A rich and flavorful homemade beef broth is one of the essential recipes every home cook should have in their array of kitchen cooking basics. My recipe bridges the definitions of beef broth and beef stock by using both a cut of beef and raw bones.
Homemade Broths and Stocks Level Up Any Recipe
Back in the day, there were recipes home cooks didn’t even have to think twice about how to make because they made the same dishes so often no recipe was needed. Cooking was done by touch, intuition, and repetition.
But now, with pre-made ingredients and an avalanche of recipe options at our fingertips, we can make just about any style of cuisine without batting an eye. But as a byproduct of creating these dazzling Pinterest-friendly meals, making some of the good-old, most commonly used basics, like homemade broths and stocks, has fallen out of favor.
A few months ago I shared my recipe for the very best chicken stock because it seems that homemade broths and stocks are rarely on the must-make radar of today’s home cook. The reasons vary from assuming it takes way too much time to make them from scratch to being unsure what ingredients go in the dang recipe (and FYI it isn’t just the meat that matters, its the bones!)
That’s why I’m waving my foodie recipe wand and pulling the beefy secrets out of my hat so that….TADAAAA!!!! Your beef broth cure is here.
This post breaks it all down, with simple steps and foolproof instructions that’ll put you on your way to making homemade beef broth with confidence. Let’s go.
Enjoy!
Beef Broth vs Stock: Is There a Difference?
While often interchangeable, there IS a difference between broth and stock. Where you find it most is in the world of flavor.
- Beef broth is usually the liquid meat is cooked in, sometimes with added vegetables. Broth is usually seasoned with herbs and spices, and sometimes a splash of wine or acid to balance the flavors to be drinkable on its own.
- Beef stock is more meaty flavored than beef broth. It gets its richness from beef bones that have been stripped of their meat for common cuts of beef. As the bones cook in regular old water, they release gelatin (or collagen) that thickens the broth/stock and imparts beefy flavor.
My recipe uses both meat and bones, so oops it’s technically a hybrid of the two — but this is what makes it so much more flavorful!
The Main Ingredients
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Beef — For a well rounded beefy flavor, I suggest using a chuck roast, beef shank, beef short ribs, or skirt beef.
- Beef bones — Beef broth technically isn’t made with bones, but I always add some to mine for flavor. Ask your local butcher for neck, shin, or knuckle bones. Oxtail works great here too. Just avoid marrow bones all by themselves as they don’t have any meat on them and have that round hole of fat in the middle that won’t add any flavor, just fat.
- Herbs and vegetables — I like to use some combination of carrots, celery, onions, and parsnips plus fresh thyme and parsley. I’ll also chuck in a whole head of garlic (cut in half) and a few black peppercorns.
- Beef bouillon — My secret ingredient for the richest, most flavorful beef broth.
Heidi’s Tip: Be careful not to add too much salt to your broth. I suggest keeping it on the lighter side and adding it at the end to taste.
How to Make Beef Broth From Scratch (+ Tips!)
- Brown the bones. To achieve a deep colored broth, consider roasting the bones and vegetables for 30 minutes before adding to the pot. I rarely add this step, I won’t lie. Instead, I season and brown the cut of beef and the bones in my soup pot or dutch oven before adding water. Sometimes I’ll brown the vegetables with the bones, and sometimes I don’t. I suggest you play around with it until you find a flavor you prefer.
- Add everything to the pot. There’s no hard and fast rule for how much meat and vegetables you need to use for making beef broth, but you DO need to add enough water to cover everything by about 1 – 2 inches.
- Simmer for at least 2 hours. The longer you cook or simmer your broth and the gelatin breaks down, the richer it will become. The shortest amount of time I cook my broth is usually 2 hours. The longest has been 8 hours. Cooking time usually depends on how much time I have for keeping tabs on it.
- Strain before storing. I usually have to pass my broths through a fine mesh strainer a couple of times to remove all of the vegetable debris.
What to Make with Your Beef Broth
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Homemade Beef Broth Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 ½ pound beef chuck roast or beef shank
- 5-6 pounds beef neck bones bouillon or soup bones
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 onion quartered
- 2 carrots cut into 4-5 sections
- 1 celery cut into 4-5 sections
- 1 parsnip cut into 4-5 sections (optional)
- 1 head of garlic sliced in half
- 2 bay leaves
- Bunch of thyme leaves
- Small bunch of parsley
- 1 tablespoon beef bouillon base
- 6-8 whole peppercorns
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt plus more after cooking to taste
Instructions
- Sear the meat and bones. Warm the oil in a dutch oven or large stock pot over medium high heat. Season the chuck roast with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and brown in the pot on all sides then transfer to a plate or platter. Add the bones and brown in batches on all sides.
- Add everything to the pot. Add the chuck roast to the pot with the browned bones, carrot, celery, onion, garlic halves and parsnip (if using. Add 4 quarts cold water, covering the beef and veggies by at least 1-2 inches. Add a handful of the parsley (with leaves and stems intact), thyme sprigs, peppercorns, bay leaves, beef bouillon and kosher salt.
- Simmer for 2+ hours. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and skim the stock with a fine mesh strainer every 30 minutes or so. Cook partly covered for 2 hours up to 8 hours or until the stock is rich and brown and tastes well flavored. Add more salt to taste if necessary.
- Strain before using. Turn off the heat and allow the broth to cool or if using immediately, place a large colander over a Pyrex 4 cup glass measuring cup and slowly drain the broth from the rest of the aromatics so the colander catches any veggies or bones that may fall from the pot. Then, use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the stock into your next recipe's soup stock pot. Or, if storing to use later, strain into 1 quart wide-mouth glass canning jars and cool before adding a tight fitting lid.
Notes
Nutrition
More Homemade Broths and Stocks
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diane knox
Why does my beef broth taste oily
Hayley
Hi Diane! Did you skim your stock? If not, that could account for the oily flavor, which it shouldn’t have. We hope this helps.
Rosella
Hello, I wonder what do you do with the meat after cooking for 8 hours?
I usually save it for my dogs, or discard.
Chris P.
Can you use an Instant Pot for the Beef Stock?
Mike
I do for all the broth/stock I make. I dont have the instapot brand so the setting may be different but I cook the meat with no water at first for about 30 min or so to get some of the good juices and fat flavor out of the meat then add water as it simmers.