Bone Broth

Michael Eisenwasser

Print Recipe

Long-simmered bone broth without onion or garlic.

Prep 15 min

Cook 12 hr

Serves 10

Gluten-freeDairy-free

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 lb (1.8 to 2.3 kg) bones — chicken carcasses and wings, beef marrow and knuckle bones, or a mix of the two
• 14 to 20 cups (3.3 to 4.7 L) cold filtered water, enough to cover the bones by 1 to 2 inches
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped (optional)
• Green tops of 1 large leek, rinsed and roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
• Green tops of 4 to 5 scallions, roughly chopped
• 6 sprigs fresh parsley
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• Salt, to taste (added after straining)

Instructions

Roast the Bones (Optional, for Beef)

1. If you're using beef bones, heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and spread the bones in a single layer on a rimmed sheet pan. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes until deeply browned. This step is optional for chicken but adds more flavor for any red-meat broth.
2. Scrape the bones and any browned bits into a large stockpot or slow cooker.

Build the Pot

1. Add the carrots, celery, leek greens, scallion greens, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
2. Pour in the cold water, enough to cover the bones by 1 to 2 inches.
3. Stir in the apple cider vinegar and let the pot sit off the heat for 20 to 30 minutes. The vinegar helps pull minerals out during the simmer.
4. Do not add salt yet — the volume will reduce and concentrate.

Simmer Long and Low

1. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, then drop to the lowest setting that still produces the occasional small bubble. Skim any foam that rises in the first 30 minutes.
2. Hold at a bare simmer for 12 to 24 hours on the stovetop, or 18 to 24 hours on low in a slow cooker. Chicken bones break down in 12 to 16 hours; beef bones need the full 24 to get more collagen into the broth.
3. Check every few hours and top off with hot water if the liquid drops below the bones. Covered for most of the cook, uncovered for the last hour if you want a more concentrated broth.

Strain and Cool

1. Turn off the heat and let the pot rest for 15 minutes so the solids settle and the fat separates.
2. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot or large bowl. Discard the bones and aromatics. For a clearer broth, strain a second time through cheesecloth.
3. Salt to taste now that the final volume is set. Expect about 8 to 12 cups of finished broth depending on how much reduced during the simmer.
4. Cool quickly by setting the container in an ice bath or dividing into shallow containers. Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking.
5. The next day you should see a firm, jiggly gel — that's the collagen. Skim the hardened fat cap off the top if you want a leaner broth, or stir it back in for richness.

Tips & Substitutions

• Ask your butcher for mixed bones. A good bone broth uses a mix of marrow bones (for fat and flavor), knuckle or neck bones (for collagen), and meaty bones like oxtail or wings (for body). All marrow bones can turn out greasy and thin.
• Leek greens and scallion tops work well in place of onion. Fructans sit in the white bulb of both plants; use the dark green tops only, and keep amounts moderate per serving. The greens add the flavor you want in a long simmer without the fructan load.
• Keep celery to one stalk, or skip it. Celery can be a trigger for some people because of mannitol. One stalk spread across the whole batch keeps the per-bowl amount small, but omit it entirely if polyols bother you.
• Apple cider vinegar is low-FODMAP at this amount. Two tablespoons in a full pot is well within Monash's low-FODMAP serve for plain apple cider vinegar. People use it to help pull minerals out during a long simmer, and it won't leave a vinegar taste after the cook.
• If you want a little garlic flavor, finish with garlic-infused olive oil. Stir 1 to 2 teaspoons into a hot mug of broth. Adding it to the simmering pot wastes the flavor.
• For a shorter cook, make low-FODMAP chicken broth instead. The 3 to 4 hour chicken version gives you a clean cooking stock; this 12 to 24 hour bone broth gives you the gelled, sippable kind.
• Store-bought shortcuts. Fody Low-FODMAP Chicken Soup Base works as a quick substitute for the cooking-stock use case. For a sippable bone broth, Gourmend Foods Organic Chicken Bone Broth is labeled low-FODMAP and onion/garlic-free. Check the label before buying, since product formulations can change.

Why This Works

Bone broth mostly comes down to cook time. The difference between a cooking stock and a sippable bone broth is getting collagen into the broth, and that takes 12 or more hours of bare-simmer heat. If you simmer it longer, you'll usually get a more gelled broth.

Apple cider vinegar pulls minerals from the bones. A couple tablespoons of vinegar in the pot helps draw calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus out of bone tissue over a long cook. You won't taste it after a long cook — it's diluted and mellows into the finished broth.

Onion and garlic matter more in long-simmered broth. Commercial bone broths are often a problem for hidden onion and garlic: "natural flavor," "vegetable broth," and "spices" on a bone-broth label almost always include alliums. A 24-hour simmer with any amount of onion powder can make the finished broth high-FODMAP.

Gel is a good sign. A properly made bone broth sets to a wobbly gel in the fridge. No gel means the bones didn't release enough collagen. Next time, try a longer simmer, a gentler simmer, or more joint and knuckle bones in the mix.

Storage

Refrigerate in sealed containers at 40°F (4°C) or below for 4 to 5 days. For longer storage, freeze in 2-cup portions for soups and stews, in 1-cup portions for sipping mugs, and in a silicone ice-cube tray (about 2 tablespoons per cube) for deglazing pans or finishing sauces. Frozen bone broth keeps for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or drop frozen cubes straight into a hot pan.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.