This Easy Crockpot Bone Broth recipe is made from the scraps of a whole chicken, some veggies & spices in the slow cooker! Paleo, whole30 & budget friendly!
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Once you give this Easy Crockpot Bone Broth a try, you’re going to fall in love!
It’s no secret that bone both has become increasingly popular over the past few years. You can now find bone broth at basically any grocery store, online, or even in some cafes/restaurants! But.. you might be wondering.. what IS bone broth?
What is bone broth?
Bone broth is the SAME thing as chicken stock or broth.
At it’s core, bone broth is really just soup made probably the same way your grandma used to make it… with bones that were either leftover from a meal, or that she got from a butcher (our gram’s still make it like this!).
The bone and vegetables cook low and slow, creating an extremely nutrient dense, delicious broth.
(P.S. If you LOVE paleo slow cooker recipes you should click here to get my paleo crockpot cookbook!)
You might be thinking.. if it’s broth.. what is so great about it? I wrote this entire post about Bone Broth Benefits, but I’ll outline them here.
Many people drink bone broth because it’s so nutrient packed. When the bones are cooked low and slow they release their naturally occurring collagen + gelatin which is thought to be great for your gut health, skin + nails!
P.S. – If you love crockpot recipes, check out these 45 Healthy Crockpot Recipes!
Bone Broth Benefits:
‘Gut’ health– If you look online you’ll find many people claiming they have a ‘leaky’ gut. While this isn’t a medical term, it is a real thing. Many people have chronic stomach pain, issues, or intolerances, coming from an unknown cause. Some holistic health coaches believe that these issues stem from small holes in the intestines. Bone broth is filled with gelatin and collagen, which many health coaches claim can help repair these holes, and alleviate stomach issues. (Source)
Fuller skin, lips, and healthier hair– When made with specific types of bones, broth can be loaded with collagen. Collagen allegedly helps to fill out the cells, and can give your skin a fuller, brighter appearance.
Strong joints– You may not be worried about your joints just yet, but if you’re older, or experience joint pain due to an injury or exercise – you’ve probably heard of or taken glucosamine. Most drug stores sell glucosamine in a liquid form or pill, and it can help protect your joints from pain and keep them healthy.
Amino Acids-Amino acids are great for helping recover from your workout, but they can also help in a number of other areas including digestion and organ function. Most bone broths have a high level of Glutamine, Arginine, Proline and Glycine.
Yes, bone broth certainly requires a little bit of time and patience to make, but it really requires no labor and is incredibly easy to do! If you have a crockpot.. and leftover chicken (or chicken bones!) you’ll be good to go!
If you’re looking for other slow cooker recipes – check out these 28 Delicious Paleo Crockpot Recipes.
How to make slow cooker bone broth:
Basically, all you have to do, is pile allll your chicken bones + scraps in the crockpot. I use the scraps and bones from my One Hour Whole Roasted Chicken or my Whole 30 Crockpot Lemon Rosemary Whole Chicken.
Anything that we don’t eat, goes right into the crockpot. I load it up with spices + veggies, fill it up with water, and let it cook away!
There really is no ‘wrong’ way to do it, and you can customize what you put in the crockpot for spices according to your taste.
Click here to pin this recipe for later
I make my Easy Crockpot Bone Broth a little different from other people. Most people just strain the broth after it cooks + use/drink that. I take the veggies that cooked with the bones + puree them up to make the broth extra nutrient dense!
I find it adds even more flavor, and who doesn’t want to sneak in extra veggies?! You have to give it a try!
Things we used in this recipe: crockpot, apple cider vinegar, blender, strainer, nut milk bag, mason jars (for storing)
Can you make this bone broth in the instant pot?
Yes, you can! I prefer to cook my bone broth in the slow cooker, but you can cook this in your instant pot for 120 minutes on high pressure, and let it naturally release.
Depending on the size of your instant pot, you may need more or less water. Make sure you DO NOT fill above the max fill line! Leave about an inch and half before the max fill line.
