Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth
45 Comments Jul 08, 2024
Updated May 30, 2025
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Slow Cooked Beef Bone broth made in the Crockpot with veggies, garlic, ginger, lemon and apple cider vinegar. Make a big batch and freeze for later.
We love to fill our freezer with bone broth and other crockpot soups such as slow cooker chicken noodle soup or slow cooker ham and beans.
Why Make Crockpot Bone Broth
Making homemade bone broth has been on my bucket list for a long time. I recently tried a store-bought carton of bone broth and I could hardly stomach it, it tasted stale.
I love how easy this big batch of slow cooker bone broth is to make. The only hard part is finding the bones; not all stores carry them. I found these bones at Albertson’s. I did one package of knucklebones and one of the neckbones. If you’re looking for healthy recipes for your homemade soups, this is a must-try!
Recipe Ingredients
- Beef Bones: You can use a combination of neckbones, beef knuckle bones, and the like.
- Veggies: Quartered yellow onion, half-cut head of garlic, chopped carrots, and chopped celery. You can also use any vegetable scraps you have on hand.
- Seasonings: Apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, grated ginger, lemon juice, and salt to taste.
- Water: You will fill the slow cooker with water (leaving an inch of room at the top), I use 8 cups of water with the amount of bones I used.
- Find the full recipe in the recipe card below the images.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Put the beef bones on a sheet pan and brown them under the broiler before adding them to the slow cooker.
Step Two – Along with the bones, I add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaves, water and apple cider vinegar. The vinegar helps leach the minerals out of the bones.
Step Three – Cover and cook on LOW for 12 hours. You can cook longer if desired.
Step Four – Place a strainer over a large bowl. Ladle the broth into the strainer and discard the bones and veggies. I like to push the veggies into the strainer to get the juices out of them.
Step Five – Add grated ginger, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate or freeze for later. Skim off fat if desired.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, place the flavorful broth into plastic or glass containers. (You can also use an ice cube tray.) Leave an inch of room at the top to allow for expansion. Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge 24 hours before needed. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
You can use this broth when you’re making any soup, stew, or and recipe calling for a broth. It will add lots of flavor to whatever dish you add it to.
I prefer to use glass jars; however, you can use airtight containers or heavy duty Ziploc bags.
Yes. If you have leftover chicken bones, you can make homemade chicken bone broth. Use this crockpot bone broth recipe, except use chicken bones!
Featured Comment
“I’ve shared this recipe all morning after making it last night! It is soooo good it will be my go-to from now on!”
– Beck and Bulow
Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth
Beef bone broth easily made in the slow cooker with veggies, vinegar, garlic, ginger and lemon.
How to Video
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs. beef bones
- 1 yellow onion, quartered
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half
- 2 carrots, cut into pieces
- 2 celery ribs, cut into pieces
- 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups water
Add after straining
- 2 tsp. grated ginger
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. salt, (add to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to broil. Place the beef bones on a sheet pan. Place the bones under the broiler in the oven. I browned the bones on each side for about 5 minutes each. It depends on how close the bones are to the broiler.
- Add the bones to the slow cooker. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaves, apple cider vinegar and water.
- Cover and cook on low for 12 hours. You can cook longer if desired.
- Place a strainer over a large bowl. Ladle the broth into the strainer and discard the bones and veggies. I like to push the veggies into the strainer to get the juices out of them.
- Add grated ginger, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate or freeze for later. Skim off fat if desired.
Sarah’s Notes
- Yes, place into plastic or glass containers
- Leave an inch of room at the top to allow for expansion.
- Freeze for up to 6 months.
- Thaw in the fridge 24 hours before needed. Reheat in microwave or on the stovetop.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
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Can you please confirm if the nutritional information is per batch or per serving? 19 g of protein seems pretty high for one cup of broth. Just wanna make sure I’m clear.
How much broth does this make?
About 8 cups
You can re-use your bones two more times so don’t throw them away yet.
You don’t add any salt? Im surprised by this. When i use canned broth or buillon they always have a good amount of salt. Would i really use this later to make a soup without salt??
I would add salt to taste.
Hi Sarah, other recipes call for bringing the broth to boil before simmering on low – is this necessary? I’m not sure what the advantage of this would be.
I’ve never heard that. I think most stove top recipes are worded that way for any soup.
What benefits do the lemon and ginger add to beef broth?
They are for flavor so it doesn’t taste so flat. Plus, they are both good for your health.
Thank you. I’ve tried the recipe today but haven’t tried to drink it yet. It did taste blah so I added thyme and turmeric but seemed greasy. Perhaps after I chill it and remove the fat it will be better.