The Simplest Bone Broth Recipe

Bone broth is a traditional treatment that's made a comeback in recent years. We'll show you how to make it on the stove, in a Crock Pot, or in an Instant Pot! A few years ago, when I heard the term "bone broth" getting thrown around for the first time, my initial thought was um, isn't chicken broth already made with bones? It wasn't until about a year ago that I found out that bone broth is different from regular chicken stock because it uses a long cooking time to extract as much nutrition out of the bones as possible. Basically, regular chicken stock uses the bones for flavor. Bone broth uses the bones for flavor and nutrition. The resulting broth from long-simmering is totally delicious, of course, but even beyond that, it's a powerful nutritional supplement. In fact, I only started making bone broth regularly after two separate doctors (one crunchy granola doc and one decidedly not crunchy granola doc) recommended I start having at least a cup of it a day as part of my Lyme treatment protocol. Bone broth walks the line between food and medicine in a way that few other foods do. And it certainly tastes a lot better than most medicines do!

The Benefits of Bone Broth

The nutritional profile of bone broth depends widely on the kind of bones you use (you can use chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish—anything!), your cooking time, and the way the animals were raised (grass-fed and pasture-raised animals will give you more nutrient density). But there are a few common things about bone broth that make it so awesome:

• It's loaded with gelatin. The slow and low cooking helps to release the gelatin—which is a broken down version of collagen—that is in the connective tissues and bones you use. Why is this a good thing? Well, major important areas of our body (like the lining of our gut and our own connective tissues and joints) are made from collagen—in fact, about 25% of our body is made of collagen! Some folks use gelatin or collagen supplements, but bone broth is another effective (and affordable) way to get your gelatin and collagen. Making sure you get an adequate supply of collagen has a ton of health benefits like helping you sleep better, making your skin more supple, protecting your gut lining, and making your joints less achy.
• It's easy to digest. Sometimes the roughage of a huge salad is good for you, but sometimes—especially if you are fighting digestive disorders or your immune system isn't up to snuff—easy-to-digest foods are the way to go. Bone broth is a wonderful marriage of easy-to-digest but still nutritionally powerful.

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