Ways to use Crockpot Bone Broth
You can use bone broth in so many different ways. Here are some of my favorites:
- As the base of a delicious soup
- Pour it in a mug and drink it up! It’s packed with protein + veggies and so cozy.
- Add to sauces or stir fry’s for flavor
- Use in place of water or regular cooking stock
- Freeze it to have for a quick dinner or meal (or for when a cold comes on!)
We hope you love this as much as we do! We make this year round (basically anytime I cook a whole chicken!) and it’s a staple in our kitchen/freezer. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how easy + delicious it is!
Recipes that use this Easy Crockpot Bone Broth
- Paleo Butternut Squash Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Quinoa Taco Soup
- Healthy Lemon Chicken Soup
- Whole30 Italian Wedding Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
Easy Crockpot Bone Broth
Ingredients
- Bones from a whole chicken (You can use the scraps from a whole roasted chicken or rotisserie chicken)
- 2 cups celery stalks halved
- 2 cups carrots halved
- 1 cup onion quartered
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 lemon halved
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- salt/pepper to taste
- 8 cups water (approximately, fill to the top of your crockpot)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a crockpot*, cover with filtered water and cook on low for 12 hours. You may need to adjust the amount of water depending on the size of your crockpot
- Allow broth to cool slightly, and run through a strainer into a large pot or container. (This will just be easier to do if it is not scalding hot).
- I often strain mine through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth to catch any miscellaneous herbs. At this step, the broth is ready to use, but I like to use up the veggies.
- Optional, but recommended: Carefully remove carrots, onions + celery from the strainer and place into blender. Puree in blender until smooth (You may need to add a little broth to the blender depending on it’s power)
- Stir veggie puree into strained broth and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
- *Note: If using leftovers from our One Hour Roasted Chicken Recipe, just place all scraps in a the crockpot. You can add additional veggies if you’d like, but not required.
- Storage: Store in airtight containers for up to 4 days, or put in the freezer until ready to use!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
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Bone broth is awesome! Thanks for sharing. Pinned.. ?
The Clean Eating Couple
Thanks, Baxter! I totally agree 🙂
Linda
If sharing the broth with your dog, leave out the garlic and onions: toxic to dogs.
The Clean Eating Couple
Hi Linda – Yes definitely shouldn’t give garlic and onions to dogs.. although I probably wouldn’t recommend giving this to them even without. It is very rich and might hurt their stomachs if they’re not used to it!
Paula
First, I don’t put garlic or onions in your bone broth recipe because I like to share with my dogs. Dogs love bone marrow which is quite healthy. And keeps arthritis at bay. Please don’t deprive your dogs or cats from enjoying this healthy gelatin., I spoon some over their food and I also give them a tsp of unrefined virgin coconut
Oil every day. They eat it from the spoon.
The Clean Eating Couple
Our dogs get plenty of treats, so this bone broth is just for us- but if you wanted to share it with your animals you can easily just omit onions/garlic!
Yvonne
I read your bone broth recipe
You mentioned only using chicken bones
What other bones can be cooked with the chicken bones?
Plus
You mentioned to purée the vegetables after soup is cooked – is it absolutely necessary to purée the vegetables or can they be eaten NOT puréed?
Many thanks
Yvonne
The Clean Eating Couple
Hi Yvonne – You could use any bones you like in this. Beef bones would also work. Per the recipe instructions, it’s optional to puree the vegetables. You could eat them not pureed, but they pretty much fall apart after being cooked for so long. Hope that helps!
Abby
My first time making bone broth and it couldn’t have been easier. So delicious too!
The Clean Eating Couple
So glad you liked it, Abby!
Kimberly Mowdy
Love that you blend the veggies into the bone broth…so simple but I never would’ve thought of it! I made this after making your whole chicken slow cooker recipe…delish!!
The Clean Eating Couple
That makes me so happy to hear!! The veggies would otherwise go to waste, so I like to use them up. They add so much flavor!