Homemade Beef Broth

This Homemade Beef Broth recipe is made in the slow cooker and is perfect in countless soups, stews, and other savory dishes! Even better? You can make multiple batches using the same soup bones! {Paleo}

There is something so tantalizing about brewing a batch of deliciousness in a slow cooker. Inevitably, the house smells amazing, you know you’re going to end up with a scrumptious something in due time, and the slow cooker’s doing all the work. Meanwhile, you’re just doing your part in society by catching up on Midsomer Murders, Murder, She Wrote, Murdoch Mysteries, and Father Brown.

I’m noticing a theme here.

But never mind that. If you fancy yourself a sleuth, far be it from me to judge. I’m still convinced I could be a fourth wheel to Perry Mason, Della Street, and Paul Drake. I’d help them solve cases just under the wire. Morgan, that show has been off the air for decades. Also, it was a show. Duly noted.

So instead I’ll stick with watching the classics while slow cooking mouthwatering recipes. And today’s Homemade Beef Broth fits the bill. The cooking process is straightforward, your house will smell incredible (I seriously wish it were possible to photograph how a recipe smells), and the final product is match-made for dinnertime come fall and winter. You can’t go wrong. 

The key to making Homemade Beef Broth work for you is determining what bones to use. And there are a lot of options, but I have narrowed it down to two.

• Option one: Select a beef product with the bone still in it. Cook as you normally would for a delicious family meal. Save the bones and use them in your Homemade Beef Broth recipe.
• Option two: Purchase beef marrow or soup bones at a grocery store. Use them in this recipe and call it good!

NOTE: Option one will likely result in a richer flavor. However, working strictly with marrow bones, as in option two, will also work. I used option two and still ended up with a hearty, richly-flavored result.

So making your own Homemade Beef Broth isn’t difficult, but you might need to do a little sleuthing (#seewhatididthere?) to find the right base ingredients to suit your needs. It’s also important to note that the recipe below is for a base beef broth. It is intended for use in other recipes and, therefore, has a very basic flavor. I have included suggestions for how to spice it up in case you want to enjoy it by itself or you simply like super-flavored broths.

Let’s get started so your house will smell wonderful!

Homemade Beef Broth ingredients

• Soup bones from a beef product. I use four to six marrow bone. If using bones from a beef recipe you already made, leave any meat that is still on the bones and include it in this broth. Doing so will enhance the flavor.
• Mixed vegetables. I did a handful each of carrots, celery, onions, and fresh garlic.
• Fresh herbs. You can never go wrong with thyme sprigs, sage leaves, and bay leaves.
• Red wine vinegar. Adding an acidic ingredient like red wine vinegar, red wine, lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar is supposed to help break down the bones and extract the nutrients, creating a flavorful, nutrient-dense broth. The key is to pick one with a taste you like as it will influence the flavor of the broth. Red wine and red wine vinegar both go very well with beef products, however the others will also work.
• Sea salt. I don’t add a lot in this recipe because I intend to use it in other recipes where more spices and seasonings will be added. You are free to add more, especially if you plan to enjoy it as a stand-alone recipe.
• Water. I aim for 10 cups to start. Depending on the size of your slow cooker, you can add more or fewer cups. Whichever way you go, add enough water to cover the ingredients.

NOTE: If you want a more flavorful beef broth recipe or you intend to enjoy it by itself, I found that adding onion salt/powder, garlic salt/powder, or more sea salt did the trick.

How to make Homemade Beef Broth

Below are instructions to make Homemade Beef Broth. Note that when frozen the broth will expand, so make sure to leave extra room in the freezer jars so they don’t crack when stored long-term.

1. Set the oven to 375 degrees. If using marrow bones or soup bones, place them in an oven-safe pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt. Add a little more olive oil to the pan to prevent burning and roast for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan once during cooking. Transfer bones and any drippings to a slow cooker when baking is complete. NOTE: If you are using the leftover bones from a recipe you already cooked, then skip this step and transfer the cooked bones from your recipe to the slow cooker.
2. Add the mixed vegetables, garlic, herbs, bay leaves, red wine vinegar, and sea salt with 10 cups of water to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on a LOW setting for about 20-24 hours (on my slow cooker, I set it for 10 hours twice and let it sit on the warming function for several hours afterward). Stir periodically so all the ingredients cook as evenly as possible without burning. 
3. Let the broth cool in the slow cooker until safe to handle. Scoop out the bones and mixed vegetables. Using a ladle or measuring cup with a spout, pour the broth through a mesh strainer into a large bowl. Continue to let cool, if necessary, and then store in ice cube trays or freezer-safe containers. 

NOTE: Broth will store for about a week in the refrigerator or several months in the freezer. It’s important when filling the freezer jars to leave room at the top for the broth to expand. Do not overfill the jars. You may notice a layer of fat rises to the top in your broth, especially one the broth is refrigerated. This is normal. You can skim it off or leave it for extra flavor. When reheated and stirred, it will blend into the broth again for a scrumptious savory flavor.

How to make multiple batches

It is super-easy to make several batches of Homemade Beef Broth, reusing the same soup or marrow bones. Subsequent batches may turn out lighter in color. But they are still delicious and easy to use in recipes. Read on to see how we do it in the Spirited kitchen.

• A rule of thumb is you can reuse the soup or marrow bones until they have fallen apart. I found the marrow bones held up exceedingly well in subsequent batches.
• Each time I prep a subsequent batch of broth, I remove the broth from the previous batch. Then I leave the soup bones in the slow cooker, replace the mushy mixed vegetables with fresh vegetables, add more red wine vinegar and sea salt, cover with fresh water, and cook on a low setting for up to 24 hours. 

Do you like the idea of making your own broths at home? If YES, then check out these recipes for Homemade Bone Broth and Homemade Vegetable Broth.  

And if you’re curious to learn more about making your own beef broth, you can check out The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for How to Make Beef Broth. Her article helped me get started!

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