Bone Broth

Don’t get me wrong, I love making my own bone broth, but I’m not going to say that the cooking method isn’t ... involved.

I get a big stock pot out, fill it with animal bones - leftover chicken carcasses, beef bone marrow when I can get it at a reasonable price - along with vegetable scraps.

Then I let it do its thing for 8 hours minimum - the long cooking time gives it an amazing depth of flavor, and is the best way to extract as much nutrition as possible from the bones.

Then I strain it off the bones before letting the homemade broth cool almost to room temperature, then chill it.

The next day, I scrape the fat cap off my solidified stock, and divide it out in different ways for future use. Gallon freezer bags for using it as the base for homemade soups, smaller bags for drinking it as-is, etc.

Totally worth it - nothing beats a homemade chicken soup made from scratch - but sometimes you just want the experience and health benefits of bone broth, without the effort, you know?

Doctored Up Instant Bone Broth!

You can buy instant bone broth powder, which touts all the bone broth benefits that fresh does: supporting the immune system, boosting gut health, joint health, and being a great way to help with connective tissues...

... but it doesn’t do much for me in the way of flavour or mouthfeel.

So I started doctoring it up, and making an “instant” bone broth drink that is MUCH closer to homemade.

You still get all of the good stuff you do from the instant powder, just MORE of it (with the addition of collagen) - AND rich flavour - and in fraction of the time.

No leftover bones or veggie scraps needed!

1 cup of my instant bone broth protein drink is only 110 calories, and provides 27.5 g protein!

Sometimes I just get sick of regular protein powder drinks, and having a hot cup of this “elevated instant bone broth” is my favorite way to get my protein in on a cold winter day.

I'll even make this ahead as packets of the dry ingredients, measured and ready to go. I'm a big fan of having prepared mixes on hand, and have a whole list of recipe links for them, further down in this post!

Anyway, let’s get to it...

Ingredients

While you won’t have to visit the local butcher in order to make this bone broth, you may need to venture beyond the grocery store.

I tend to order the key ingredients online, as they are sort of in the “specialty ingredients” category.

As I see this quick bone broth recipe as a replacement for protein powder, though, it’s worth it - I go through a lot of the stuff!

A few notes for you:

Instant Chicken Bone Broth

First off, you’ll need some Powdered Chicken Bone Broth - I use Organika Chicken Bone Broth.

This is JUST bone broth powder, with no fillers, seasonings, etc in it. It is NOT the same as chicken bouillon, which does tend to have fillers, preservatives, salt, and seasoning it in. It also doesn’t have the nutritional benefits of powdered bone broth.

Collagen Peptides

I try to work Unflavored Collagen Peptides Powder in at least once a day, to help with my tendon issues.

The stuff I use - Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides - blends smoothly into pretty much everything, and is easy to “hide” in whatever you drink.

In the case of this recipe, not only does it give me my daily dose, it ALSO adds an extra hit of protein to the finished bone broth mixture.

It also takes the place of some of the natural collagen that you get in homemade chicken stock.

Gelatin

Ever since I started using chicken feet when making my homemade bone broth, I was ruined for my usual honemade chicken broth.

Chicken feet add a richness that you don’t get from only using a whole roasted chicken carcass - and I love a great, gelatinous broth!

The addition of gelatin - I use Great Lakes Unflavored Beef Gelatin - takes the place of the chicken feet, giving you a rich, luxurious broth.

Store-Bought Broth

This whole recipe is about dressing up a carton of store bought broth, to be packed with nutrition and resemble homemade broth

So, you’ll need a carton - 1 L - of bone broth. I’m talking the cheaper stuff in the Tetra packs, not the”artisan” stuff!

I tend to pay about $4 CAD per box. More expensive than boxed chicken broth / chicken stock, but not as expensive as those $10 + / serving bone broths.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t even been able to stomach the flavour of the expensive ones I’ve tried.

Anyway, if you’re not worried about boosting the protein as high as you can - and want to save a couple bucks - feel free to use a box of chicken broth or chicken stock.

I’d recommend going with low sodium, and seasoning it from there.

Seasonings

How you season this is up to you - at the very least, you’ll want some Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper.

Personally, my base is salt, pepper, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder.

When I want some extra flavor, I’ll add additional herbs, and/or spices. Some of my favourites include Crushed Chilies, Dried Oregano, Dried Parsley, Dried Rosemary, Dried Sage,
Dried Thyme, Ground Ginger, Hatch Chile Powder, Italian Seasoning, Jalapeno Powder, Mustard Powder, Paprika, Smoked Paprika, Smoked Sea Salt, Smoked Serrano Powder, and Summer Savory .

Really, just go with whatever you like, and whatever you’re in the mood for at the time!

Beef Variation

You can make this a beef bone broth recipe, by swapping out the chicken bone broth powder for Beef Bone Broth Powder, and the Boxed chicken broth for beef broth.

As a caveat though, the beef broth powder doesn’t tend to have much flavour at all - certainly not as much as the chicken bone broth powder - so you’ll definitely want to season your quick homemade beef bone broth pretty heavily!

How to Make Easy Bone Broth

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

In a medium pot, whisk together the bone broth powder, gelatin, and collagen peptides.

I’ll generally add a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder at this point - I just eyeball it. If I’m feeling like it, I’ll toss a couple small bay leaves in, as well.

Once all the chicken broth is added, bring JUST to a boil, over medium high heat. Remove from heat.

Serve immediately.

Leftovers or for Later Use

Once cooled to almost room temperature, leftover bone broth can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two.

Reheat in the microwave, or over low heat in a pot on the stove top.

For longer storage, divide broth into silicone ice cube molds and freeze. Once frozen, pop the soup cubes from the mold, transfer to a freezer bag, and remove as much air as possible before sealing.

Return to the freezer for up to 3 months.

More High Protein Drink Mixes!

Looking for more high protein, low carb drink mixes that can be made ahead? I've developed a whole series of flavored latte instant drink mix recipes:

Cappuccino Mix (Low Carb, High Protein)
Chai Latte (Low Carb, High Protein)
Cream of Chicken Soup (Low Carb, High Protein)
Cream of Mushroom Soup (Low Carb, High Protein)
Gingerbread Latte (Low Carb, High Protein)
Matcha Latte (Low Carb, High Protein)
Mocha Latte (Low Carb, High Protein)
Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate (Low Carb, High Protein)
Peppermint Mocha (Low Carb, High Protein)
Protein Hot Chocolate (Low Carb)
Pumpkin Chai Latte (Low Carb, High Protein)
Pumpkin Spice Latte (Low Carb, High Protein)

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