Easy Crockpot Bone Broth Recipe – Slow Cooker How To

Bone broth is nutrient-packed and super simple to make. Learn why bone broth heals and how to make a delicious simple homemade crockpot bone broth! There are so many uses for bone broth and I’m sharing my favorite ways and recipes that use it!

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Easy Crockpot Bone Broth Recipe – Slow Cooker How To

Homemade crockpot bone broth is incredibly easy to make!

All it takes is patience since it needs to simmer for close to 24 hours. Yes, that’s a long time, but there is no active work once you get your broth simmering away in the slow cooker!

You can make it on the stovetop, however, I love the ease of using a crockpot to make bone broth because I don’t have to watch it.

Set it and forget it! That’s the beauty of allowing your crockpot to do the work for you. Start it in the morning, and it’s ready the next morning.

When I make a batch of bone broth, I try and freeze half of it in 2 or 4-cup freezer bags so that I have nourishing homemade broth on hand anytime I need it

For our family of 6, I make broth about twice a month to keep a good supply on hand.

You’ll see how easy and affordable it is with this tutorial, and why you should start adding homemade bone broth into your life!

Why you’ll love this slow cooker chicken bone broth recipe

Super affordable – Store-bought broth can get really expensive, but making it at home can be almost free! If you use my tip to save leftover bones and veggie ends, all you’ll need to add is a little salt, apple cider vinegar, and garlic. None of those additions cost very much making this the most affordable and best bone broth around!

Nourishing – Chicken soup is often touted as the best food to eat when you are sick. It’s super comforting, and really delicious too. But in my opinion that chicken soup needs bone broth in it! Bone broth is naturally loaded with amino acids, protein, and gelatin, which is nourishing to the gut. It’s easy to sip on when you’re having a hard time eating lots of food, and is cozy, like a warm hug.

Makes a big batch – I love using my slow cooker to make really good bone broth. I make a big batch and it allows me to freeze a good amount to defrost and use whenever I need some! It defrosts easily overnight in the fridge, or if I need it to defrost quicker I’ll place the frozen bag of broth in a bowl with warm water.

What is bone broth?

If you aren’t familiar with bone broth, I’m sure I can guess your first question.  What the heck is bone broth? Is it the same stuff I buy on the shelves at the store?

The short answer: nope.

The longer answer: Bone broth is basically stock. It differs from broth you buy in the store because of the longer traditional cooking method that draws out the minerals and amino acids (building blocks of protein).

Bone broth will typically be thicker and more gelatinous than, for example, store-bought shelf-stable broth.

In fact, I find the flavor so much more appealing because it’s not just lots of salty sodium, but adds real flavor from the ingredients.

Bone broth is also way lower in sodium, but doesn’t skimp on flavor – this is great if you’re looking for an actual lower sodium broth option since it has a way less sodium content than your typical low-sodium regular broth.

You get the benefits of chicken bone broth and the flavor, but without the excess sodium and added preservatives.

Can you buy it?

Of course, you can also find quality bone broth in the store as well now! I typically find it in the frozen section and now also shelf stable options (like Kettle and Fire).

It’s quite a bit more expensive than making it at home, but worth it if you don’t have the time or desire to make your own bone broth at home.

Which bones should you use in bone broth?

To get a super gelatinous bone broth, chicken feet work really well! However, they can be hard to find.

The most affordable way to get bones is to save the bones from the meat that you cook. I keep a bag in the freezer (as you can see in the picture above), and I simply add bones from meals into it when we have them.

This is a super affordable way to make bone broth basically for free. Anytime you cook a whole chicken you’ll have lots of leftover chicken bones to use. Or if you love making my Italian chicken drumsticks, there is another great recipe that leaves you with chicken bones.

If you’re more of a beef broth fan, save any beef bones you have from steaks or roasts. You can also ask a butcher if they’ll sell you bone broth bones for homemade beef bone broth.

No need to stick with one kind of bone too – using a mix of turkey bones, lamb bones, or pork bones mixed in gives your rich bone broth a lot of flavor!

When it’s time to make bone broth, I grab the bones I need. It’s a simple trick!

You can also save vegetable ends and such like this to use with your homemade broth.

Apple cider vinegar in bone broth

Adding apple cider vinegar (ACV) to your slow cooker bone broth is really important. The ACV acid helps draw out the minerals and proteins in the bones.

While apple cider vinegar is my go-to, you can actually use any refined or unrefined vinegar in this recipe!

White vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar are all good choices.

Another alternative is to use lemon juice as an alternative to vinegar. The acid is the important part.

Ingredients needed to make your own broth

Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutritional information, and step-by-step instructions.

