Bone Broth – The Foundation of Nourishment



In our home, broth is a daily essential. I make it out of anything with bones—rabbit, chicken, duck, turkey, venison—whatever we've raised or harvested. Bone broth is one of the simplest and most powerful foods you can make. It’s the base for every soup and stew I cook, and we sip it straight whenever we’re under the weather… which, frankly, is almost never. It must be doing something right.

ðŸĨ„ Why Bone Broth?

It’s full of minerals, collagen, and deeply nourishing goodness pulled from bones, joints, and connective tissue. It's also a beautiful example of nose-to-tail living: nothing wasted, everything honored.

ðŸē How I Make It

After dinner, I gather whatever bones are left and toss them into my Instant Pot using the crockpot setting with the proper slow cook lid. You can use a traditional crockpot too—whatever you’ve got on hand.

The ingredients vary a bit, but the core process stays the same:

ðŸĶī Bone Broth (Base Recipe)

Bones:
Use raw or cooked bones from rabbits, poultry, or game. Amount isn’t strict, but I usually use:

  • Equivalent of 5–6 rabbit hindquarters

  • Or 1 whole chicken, duck, or turkey carcass per 6-quart batch

Essentials:

  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar / lemon juice in a pinch)

  • Enough water to cover the bones

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp black pepper or whole peppercorns

  • 4–8 garlic cloves, smashed

  • 1 onion, quartered

  • 1 small carrot, chopped in thirds

  • 1 celery rib, chopped in thirds

Optional:

  • Herb sprigs (thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage)

  • Bay leaves

  • Ginger slices

  • Onion skins (for a richer color)

🕰 Cooking Instructions

  1. Add everything to a slow cooker or Instant Pot (set to "slow cook" mode).

  2. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.

  3. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer for a clear broth.

  4. Let cool, skim fat if desired.

ðŸŦ™ Storage

I pressure can my broth in pint or quart jars for shelf-stable convenience. You can also refrigerate for up to a week or freeze in silicone trays or jars.

Bone broth is the quiet workhorse of my kitchen—always ready, always nourishing.


This post contains affiliate links, so if you choose to purchase something through one of my links I will make a small commission. I do not link anything I have not purchased and used on my own homestead.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How One Shot Changed My Life: The Start of My Sustainable Homestead Journey

Image
Like so many other things, you have to be passionate about this lifestyle to make it work. For me, raising my own food started as a hobby—something I did in the margins of less fulfilling, better-paying full-time jobs. My first foray into self-sufficiency began with a backyard garden: a few tomatoes, some basil, peppers, and zucchini. Some years went great, and I had a bumper crop of one thing or another to learn how to preserve. I grew up canning with my mom, so we made plenty of salsa and ketchup one year. I had a chest freezer, so another year I froze enough zucchini to keep Starbucks in bread and muffins for a decade. I learned as I went. Growing up in Appalachia, frugality was already ingrained. Waste not, want not. We wasted nothing in those days with so many mouths to feed. My mother could stretch food like nobody’s business. It never really dawned on me that I could harvest my own quality meat until 2014. That year, I was growing peas and carrots in my garden, and I had a per...
Read more

Rabbit Jerky – Teriyaki-Style

Image
Teriyaki-Style Rabbit Jerky Marinade Perfect for lean rabbit belly flaps, this marinade transforms mild meat into tender, flavorful jerky with a sweet, salty, and slightly spicy kick. It's ideal for nose-to-tail processing and makes a protein-packed snack for the trail or pantry. Ingredients (for ~2 lbs of meat): 1 cup soy sauce 4 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar 2 tbsp rice vinegar 2 tbsp sesame oil (optional) 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated (or 1 tsp ground) 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional) Optional Flavor Boosters: 2 tbsp mirin or dry sherry 2 tsp fish sauce 1 tsp smoked paprika Instructions: Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl or jar. Trim rabbit belly flaps into 1-inch wide strips. Place meat in a shallow container or zip-top bag and pour marinade over. Refrigerate 8–24 hours, turning occasionally. Remove meat, pat dry, and arrange on dehydrator trays or a wire rack over a baking sheet. Dry at 145–160°F (63–71°C) for 4–6 hou...
Read more

How We Turned 5 Rabbits Into 9 Meals (and Then Some)

Image
From Cage to Table: How We Make the Most of Every Rabbit This week, we processed rabbits. “Processed” is the polite way of saying we dispatched them, broke them down, and served them nine ways from Sunday. Here’s the thing: if you’re not serving your rabbits nine ways from Sunday, you’re missing the thriving part of sustainable living. You can keep it basic or go full bougie—it’s your homestead. Personally? I’m bougie as heck. One of the unexpected joys of all this back-breaking work and worry is discovering new ways to do old things. I’ve been raising rabbits for over three years now. I’ve put hundreds into our freezer, filled shelves with jars of rabbit stew and broth, and shared plenty with friends and family. Sharing is caring, after all. And while many people today turn up their noses at anything that doesn’t come shrink-wrapped, bleached and parked on a styrofoam tray, I’ve made my share of converts. Nothing compares to knowing where your food came from, how it was raised, ...
Read more