Zero-Waste Homemade Bone Broth
It is so easy to make homemade broth that is packed with nutrition, and you’ve already paid for the ingredients! With a little time and a few steps, you can get the most out of every scrap. Save your leftover meat bones from dinner in your freezer, separated by type. Pork and beef bones have been in the freezers lately at Birch; I bring gallon-size or larger zip-top bags with me to my shops so I can take home reasonable quantities of these items! I also save my veggie scraps after most meal preps, in a zip-top bag in my freezer. When the scrap bags are full, it’s time to make bone broth!
What You’ll Need
Leftover meat bones (saved in freezer) or raw, frozen soup bones
Veggie scraps (fresh or frozen) such as onions, celery, carrots, peppers, spinach, parsnips, beets, potatoes...anything goes! Skins, roots and all are fair game and full of nutrition. Just make sure you’ve washed your produce well to begin with!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Spices or herbs such as peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, sage, celery leaves, and garlic
Cooking pot such as Instant pot, crock pot, or stock pot
Water
Salt, to taste
How to Make It
Add your meat scraps, veggie scraps, spices, herbs and a hearty splash of apple cider vinegar to your pot. Add a tablespoon or two of salt, depending on how large of a batch you are making.
Fill your pot with water to the fill line, or within a few inches of the top of the pot.
For Instant Pot, cook sealed on high pressure for 60-120 minutes with natural release. For Crock Pot, cook on high 12-24 hours. For Stock pot, bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to simmer for several hours, checking occasionally and adding water as needed.
When cooking is completed and your kitchen smells amazing, very carefully open the pot and lift out the solids with a mesh straining ladle or spider. Discard these.
Allow the pot of broth to cool to a safe temperature to handle. Prepare a bowl large enough to hold all the liquid, with a strainer over it to catch any remaining solids. You can also use cheesecloth over the strainer if you like your broth really clear. I prep this step in my clean, empty sink, in case of splashing.
Strain the broth by carefully pouring it through the strainer into the bowl.
Finish cooling to room temperature, and then chill in the fridge.
Refrigerate and use up to two weeks or freeze in Souper Cubes, freezer zip-top bags, or other freezer-safe containers. Enjoy!
