Homemade Bone Broth (Pressure Canned): The Flavorful, Nutritious, and Budget-Friendly Staple Every Kitchen Needs
There’s nothing quite like the deep, comforting aroma of homemade broth simmering on the stove. It’s rich, savory, and full of flavor — a base that transforms soups, stews, gravies, and sauces into something truly extraordinary. But when you take that same homemade broth and pressure can it, you suddenly have a shelf-stable, long-lasting kitchen essential that’s ready whenever you are.
Forget those bland, store-bought cartons filled with preservatives and “natural flavors.” Real homemade broth, made from farm-fresh meaty soup bones or a leftover chicken or turkey carcass simply tastes better — and it’s infinitely better for your health. Once you make your own and taste the difference, you’ll never want to go back to commercial broth again.
Why Make Your Own Bone Broth?
There are so many reasons to make your own pressure-canned broth, and once you start, you’ll quickly wonder how you ever cooked without it.
First of all, it’s incredibly budget-friendly. Instead of throwing away vegetable scraps or paying top dollar for packaged broth, you can use simple, inexpensive ingredients — even ones you already have on hand. Save those onion peels, celery ends, and carrot tops when preparing other meals; pop them into a freezer bag until you’re ready to make broth. Add in farm-fresh meaty soup bones (which are often very affordable from local butchers or farms), and you have the perfect foundation for a nutritious, flavorful broth at a fraction of the cost of store-bought.
Secondly, homemade bone broth is full of real nutrition. Every ingredient contributes essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids your body craves. You’re not just creating flavor — you’re creating nourishment.
And perhaps best of all, pressure canning your broth gives it a long shelf life — often up to a year or more — without the need for refrigeration or additives. That means you can always have wholesome, ready-to-use broth at your fingertips for soups, gravies, risottos, casseroles, or even just a warm mug of savory goodness on a chilly evening.
The Ingredients and Their Health Benefits
It’s worth taking a detailed look at each ingredient that goes into this rich, nourishing broth, exploring not only how it builds depth and flavor but also the unique ways it supports your overall health and wellbeing. By understanding the benefits of each component, you can fully appreciate how this simple combination of bones, vegetables, and seasonings transforms into a deeply nutritious, kitchen-essential staple.
Farm-Fresh Meaty Soup Bones
These are the base of your broth. Beef bones — especially those with a bit of meat and marrow — create a rich, deep flavor that simply can’t be replicated by bouillon cubes or pre-made broth. Also consider saving beef scraps and bones from other meals to add in to the simmer pot.
But it’s not just about taste. As the bones simmer, they release collagen, gelatin, and minerals like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Collagen supports healthy joints, skin elasticity, and gut health, while gelatin aids digestion and helps seal the lining of the intestines. The amino acids found in bone broth, such as glycine and proline, play an essential role in detoxification, muscle repair, and overall tissue health.
Same thing if your making chicken or turkey broth. A leftover carcass from thanksgiving or roasted chicken is all you need to make this flavorful kitchen staple.
Onion
Onions add incredible depth and sweetness to your broth, but they’re also a rich source of nutrients. They contain antioxidants, particularly quercetin, which supports the immune system and reduces inflammation. Onions also have natural antibacterial properties, helping the body defend itself from harmful microbes.
Moreover, the sulfur compounds in onions support detoxification and promote cardiovascular health by helping regulate cholesterol levels. So while the onion builds your broth’s flavor foundation, it also gives your immune system a welcome boost.
Celery
Celery brings a subtle earthiness and freshness that perfectly balances the richness of the beef bones. Beyond its flavor, celery is a low-calorie vegetable loaded with vitamin K, vitamin A, and potassium. It helps with hydration, supports heart health, and has mild diuretic properties that can help flush toxins from the body.
Adding celery to your broth isn’t just traditional — it’s deeply beneficial for maintaining balance and supporting healthy digestion.
Carrots
Carrots lend natural sweetness and vibrant color to your broth, and they’re packed with beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. This vital nutrient supports vision, skin health, and immune function.
Carrots also contain antioxidants and fiber, which promote digestive health and help combat free radicals. Every spoonful of your broth carries a hint of their earthy sweetness — a small detail that makes a big difference.
Garlic
Garlic doesn’t just add incredible aroma and flavor — it’s a superfood in its own right. Rich in compounds like allicin, garlic helps fight bacteria, viruses, and fungi naturally. It’s known to boost the immune system, support heart health, and even help regulate blood pressure.
In your broth, garlic infuses every sip with warmth and depth while providing countless health benefits. It’s nature’s way of adding both flavor and protection to your food.
Sea Salt
Using sea salt instead of table salt gives your broth trace minerals like magnesium, calcium, and potassium. It enhances flavor without overwhelming it, allowing the natural richness of the bones and vegetables to shine through. Plus, sea salt supports hydration and electrolyte balance.
