Herbal Bone Broth Recipe

I strongly believe that as a society we are so undernourished.  Making herbal bone broth is a great way to bring some nourishment into you and your family’s bodies.  And it’s easy!  Being undernourished can cause all sorts of struggles, from bad gut health, anxiety, skin issues, weight gain, and even weight loss,  just to name a few.  

Bone broth is known for helping gut health, boosting the immune system, decreasing inflammation, and helping your joints, skin, and nail.  I have been focusing on gut health and immune properties myself.  

Bone broth is packed with all sorts of nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin K, iron, fatty acids, selenium, and zinc.  The fatty acids are great for your brain and nervous system.  

All the ingredients you should be able to get from your local health food store.  Except for maybe plantain.  When I say plantain, I don’t mean banana.  There is a leafy weed called plantain, make sure it says ‘Plantago’ somewhere.  This can be ordered online.

I have a couple of local health food stores that I go to often.  One of them I think charges too much for beef bones, but the other store is more reasonably priced.   Also, one store has seaweed and the other doesn’t. So you might need to shop around a little.  My favorite seaweeds are Kombu or Nori, but Kelp is really good too.  I always buy extra so I don’t have to keep going back.  All the herbs and seaweed you can also buy from Amazon or Mountain Rose Herbs as well.  I brought fresh shiitake mushrooms and then dried them.  Either dried or fresh will work.  

For the bones, any will work, but I prefer to get the round ones that have all the marrow in the middle.  That marrow is so nutritious and is what we are really looking for.  There have been plenty of times when I couldn’t find the round bones, and the broth still turned out amazing!

Ingredients:

• About 6 pieces of beef bones

• 1 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar 

• 3-4 tbsp of Burdock Root

• 3-4 tbsp of Astragalus

• A couple of pieces of Seaweed

• A handful of Shiitake Mushroom (dried or fresh)

• 1 medium Onion

• 1 head of Garlic

• 3 tbsp of Calendula 

• 3 tbsp of Plantain (optional)

• 1 -2 sprig of Rosemary

• 1-2 sprig of Thyme

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place bones on a baking sheet with parchment paper (please don’t use aluminum foil, this can leach into the bones).  Bake the bones for 30 minutes. 

Cut onion in half. Leave the skin on.  There are a lot of nutrients in the skin that we want.  

Cut the garlic in half, and leave the skin on. 

Place the cooked bones, burdock root, astragalus, seaweed, shiitake mushroom, onion, and garlic in a slow cooker. 

I almost never measure my water.  Eyeball the water so it covers everything, with a little extra.  Then add the apple cider vinegar. 

Set the slow cooker on low and let it cook for 7½ hours.

Then add Calendula, Plantain, Rosemary, and Thyme.  Cook for another 30 minutes.  

Turn the slow cooker off and let it cool down some. With tongs remove big items like bones and onion.  Then strain all the liquid into mason jars.  

Enjoy!

Bonus tip:  If you are like me, and you want to freeze some of them, I had to learn the hard way that there is a trick to freezing bone broth (and other liquids).  I thought mason jars were strong enough and you could just add the liquid and freeze.  Nope!  Even if you leave room on the top, it still breaks the glass.  So here is the secret if you want to freeze your broth.  Leave about an inch on top of the mason jar.  When the broth is completely cooled, put the broth in the freezer, and place the lid on top, but don’t tighten.  Make sure a little air can get in.  Then when it's completely frozen, you can tighten the lids.  

Now that you have the broth, now what?  My favorite way of consuming herbal bone broth is reheating it in a pan and drinking it in the morning like coffee or herbal tea.  However you can put it in soups, stews, casseroles, cook your rice in it, or your beans, just to name a few.  I am sure there are a lot of other ways to cook with it.  

I encourage you to play around with this recipe.  Add other ingredients if you want.  Carrots, celery, seasonings, and other herbs.  You do not have to follow this recipe to a T.  I will usually do something a little different each time.