It seems like we should’ve known this all along, but over the last year or two, interest in bone broth has boiled over as a superfood that does a body good. Whether it's chicken, beef, lamb or pork, bone broth is good for gut health, joint pain and inflammation, and even healthier, wrinkle-free skin. It can provide collagen and lots of nutrients, which is why you shouldn't just throw away that rotisserie chicken carcass or the bones from your latest short-rib barbecue.
In fact, some chefs and nutrition experts say, while bone broths are becoming increasingly popular at soup shops and in supermarket aisles (and on TikTok), your best bet if you want to maximize health benefits and save a lot of money is to make it yourself.
As CNN suggests in its food section, it's really not hard. If you have an Instant Pot or similar appliance, you can simmer bones up in water or stock with added seasonings and vegetables all the time, whether it's with a 24-hour slow cook, or a much faster pressure cook. You can store what you make in the fridge or freezer once it's room temperature to heat up again later. (Warning: It will congeal like jelly. Don't be grossed out.)
You might be surprised by the results. As the writer of the CNN piece, Susan Puckett, says, it can be life-changing, like when she used Thanksgiving leftovers for her first batch: "The first taste of the finished broth blew me away—richer and more complex than any packaged product or broth I’d made from scratch on top of my stove in a fraction of the time. I could practically feel the nourishment coursing through my bones."
If you're on the Paleo diet, you might already have dabbled in some bone-broth fasting. Don't know where to start? CNN offers a very basic recipe from Puckett that'll work for pretty much any bones you've got, with suggestions on what you can add to make it more flavorful. So get to brothin', bros.
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