Pure Water
Of course, the final ingredient is the simplest one: water. Yet its quality makes a huge difference. Using filtered or spring water ensures your broth is pure and clean, free from off-flavors or impurities. The water slowly extracts all the goodness from your ingredients, creating a flavorful, nutrient-dense broth that’s the very essence of wholesome cooking.
The Magic of Pressure Canning
Once your broth has simmered low and slow, filling your kitchen with that mouthwatering aroma, it’s time to make it shelf-stable through pressure canning. Unlike water-bath canning, which is best for high-acid foods, pressure canning allows you to safely preserve low-acid foods like beef broth by reaching temperatures high enough to destroy any harmful bacteria.
This process ensures that your broth remains safe, flavorful, and shelf-stable for months — even up to a year. You’ll have the convenience of ready-made, homemade broth right in your pantry, no freezer space required.
And because you’re preserving it at its freshest point, the flavor remains pure and vibrant. Each jar holds a piece of homemade goodness, ready to transform any recipe at a moment’s notice.
Sustainable and Budget-Friendly
One of the best parts about making your own homemade broth is that it encourages zero-waste cooking. Instead of tossing out vegetable scraps, you can collect them in a freezer bag over time — onion ends, carrot peels, celery leaves, and even beef scraps. When you have enough, simply toss them into your stockpot with the bones.
Not only does this reduce food waste, but it also saves you money while giving you a richer, more complex flavor. It’s one of the most satisfying ways to stretch your grocery budget while embracing sustainability.
And because meaty soup bones are often inexpensive (and sometimes even given away by local farmers or butchers), this recipe is as budget-friendly as it is nutritious.
How to Use Your Homemade Broth
Once you’ve stocked your pantry with jars of pressure-canned broth, the possibilities are endless! You can use it in so many ways:
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Soups and stews: The foundation for everything from stew to vegetable soup.
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Gravies and sauces: Adds depth, richness, and body.
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Cooking grains: Use broth instead of water when making rice, quinoa, or barley for extra flavor.
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Mashed potatoes: Swap out milk for broth for a lighter, savory twist.
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Sipping broth: Simply heat a mug of it and enjoy — soothing, nourishing, and restorative.
Every use becomes an opportunity to add homemade flavor and nutrition to your meals.
The Health Benefits of Regularly Drinking Broth
Beyond cooking, many people enjoy drinking warm beef broth daily for its soothing, restorative properties. The collagen and gelatin it contains support gut health, help improve joint mobility, and promote youthful skin. The minerals and amino acids it provides nourish the body deeply, helping replenish nutrients that modern diets often lack.
It’s comforting, grounding, and one of the easiest ways to give your body a daily dose of nourishment — especially during cold weather or recovery periods.
Why You’ll Never Go Back to Store-Bought
In short, homemade broth isn’t just another ingredient — it’s a foundation for better cooking, better health, and better living. With its rich flavor, long shelf life, and endless versatility, it’s one of the most valuable staples you can have in your kitchen.
By using simple, natural ingredients you’re preserving something truly special. Every jar you can represents time, care, and nourishment — and the difference in taste compared to store-bought broth is astonishing.
Not only will your meals taste richer and more satisfying, but your body will thrive from the vitamins, minerals, and healing compounds that only homemade broth can provide.
So next time you’re chopping vegetables or cooking a roast, don’t toss those scraps — save them, freeze them, and plan your next batch of broth. Once you experience the flavor, savings, and satisfaction of making your own pressure-canned beef broth, you’ll never settle for anything less again.
If You Love Canning, Try One of Our Other Family Favorites!
Bone Broth
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Equipment
- 6 quart crockpot (or larger)
- 6 quart stockpot
Ingredients
- 5 Pounds Meaty beef bones or chicken/ turkey carcass
- 1/2 Yellow onion
- 3 celery ribs
- 3 carrots
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp Sea salt
- 4½ Quarts Water
Instructions
- Place the soup bones, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, salt and water into a large crockpot. Turn on the low setting and simmer for 24 hours.
- After the 24 hour slow simmer, turn off the crock pot and ladle the broth through a fine mesh strainer and a layer of cheesecloth into a stockpot.
- Allow to cool and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
- Once the fat has risen to the top of the stockpot, remove it and proceed with the canning process.
- Reheat the broth over medium heat.
- Prepare the pressure canner by filling the canner with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil.
- Wash the jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water.
- Fill each clean jar with broth (use a food funnel for easy filling), leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Wipe the jars with a clean, dry paper towel. Place the lids on the jars and tighten the rings.
- Place the jars into the canner, close the lid, and allow the canner to steam for 10 minutes.
- Place the regulator on and allow the pressure to rise to 10 pounds. Once it has reached 10 pounds, set a timer for 20 minutes. Watch the pressure gauge, if it drops, increase the heat, if it gets too high, lower the heat.
- After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the canner to drop in pressure naturally.
- Once the pressure is down to zero, remove the lid and remove the jars with a jar lifter onto a towel lined cutting board. Allow the jars to rest on the cutting board for 12 hours before labeling and dating. Store in a cool, dry place. If any jars do not seal, refrigerate and use first.
Nutrition
