Homemade Bone Broth Recipe

My favorite bone broth recipe is easy to make and guarantees an intensely flavorful, velvety broth perfect for using in recipes or sipping by itself.

This bone broth tastes just way better than store-bought, and it is much less expensive!

You can use a pressure cooker (Instant Pot) or a slow cooker, so I’ve shared both methods below. The one you choose depends on what works best for your schedule. For more broth recipes you’ll love, see our easy chicken broth, vegetable broth, classic chicken stock, or beef stock.

Key Ingredients

• Bones: I usually use chicken bones and make chicken bone broth, but you can use our recipe below for beef, pork, or a mix of bones. I often use leftover bones from roasting a chicken. Still, the best bones for this recipe have a high collagen and marrow content, providing rich flavor, gelatinous texture, and more nutritional benefits. For poultry, I like chicken wings, backs and necks, and chicken feet (don’t be put off, they have lots of collagen). For beef, use knuckles, marrow bones, and neck bones. And for pork, use neck bones and feet.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: I always add a bit of vinegar to my broth, but it is optional. Some say it helps to break down the bones and connective tissue, which sounds great, but honestly, I cannot confirm. What I do know is that acid almost always makes dishes taste better, and I always have a bottle of ACV in the pantry, so I use it for my bone broth. Other vinegars, like white or red wine vinegar, work well, too.
• Aromatics: Onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt help to make this really tasty. For a cleaner, more chicken-forward broth, remove the carrot. For a gingery broth, add a few coins of fresh ginger. For a herby broth, add parsley, dill, or thyme.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

Tips for How to Make the Best Bone Broth

Tip 1: Use a pressure cooker. I prefer using a pressure cooker (like an Instant Pot) or a slow cooker when making bone broth. While you can make it on the stove, the extended cooking time (24+ hours) makes me uneasy about leaving a pot on an open flame for that long.

Tip 2: Roast your bones. Roasting your bones intensifies the flavor of the broth. I spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast them in a hot oven until they turn brown, usually about 30 minutes.

Tip 3: Building your flavors. Once roasted, transfer the bones to your pressure cooker or slow cooker. Add your desired vinegar and aromatics, then cover everything with cold water. Ensure the water level covers all the ingredients but doesn’t exceed the maximum fill line of your cooker.

Tip 4: Cooking times. Once you have everything in your cooker secure the lid and cook according to your appliance:

• Pressure cooker (Instant Pot): Cook on high pressure for 3 to 4 hours.
• Slow cooker: Cook on LOW for 24 to 48 hours.

Ways to Enjoy Bone Broth

Serve on its own. My favorite way to serve this is to sip it like tea. Heat a cup of broth and season with salt, pepper, or other spices you love. I love grating fresh ginger into my cup for a gingery kick. Then, I sip it as a comforting drink.

Add to recipes. You can also use this broth as your base for soups, stews, gravies, risotto, and rice. Some of my favorite recipes that make the rich, satisfying flavor of bone broth sing are: