I rarely make homemade broth because I’m so lazy that I’d rather just crack open a can. However, I’ll admit that making beef broth using your slow cooker is really easy and requires almost no hands-on time at all. (Update: I regularly make my own homemade broth these days, but I make it in a pressure cooker. Check out the recipe here.)
You can easily substitute pork or chicken bones in place of beef and the results are all good. If you befriend your local butcher, he may even give you a big bag of bones for pennies.
Time to make Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth!
Makes 4 quarts
Ingredients:
- 2 carrots, chopped medium
- 2 celery stalks, chopped medium
- 1 medium onion, chopped medium
- 7 garlic cloves, smashed
- 3.5 lb of beef bones (from US Wellness Meats or your local farmer)
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (optional)
- water
Equipment:
- All of my recommended kitchen tools are listed here.
Method:
Dump the vegetables in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker…
…drop in the beef bones…
…tuck in the bay leaves, sprinkle on a wee bit of salt, drizzle the vinegar on the bones…
…and add enough water to cover everything.
Program the slow cooker to cook on low for 8-10 hours.
When it’s ready, pour the broth through a strainer, and discard the solids.
You can ladle out some to drink now, or…
…store the liquid in a large CorningWare or glass container for later.
The bones I used were pretty fatty so it made the broth taste unappealingly greasy. I stuck the broth in the fridge overnight and scraped off the top layer of solidified fat.
The broth underneath looks like beef Jell-O…
The broth will keep in the fridge for a few days and in the freezer for several months. (Check out my updated post on how I store bone broth here.)
When you’re ready for a steaming cup of the stuff, just scoop the meaty Jell-O into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. (I won’t tell anyone if you nuke it in a mug in your microwave.)
Voila – perfection!
(Want an even faster way to make bone broth? Check out the recipe for my Quick Pressure Cooker Bone Broth!)
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 2 carrots chopped medium
- 2 celery stalks chopped medium
- 7 garlic cloves smashed
- 3½ pounds beef bones
- 2 bay leaves
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar optional
- water
Instructions
- Prep your veggies and dump them in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Drop in the beef bones on top and tuck in the bay leaves, sprinkle on some salt, and drizzle vinegar.
- Add enough water in the slow cooker to cover everything.
- Program the slow cooker to cook on low for 8-10 hours.
- When the broth is ready, pour it through a strainer and discard the solids.
- You can lade some out to drink or cook with now or you can store the liquid in a large container for later! The broth will keep in the fridge for a few days and in the freezer for several months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you used fish sauce when making the bone broth while using the slow , as you do with the pressure cooker?
You can! I don’t make bone broth in the slow cooker anymore—I just use the faster Instant Pot method.
Can you reuse the bones? I just keep buying new bones because after 12 hours in the crock pot I assume it had no more nutrients. Would hate to be drinking something that actually had no more if the benefits I’m expecting.
I wouldn’t reuse the bones—they’re pretty spent after the first cook.
I reuse the bones 2 more times. Works great!
What temperature corresponds to “low” on your cooker?
I’ve read that one should always (1) blanch and then (2) roast the bones, especially beef, before proceeding to the actual preparing of bone broth. May I ask why you don’t include these steps?