I rarely make homemade broth because I’m so lazy that I’d rather just crack open a can. However, I’ll admit that making beef broth using your slow cooker is really easy and requires almost no hands-on time at all. (Update: I regularly make my own homemade broth these days, but I make it in a pressure cooker. Check out the recipe here.)

Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth by Michelle Tam https://nomnompaleo.com

You can easily substitute pork or chicken bones in place of beef and the results are all good.  If you befriend your local butcher, he may even give you a big bag of bones for pennies.

Time to make Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth!

Makes 4 quarts

Ingredients:

  • 2 carrots, chopped medium
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped medium
  • 1 medium onion, chopped medium
  • 7 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 3.5 lb of beef bones (from US Wellness Meats or your local farmer)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (optional)
  • water

Equipment:

  • All of my recommended kitchen tools are listed here.

Method:

Dump the vegetables in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker…

Carrots, celery, onion, and garlic sitting in a slow cooker for the beef bone broth recipe.

…drop in the beef bones…

Someone dropping beef bones into a slow cooker for a beef bone broth recipe.

…tuck in the bay leaves, sprinkle on a wee bit of salt, drizzle the vinegar on the bones…

A close up of the beef bones in the slow cooker with bay leaves, salt, and vinegar drizzled over.

…and add enough water to cover everything.

Someone adding water to a slow cooker that is filled with beef bones.

Program the slow cooker to cook on low for 8-10 hours.

A close up of a slow cooker with the lid on.

When it’s ready, pour the broth through a strainer, and discard the solids.

Someone pouring beef bone broth made from the slow cooker through a mesh sieve.

A mesh sieve has bone pieces inside and it is hovering over a bowl of beef bone broth.

You can ladle out some to drink now, or…

Someone ladling out some beef bone broth into a cup.

…store the liquid in a large CorningWare or glass container for later.

Homemade beef bone broth fills a white tupperware.

The bones I used were pretty fatty so it made the broth taste unappealingly greasy. I stuck the broth in the fridge overnight and scraped off the top layer of solidified fat.

The fat cap top of a cooled beef bone broth recipe that is in a container.

The broth underneath looks like beef Jell-O…

A close up of the slow cooker beef bone broth after having chilled in the fridge. The texture looks like Jell-O.

The broth will keep in the fridge for a few days and in the freezer for several months. (Check out my updated post on how I store bone broth here.)

When you’re ready for a steaming cup of the stuff, just scoop the meaty Jell-O into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. (I won’t tell anyone if you nuke it in a mug in your microwave.)

A cup filled with slow cooker beef bone broth.

Voila – perfection!

A close up of beef bone broth heated up in a cup.

(Want an even faster way to make bone broth? Check out the recipe for my Quick Pressure Cooker Bone Broth!)


Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).


PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth

4.17 from 6 votes
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time8 hours
Total Time8 hours 15 minutes
Servings 1
I rarely make homemade broth because I’m so lazy that I’d rather just crack open a can. However, I’ll admit that making beef broth using your slow cooker is really easy and requires almost no hands-on time at all.

Ingredients  

  • 2 carrots chopped medium
  • 2 celery stalks chopped medium
  • 7 garlic cloves smashed
  • pounds beef bones
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Diamond Crystal kosher salt 
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar optional
  • water
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Instructions 

  • Prep your veggies and dump them in the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Drop in the beef bones on top and tuck in the bay leaves, sprinkle on some salt, and drizzle vinegar.
  • Add enough water in the slow cooker to cover everything.
  • Program the slow cooker to cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  • When the broth is ready, pour it through a strainer and discard the solids.
  • You can lade some out to drink or cook with now or you can store the liquid in a large container for later! The broth will keep in the fridge for a few days and in the freezer for several months.

Nutrition

Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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7 Comments

    1. You can! I don’t make bone broth in the slow cooker anymore—I just use the faster Instant Pot method.

  1. Can you reuse the bones? I just keep buying new bones because after 12 hours in the crock pot I assume it had no more nutrients. Would hate to be drinking something that actually had no more if the benefits I’m expecting.

  2. I’ve read that one should always (1) blanch and then (2) roast the bones, especially beef, before proceeding to the actual preparing of bone broth. May I ask why you don’t include these steps?