Hi there! Are you over 40? Do you have weird gut stuff going on? Please talk to your doctor and make sure you can wait until after 50 to get a colonoscopy. I’m so glad I got one, because if I hadn’t, then I might not have made it to 50. And, because I have now had so many colonoscopies, and done so much research on how to best do it, I wrote a post about it:

And, because I have tried so many diets and modalities to heal my gut, I am also often asked what my favorite recipe or method is for making bone broth. There are times in my life where I am drinking this in a mug daily, and times where I’m just keeping some in the freezer to cook with. There are never, ever, times in which we do not have any or have to resort to store-bought trash.

There are many ways to make a beneficial bone broth to heal and seal the gut. This is my favorite, and I vary it by changing up vegetables as I receive them from my CSA or what I have on hand. I have made this recipe with chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and pork bones. Can also be made well with fish carcasses. Basically, what makes this recipe taste better than the others I have tried is the roasting of the bones after the blanching.

Almost any butcher, even at grocery stores, can hook you up with marrow bones. The key for gut health is to ask for grass-fed or “pastured only” when buying red meat bones. Grass-fed red meat is naturally leaner than grain-fed beef. Omega 3s in beef that feed on grass is 7% of the total fat content, compared to 1% in grain-only fed beef. Grass-fed beef has the recommended ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats (3:1.) It is loaded with other natural minerals and vitamins, plus it’s a great source of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) a fat that may reduce the risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a number of immune disorders. Sometimes you will see the bones wrapped up and sold as “soup bones,” but I always just ask at the butcher counter first.

Ingredients

• Bones- 2ish lbs (I just grab enough to kind of partially fill up the bottom of my crockpot or Instant Pot™.)
• 2–3 big red, yellow, and/or white onions, quartered. (Great for taste, but you must skip this if you are exploring a low FODMAPS diet!) Also skip this if you intend to give any broth to pets, as onions can be terrible for their bodies.
• 4–8 cloves minced garlic (play around with amounts, can make broth bitter if cooking for a long time or making “infinity broth.” Also do not use if avoiding FODMAPS.)
• 1–2 TBSP olive oil
• Filtered water
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar (This is seriously MOST important as it helps to leach minerals from the bones.)
• Optional- parsnips (can sweeten), a carrot or two, celery, shallot, seasonings like oregano. A sprig or two of rosemary will make the broth smell in your house nicer, and it will add a powerful punch of flavor to the broth as well. (Double-check all ingredients if doing low FODMAPS.)
• Also optional: salt & pepper. I don’t add any while cooking the broth so that I can use it more universally in other recipes. So, if just drinking broth I add salt and pepper to taste. Adding smoked salt is delicious!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Blanching

This vital step is said to remove impurities from the bones, and I have found that it also makes a clearer broth. In a large pot, cover your intended bones with cold, filtered water and heat to a boil. Cook on high for 20 minutes before rinsing and transferring to a roasting pan.

ROASTING

Place bones and veggies on a roasting pan and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast in the preheated oven for 20ish minutes until you see browning of the bones and veggies which will yield some color and flavor.

Simmering

When roasting is finished, place all ingredients from the oven into an electric pressure cooker (like an Instant Pot™,) stockpot, or slow cooker. Pour the apple cider vinegar over the bones, then cover all of it with water. If using a pressure cooker, follow the pressure cooker’s instructions for broth/stock. If otherwise, then bring to a boil before switching it to the lowest/warm/simmer setting. Simmer for a minimum of eight hours and up to forever-ish. (I’ll explain that forever part later.)

Harvesting

I like to use a combination of a large glass measuring cup, metal mesh strainer, and a Pyrex pouring bowl to harvest my broth. I simply scoop out the water with the measuring cup and pour it through the strainer into the bowl. Then, re-straining if needed, I pour the broth from the bowl into freezer-safe mason jars or freezer-safe containers of some kind. A disc of smooth, white fat will rise to the top. This fat is super beneficial, so use it. If you don’t drink it, then cook with it! Also, that fat creates a natural protective barrier/seal to the broth that helps keep it fresher longer. Under that seal of tallow, there should be a nice, thick gelatin broth concentrate that you can heat up and even add water to later. It will keep in the fridge for about a week and for months in the freezer.

Infinity Broth

If you want to either make a marathon batch of broth from the same bones or just keep this around all of the time, you can have a continuous broth going. Those bones and connective tissue you have there have something to offer until they are pretty much falling apart and melting away into powder. Granted, the first and second run stuff is the thickest and best, but the remaining broth is fantastically healthful, and it is great for making other soups and recipes. So, the way I have done this is by harvesting as much as I can from the slow cooker without removing the bones. Then, I add more apple cider vinegar and water. Voila! As you go, you can get a feel for it and play around with replacing the veggies, adding a bone or two, taking one out as you notice it not having any marrow and tissue left, etc. And, be careful with your veggies when doing infinity broth. Some, like garlic and root veggies, will turn the broth bitter somewhere between hour 24 and 36. Also beware the reaction your housemates might experience. My partner was thrilled to get an Instant Pot mostly because he was very, very sick of our house smelling like beef bones. Beef in particular, can be a little too aromatic.

AND, just one more thing- I love to keep a covered ice cube tray filled with broth cubes to cook with and add a little extra flavor to greens.