There is good reason behind all the recent hype around bone broth. Slow cooking good quality bones with a bit of acid (like apple cider vinegar) releases calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, glutamine, proline and glycine and other amino acids. Glutamine can be particularly helpful in healing the intestinal lining. This amino acid aids the turnover of cells in the gut lining to rebuild and repair damage. People suffering from celiac disease, colitis or Crohn’s disease often have flattened or damaged villi which can lead to malabsorption and/or a highly permeable intestine (leaky gut). A slew of other nutrients like collagen and minerals in bone broth also aid in detoxification and promote healthy joints, hair, skin and nails.

Store bought bone broth can be anywhere between questionable quality to run somewhere around $8 per pint sized jar. Luckily, you can make this nutrient-dense concoction at home with mostly ingredients that you may otherwise be throwing out. For example, I collect bones in the freezer as the week goes on until I’m ready to make my broth. The tops of celery stalks or carrot peels that might otherwise go in the compost are perfect to add flavor to bone broth.

Bone broth is great to use as a base in soups and sauces. Its a staple for adding nutrients and flavor when cooking rice, beans and potatoes when used instead of water. I love to just sip a warm mug of bone broth seasoned with ginger, lemon, miso or whatever fresh herbs I may have around the kitchen or garden!

To store, I usually fill a few mason jars and store in the fridge (up to 6 days). Bone broth also freezes well. Try filling silicone cupcake molds and freezing easy-to-use small portions then storing in a freezer bag. You can use this recipe exactly how it’s written or easily substitute/eliminate ingredients to use what you have or make it Keto/FODMAP/allergy friendly. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Bones from 2 chickens

• 2 medium carrots

• 3 celery ribs (or ends and leaves to equal 1 cup)

• 1 large yellow onion, quartered with skin and root end in tact

• 6 cloves of garlic

• 2 bay leaves

• Handful of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme and/or parsley; optional)

• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

• Water (enough to cover all ingredients)

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Place bones, vegetables, herbs into Instant Pot

2. Add enough water to cover the bones and vegetables.

3. Place lid on Instant Pot and lock into place.

4. Flip vent valve to ‘Sealing’.

5. Select ‘Pressure Cook’ setting and adjust the time to 4 hours.

6. When cooking is done, allow pressure to release naturally (10-20 minutes).

7. Carefully release any residual pressure using the vent valve before removing the lid.

8. Allow broth to cool and strain into jars for storage.