• animal bones (beef bones, a whole chicken, lamb bones, pork bones, etc)
• celery stalks
• carrots
• onion 
• garlic cloves
• apple cider vinegar
• sea salt

How to make a flavorful broth

Making crockpot bone broth is more of a method – the recipe is very forgiving and can be customized to use what you have on hand!

1. In a 6-quart crockpot add the leftover bones (with any leftover meat removed) and veggie scraps.
2. Add the apple cider vinegar.
3. Add the sea salt.
4. Cover with enough water to the top and place the lid on.
5. Simmer on low for 12-24 hours (the longer the better!).
6. After 12-24 hours, remove the lid and allow the cooling process to start. Strain the liquid out using a fine mesh strainer, discard the bones/vegetables, and finish cooling the broth in the fridge uncovered. When the broth has cooled, remove the layer of fat that hardens at the top (there may be fat depending on the bones used).
7. Store in an airtight container or mason jar in the fridge for use within 1 week, or freezer until you need it!

NOTE: You can also make bone broth on the stovetop in a large stock pot or an instant pot pressure cooker. Use a low simmer on the stovetop for a long cooking time or cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in the instant pot. If you don’t have a crock pot, those methods will work as well!

10+ reasons bone broth heals

Bone broth is filled with tons of amazing minerals and amino acids and is great for the immune system.

As the bones simmer for 24 hours, good for you nutrients like collagen, gelatin, glycosaminoglycans, glycine, proline, glutamine, bone marrow, and minerals, including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc are drawn out.

Bone broth helps with skin health because of its collagen content. Collagen helps with skin elasticity, and connective tissues, and improves skin moisture content.

Bone broth has other health benefits and helps with cardiovascular health, muscular health and performance, bones and joints, digestion, eye health, detoxification, brain health, mood and sleep, immune function, and my favorite, gut health.

Gut health is so critical.

Bone broth can help the body maintain good gut health by way of the gelatin that absorbs water, which then gives the gut a layer of mucus to keep gut microbes away from the intestinal barrier.

The benefits of homemade bone broth are great, and the flavor of delicious chicken bone broth makes it easy to enjoy!

Uses of bone broth

You may only think of using a batch of bone broth in homemade soups that would typically call for broth or homemade chicken stock – which is a great way to start!

Here are other ways to include bone broth into your diet, to get the nutrients from it daily.

• Drink a warm mug of it with a touch of sea salt (my favorite way!)
• Bone broth hot chocolate (you can’t taste the broth at all!)
• Use bone broth instead of water when cooking grains
• Braise meats and vegetables with it
• Blend bone broth with steamed vegetables for a quick and easy soup (and of course use in soup recipes that call for broth)
• A base for gravy and sauces
• Add it to smoothies as the liquid
• Blend it in with pancakes and waffles

Recipes that use bone broth

• Healing chicken turmeric soup
• Dairy free Zuppa toscana soup
• Crockpot chicken noodle and kale soup
• Easy beef chili recipe
• Paleo turkey chili recipe

Print Recipe

4.80 from 5 votes

Easy Crockpot Recipe for Bone Broth

Bone broth is nutrient-packed and super simple to make. Learn why bone broth heals and how to make a delicious simple homemade crockpot bone broth! There are so many uses for bone broth and I’m sharing my favorite ways and recipes that use it!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time1 day d

Total Time1 day d 5 minutes mins

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bone broth

Servings: 12

Author: Heather

Ingredients

• 2 lb bones (beef, chicken, lamb, pork, etc)
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 onion
• 1-2 garlic cloves  (smash with your hand to open the smell)
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

• In a 6-quart crockpot add the leftover bones (with any leftover meat removed) and veggie scraps.
  
• Add the apple cider vinegar.
  
• Add the sea salt.
  
• Cover with enough water to the top and place the lid on.
  
• Simmer on low for 12-24 hours (the longer the better!).
  
• After 12-24 hours, remove the lid and allow the cooling process to start. Strain the liquid out using a fine mesh strainer, discard the bones/vegetables, and finish cooling the broth in the fridge uncovered. When the broth has cooled, remove the layer of fat that hardens at the top (there may be fat depending on the bones used).
  
• Store in an airtight container or mason jar in the fridge for use within 1 week, or freezer until you need it!
  

Notes

You can also make bone broth on the stovetop in a large stock pot or in an instant pot pressure cooker. Use a low simmer on the stovetop for a long cooking time or cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in the instant pot. If you don’t have a crock pot, those methods will work as well!

Did you make this recipe?Be sure to tag me @fitmamarealfood or tag #fitmamarealfood!

If you try this slow cooker chicken bone broth recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!

Heather

Originally published in January 2018. Updated February 2024.