Slow Cooker Bone Broth is a rich, flavorful broth made by simmering bones, vegetables, and herbs for an extended period of time to extract deep flavor. Cooking it in the crockpot allows the ingredients to gently simmer for hours, creating a nourishing broth with minimal effort.
Often used as a base for soups, stews, and sauces, Bone broth has become a popular kitchen staple thanks to its versatility and rich taste. Making it at home in the slow cooker is an easy way to create a deeply flavorful broth using simple ingredients you may already have on hand. 🍲
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I have a secret to share with you… I have a mysterious bag living in my freezer – my private stash. Every day I add a little something to it and hide it back away.
It’s not what you think. It’s bones. Chicken bones, beef bones, onion peels, carrot peelings, parsley bits, and celery ends. What normally would be tossed into the garbage is everything you need for a great bone broth in your slow cooker.
I also use this technique for my homemade seafood stock recipe, parmesan broth, and my instant pot bone broth.
Why make crockpot bone broth?
Bone broth is currently uber-popular and taking the nation by storm. It’s being touted as being better than botox, a cellulite reducer, great for arthritis and healing for the digestive tract.
When roasting a chicken, braising short ribs, chopping vegetables, and scrambling eggs throughout the week, add those bones, scraps and (rinsed) eggshells to a large ziploc bag in your freezer. When your baggie is full, empty it into your slow cooker, add water to cover and add a good glug of apple cider vinegar.
The vinegar helps pull the nutrients out of the bones, but don’t worry, you won’t taste it.
Ingredient notes
- Assorted Meat Bones – Read more below on the best bones to use for bone broth.
- Celery & Carrots
- Onion & Garlic
- Fresh Herbs – I like to use whatever I have on hand. Parsley and thyme are some great options.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – The acidity of ACV is believed to help breakdown collagen and other connective tissues in the bones, making it easier to extract nutrients like gelatin, glucosamine, and chondroitin sulfate. This can result in a broth richer in these beneficial compounds.
- Salt & Black Peppercorns
- Water
How to make slow cooker bone broth
- Add Ingredients: Place the bones your slow cooker. The bones should fill up about 3/4 of the slow-cooker. Add in the vegetables, herbs, apple cider vinegar, peppercorns and salt.
- Add Water: Fill the slow-cooker with water.
- Cook: Cook on LOW for 18-72 hours. The longer the better.
- Strain: Strain the broth through cheesecloth or a strainer and cool. A good broth will usually have a layer of fat on the top, and will gelatinize when thoroughly cool. Remove the fat with a spoon and discard.
Best bones for bone broth
Beef
- Marrow bones: Knuckles, knee joints, and shin bones with plenty of marrow add richness and flavor.
- Short ribs and oxtail: Meaty and collagen-rich, adding body and depth to the broth.
- Soup bones: Affordable and readily available, good for a basic broth.
Chicken
- Carcasses: Offer a well-rounded flavor and plenty of collagen from bones and connective tissues.
- Backs and necks: More collagen-rich than breasts, contributing to a richer broth.
- Feet: High in gelatin and add a deeper flavor, though some find the taste too strong.
Pork
- Neck bones and knuckles: Similar to beef bones, with good collagen content and flavor.
- Riblets and trotters: Meaty and flavorful, adding body and richness to the broth.
Other Factors
- Organic or grass-fed: Prefer bones from animals raised without antibiotics or hormones for potential health benefits and better flavor.
- Freshness: Ideally, use fresh bones, but frozen work too. Roast them before simmering for deeper flavor.
- Combination: Use a mix of bones from different sources for a nuanced and well-rounded broth.
How is bone broth different from regular broth or stock?
- Bone broth: Bone broth typically cooks for longer and puts a focus on bones rich in collagen. It has a thicker and richer consistency, potentially higher in nutrients and is often enjoyed on its own.
- Regular broth: Shorter cook time, includes bones and meat, lighter and thinner consistency, lower in nutrients compared to bone broth, primarily used as a base.
- Stock: Moderate cook time, similar ingredients to regular broth but often with more spices, falls in between regular broth and bone broth in terms of flavor, consistency, and nutrient content.
How to use it
- Use it instead of water when you’re cooking rice or pasta – It adds flavor and nutrients.
- Cook your vegetables in it.
- Use it as a base for your favorite soup recipes.
- Add it to your mashed potatoes to keep them moist.
- Whip up a tasty beef gravy or chicken gravy.
- Enjoy it like a savory cup of tea. I love to doctor it up with a bit of white miso paste and a squeeze of ginger from those little tubes that you find in the refrigerated sections at stores like Trader Joes.
- Or, try one of these 40+ Recipes that Use Bone Broth.
What if bone broth doesn’t gel?
It’s highly desired for your slow cooker bone broth to gel when cooled. This is a sign that it’s got plenty of great collagen and gelatin going on – those goodies that make your skin plump, coat your digestive tract, and cushion your joints.
However, don’t worry if your bone broth doesn’t gel, it’s still got minerals and nutrition galore. It could simply mean that your ratio of water to bones is too great, or the quality of your bones may not be up to par.
For example, conventionally raised chickens don’t have as much collagen in their joints and bones. Marrow rich beef on the other hand, will produce plenty of gelatinous goodness.
How to make ahead + store
- Bone broth will last for 3-5 days when stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
- For longer storage, I like to freeze my bone broth in silicone ice cube molds. Once the cubes are frozen, I package them up in a large ziploc bag. Each cube is about 1/3 cup of broth.
- If I need to thaw some bone broth quickly, it’s easy to just pop a few of these cubes into a small saucepan or into a microwave to thaw them quickly. It’s much faster than thawing an entire mason jar of bone broth.
More slow cooker recipes
Did you make bone broth in the slow cooker?
Please leave a comment and rating below, if you loved this crockpot bone broth recipe. Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.
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Want to make bone broth even faster? Try this Instant Pot Bone Broth recipe too. Plus, be sure to save those shellfish shells to make this homemade seafood stock recipe.
Full Recipe
Slow Cooker Bone Broth
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 carrots (chopped medium)
- 2 stalks celery (chopped medium)
- 1 medium onion (chopped medium)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3.5 pounds chicken bones (or beef bones, or a combination of both)
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- water
Instructions
- Place the bones your slow cooker. The bones should fill up about 3/4 of the slow-cooker.
- Chop your vegetables and garlic, no need to peel. You can also add vegetable scraps and rinsed, crushed egg shells into your slow-cooker. You’ll be straining these out before consuming the broth.
- Fill the slow-cooker with water. Season with a generous amount of salt (about 1 teaspoon).
- Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (you won’t notice the taste).
- Cover and cook on LOW for 18-72 hours.
- Strain the broth through cheesecloth or a strainer and cool. A good broth will usually have a layer of fat on the top, and will gelatinize when thoroughly cool. Remove the fat with a spoon and discard.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2015. It was revised in 2025 to add an instructional video, new photos and additional information. The slow cooker bone broth recipe remains the same.
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