making herbal bone broth
we have an almost weekly batch of bone broth brewing in our home, especially through the fall and winter months. this deeply nourishing food is warm morning brew, nutrient-dense soup base, the best food when we’re feeling unwell, a healthy addition to pasta, sauces, or rice.
and of course, has fed many women in the sacred hours after birth or the sweet slow days of postpartum. bone broth is rich in protein and amino acids like glycine and proline, which are involved in collagen production and tissue repair that is especially supportive as the body heals from birth. our tissues are not just strained from the opening of the birth portal, but all of our body is shifting. your perineum, but also rapidly changing breast tissue, and condensing womb space all rely on collagen and glycine to support cells. and bone broth offers electrolytes and minerals and just feels so good as we sit close and skin to skin in the quiet hours of postpartum rest. our bodies remember. warm, close, deep ancestral nourishment.
but every family can use bone broth. it’s such a super food and so easy to make.
we add in medicinal mushrooms, seaweed, and herbs to every pot to boost nutrients, flavor, and just because that’s what we’ve always done! adding herbs to stock is such a good way to work with the plants. play. enjoy.
we used to make huge batches in a giant stock pot, but i found over time that it wasn’t as sustainable for our family - it felt really hard to find the time to strain such a big batch and sometimes it would just linger and go bad. it feels much easier for our family rhythm to always have a smaller pot going - every few days we can strain it in one easy sitting, a lighter pot to pick up, less mess, and just a few jars to stock away at a time. but you can figure out which system works best for you!
this quantity of bones + extras works for a regular size soup pot but you can adjust in any kind of way. this is witchy medicine. folk ways. old knowings. just vibe it out. ask the ancestors. or your grandmother. you’ll know what feels right.
here’s what we do.
all quantities ~ish
pick your meat:
chicken:
some backs or necks or maybe wings
{roast these in the oven until brown}
a few extra bones from dinner or scraps with meat still on
large handful or two of feet
{i don’t roast the feet}
beef:
some marrow bones or oxtails
a knuckle bone
something with meat on it - maybe a small shank
{roast all of these until brown}
add your extras:
a few carrots
an onion
a few celery stalks
some medicinal mushrooms - lion’s mane, reishi, turkey tail, etc.
a handful or two of kombu, wakame, or other seaweed
the herbs that call
herbs you can use:
nettle
raspberry leaf
oatstraw
red clover
parsley
sage
horsetail
ashwaghanda
astragulus
calendula
lemon balm
thyme
dandelion
rosemary
oregano
ginger
rosehips
chickweed
cleavers
and probably so many more. for tonic herbs like nettle, raspberry, oatstraw you can add them at the beginning of the brew. for others with high volatile oils like lemon balm, calendula, or parsley you might wait until the last hour or two. and with other plants with stronger flavor profiles like astragalus or ginger you can experiment with how much to add without overpowering the flavor of the broth.
my favorites to add are nettle, raspberry leaf, and calendula. just a little handful of each.
add everything to the pot {don’t forget the roasting juices!}, cover with water almost to the brim, and simmer on very low for about 24 hours. you want tiny bubbles but no active rolling boiling.
strain and store!
you can put it in the fridge to separate the fat if you want to store it separately. we usually just keep it in. after cooling your stock should have a nice gelatinous jiggle to it. if you’re not getting this, try more bones or a longer simmer.
we keep ours in wide mouth pint size mason jars in the freezer.
you can defrost any time you need a little broth or stock for making soup or rice, or really anything else.
for drinking as a warm broth, we add about a teaspoon of real salt per jar.
