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Beef Bone Broth

Dutch oven with ingredients for beef broth including beef bones onion bay leaf and more.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
  • Active Time

    30 minutes

  • Total Time

    9 to 24 hours

The longer you cook this nourishing broth, the more savory and concentrated it will become. Roasting the bones and vegetables beforehand will add even more flavor and richness. Season with salt and sip this restorative broth on its own, use it as a cooking liquid for grains or legumes, or deploy it as a base for hearty sauces and healthy soups.

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What you’ll need

Ingredients

Makes about 8 cups of broth, depending on cooking time

4 pounds beef bones, preferably a mix of marrow bones and bones with a little meat on them, such as oxtail, short ribs, or knuckle bones (cut in half by a butcher)
2 medium unpeeled carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium leek, end trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, quartered
1 garlic head, halved crosswise
2 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Special equipment:

6-quart (or larger) stockpot or a large slow cooker

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 450°F. Place beef bones, carrots, leek, onion, and garlic on a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Toss the contents of the pan and continue to roast until deeply browned, about 20 minutes more.

    Step 2

    Fill a large (at least 6-quart) stockpot with 12 cups of water (preferably filtered) . Add celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and vinegar. Scrape the roasted bones and vegetables into the pot along with any juices. Add more water if necessary to cover bones and vegetables.

    Step 3

    Cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook with lid slightly ajar, skimming foam and excess fat occasionally, for at least 8 but up to 24 hours on the stovetop. (Do not leave on stovetop unattended, simply cool and continue simmering the next day.) The longer you simmer it, the better your broth will be. Add more water if necessary to ensure bones and vegetables are fully submerged. Alternately, you can cook the broth in a slow cooker on low for the same amount of time.

    Step 4

    Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly. Strain broth using a fine-mesh sieve and discard bones and vegetables. Let continue to cool until barely warm, then refrigerate in smaller containers overnight. Remove solidified fat from the top of the chilled broth.

Do Ahead:

Broth can be stored for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

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Reviews (113)

Back to TopTriangle
  • For us, this is perfect as is. I've been making it since it was published, I think! It is our go-to Christmas eve meal. Every year I send the kids a photo of the bones going into the oven to let them know the season has begun!

    • Amy from Boston

    • Boston, MA

    • 12/18/2023

  • Ive been making bone broth for 9 years now, and I keep fine tuning. So Im going to make some adjustments to this recipe. First, the doctor that got me into bone broth told me you need to cook for 36 hours to bring out the collagen. I have lung issues, collagen is great for internal organs, skin etc.... I do not put the vegetables in until after 12 hours or so because when you begin the simmer a crud rises to the top that needs to be skimmed off. Much easier to do without al bunch of things floating about. Because I am cooking so long there is no need to cut the vegetables, except to fit better in the pot. I use an 8 quart pot- w lid cracked. I put in a whole bunch of parsley the final 15 minutes. Don't chop it, just stick it in. When done let cool on the counter, and strain when cool enough to ( I use a steam cage to strain- much easier) , refrigerate, skim the fat and ladle into large size silicone ice cube trays. Voila.

    • HilaryM

    • Novato CA

    • 5/14/2023

  • By removing the fat am i removing beneficial nutrients?

    • Anonymous

    • 33027

    • 2/2/2023

  • I loved it

    • Anonymous

    • Georgia

    • 5/28/2022

  • OMG. Fantastic. I never post. But, I needed to make a bone broth for French Onion Soup and for Pho. I bought very expensive beef marrow bones and organic chicken bones. I roasted, organic onion, organic garlic, and organic celery, and organic carrot. It was simmering. I needed broth for the French Onion Soup and then, sieved and chilled for the PHO. It took 24 hours. But, the results were fantastic. I did use whole peppercorns. TWO tablespoons. There was not any issue with the spice. It is a fantastic base. Thank you.

    • Swimmer's Mom

    • San Francisco Bay Area

    • 1/23/2022

  • no matter how low I have the burner, the broth cooks away and many pounds of meat and bones, and I end up with only a few cups.

    • Anonymous

    • ny

    • 1/7/2022

  • Enjoyable would say playing with your own taste is always. Expected

    • Anonymous

    • Utica NY

    • 9/29/2021

  • I always make this in a slow cooker and cook for 24 hours or so. It is delish and you can feel how healthy it is when you drink or eat it. I use this as a base for pho and onion soup. Incorporate marrow bones with bones with some meat for the best result.

    • Anonymous

    • Raleigh NC

    • 9/21/2021

  • any reason not to use a crock pot for this?

    • kemga65

    • GA

    • 6/13/2021

  • To weigh in on the great pepperCORN debate... I made this over the course of the last 2 days for use in a beef stew. If I were making this bone broth to eat as a stand-alone, I would likely reduce the peppercorns to 1 T. But, once I browned my stew meat, deglazed my pan with red wine, & added the tomato paste, veggies, and salt, I found the pepper to be well-balanced. And, the house smells amazing!

    • Ali_Cooks

    • Middletown, DE

    • 1/16/2021

  • This is method works perfectly for any kind of bone broth. I use basically the same thing for chicken and beef, I'm sure it would work with ham. Timeless! If you can wait the full 24 hours, it's worth it to do so. And as to the pepper.. 2T of peppercorns is perfectly fine and not at all peppery. I'm afraid reviewers suggesting otherwise used ground pepper or something. Usually I just eyeball it and if I had to guess, I wind up with somewhere between 1 and 2T, you can't even tell there was pepper added in the final product. It just adds a little vitality to the broth.

    • the real Shane

    • 1/12/2021

  • I find it peculiar Rhoda suggests discarding everything, including the bones. The marrow is the best part of it. Also, why cut up the vegetables? Do you think they will contribute more if cut up after all that cooking? Over all, not a bad simple recipe. Bake the bones and then slowly boil with vegies.

    • kalinaon

    • Canada

    • 12/6/2020

  • I have made this recipe a couple times now and it always turns out well. It seems some reviewers here (obviously novice cooks) They are all stirred up about the quantity of peppercorns the recipe calls for. If you use the quantity of water to result in 8 cups of broth as the recipe states, this amount is perfectly fine. You need to use whole peppercorns obviously not ground pepper. Some people have either too much time on their hands, or not enough stress in their lives if this is a major issue for them. This broth is excellent alone but my favorite thing to do with it is make minestrone soup.

    • rakurtz4438

    • Kensington, MD

    • 11/30/2020

  • I had no issues with this recipe whatsoever and used the two tablespoons of peppercorns. I simmered for about 9.5 hours. The final result was a rich, thick and flavourful broth that I provided a wonderful base for French Onion Soup. Will definitely use this as my 'go to' recipe in the future.

    • Jeanette Jones

    • Toronto, ON

    • 11/30/2020

  • I really wish I had read the reviews! Too much peppercorn!! I knew better but followed the recipie anyway. 2 tablespoons ruins it completely. So disappointed!

    • Canadian54

    • Ontario Canada

    • 11/29/2020

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