broth, I always try to support the broth witches that are organic and local. Check in with your health food stores to see who’s around and reach out if you have any infusion questions. If you are in the Northern parts of California, my two absolute favorite broths are from The Abrothecary and Kitchen Witch Bone Broth.
Happy Brothing
Chicken Bone Broth
5 cups filtered water
4 lbs of raw chicken bones (feet, neck, wings) or a whole carcass
2 yellow onions, cut In half and leave skin on
4 medium stocks of celery cut into chunks
2 carrots cut into chunks
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 inch piece of orange peel or 2 tbl of dried orange peel
1 small lemon cut in half
4 springs of thyme
2 inch piece of ginger cut in half
2 inch piece of turmeric cut in half
2 bay leaves
5 black pepper corns
1 tbl dried astragals root
1 tbl dried burdock root
How To
Preheat the oven to 415 and bake the bones for about 15 minutes
In a crock pot, large pot, or insta pot, add in all the ingredients including the bones. Pour in the apple cider vinegar and water, you want to make sure that it’s covered by at least two inches.
-Crock Pot: cook on low for 6 hours
-Insta pot: Pressure cook for 2 and a half hours
-Stove Top: Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce it to low and simmer uncovered for 4-8 hours (depending on how strong you want it) You’ll need to skim the top of any impurities in this step.
Once broth is cooled down, strain into a pourable bowl. Store in jars with an airtight lid.
If using glass to freeze, only fill the jar a little over a half full so that the glass doesn’t break once frozen.
Shelf life in refrigerator is about a week and you can store in freezer for up to 3 months.
*make sure to check in with your health care provider if you are adding the medicinal herbs especially if you are pregnant or on any type of protocol.