This bone broth recipe is a delicious way to pack in plenty of cold-fighting nutrients in the winter months. You can make a bone broth recipe from almost any meat you fancy - whether that's pork, beef or lamb bones, but we've chosen chicken here as it's probably the easiest to get hold of. Next time you buy a whole chicken make sure to keep the carcass to boil up into a delicious clear broth. This will freeze well and makes a really rich base for lots of recipes like soups, stews and sauces. Simmering the bones low and slow releases healthy compounds like collagen, glutamine, glycine and proline which are thought to be very healing and potentially reduce internal inflammation. The great thing about this easy bone broth recipe is that it takes hardly any prep at all, it can be left to infuse all day on a low heat and will keep for days in the fridge and months in the freezer, ready to be reheated when you fancy a satisfyingly savoury meal in minutes.
Ingredients
- 2kg chicken carcasses
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 1tbsp black peppercorns
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 bay leaves
Method
- Put the all the ingredients into a deep pan and cover with 3 ½ litres cold water, cover with a lid and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook with the lid on for 5-6 hours, skimming any scum that rises to the top as it cooks.
- Strain the broth and serve, or reheat to piping hot when needed. This will last for up to a week in the fridge.
Top Tip for making Bone broth
Once you've strained the vegetables from the broth you can use them as a base for a soup. They'll be full of flavour and delicious when whizzed up with some hot stock (or your bone broth!). Just remember to remove the peppercorns!