My Bone Broth Recipe for Fertility- Easy Chicken Bone Broth

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If you don’t already know, Bone Broth is one of the number one foods you should be eating (drinking) while trying to conceive. Actually, no matter who you are in what walk of life you are in, you should probably be drinking bone broth. I struggle with multiple infertility diagnoses and I believe that daily bone broth helped me have my second miracle!

The mainstream uses of bone broth are plentiful- helping leaky gut syndrome, or other gut issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, managing or even overcoming food allergies and intolerance, giving your immune system a boost, and helping with conditions like arthritis that are joint related.

But here’s what you might not know- bone broth is amazing for fertility! Whether you have just started, have been trying for a while, or are struggling with a diagnosis of infertility, you NEED to be drinking bone broth, preferably every day.   Also, you should really, really be making your own and not buying it from the store.  You need to use organic bones too, grass-fed, organic if you can find them.

Okay, why is bone broth so good for fertility?  Here’s the thing- you need to absolutely fully nourish your body to have healthy eggs (and sperm).  If you want plump, happy, well-developed embryos, you need to be eating plenty of the right nutrients.  And, bone-broth packs a punch.  Here’s why:

1. Bone broth is made from meat bones simmered for days with vinegar to leach out the goodness.  You get plenty of amino acids and collagen which helps to heal gut and digestive issues.  Gut and digestive issues are directly linked to many hormonal and fertility problems.
2. As your gut heals, your gut is then able to actually process the vitamins and nutrients you are eating in your super clean, high protein, high fat, low carb evidence-based fertility diet. Thus, you are able to actually fully nourish yourself.
3. Bone broth is packed with amino acids, calcium, and other nutrients that help balance your hormones and make you more fertile.
4. Bone broth nourishes your kidneys, and so Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM aka your acupuncturist) love it for helping to replenish Kidney Jing which can be found in bone marrow.  Jing is what your eggs are made of according to acupuncture. There aren’t made substances that include Jing energy, so drink your bone broth every day.
5. Bone broth has 0 carbs and 15 grams of protein making it a perfect addition to your evidence-based fertility diet.  This really helps when you are trying to hit your Protein/Fats/Carbs ratios that are ideal for fertility!

Convinced?  The recipe is painfully simple. You can make it with any kind of organic bones you purchase, but to be efficient and cost-effective, we always make ours with the leftover skin and bones from our weekly roast organic chicken that we make in our Instant Pot.   You can roast yours in the oven, but the Instant Pot makes things fast, doesn’t heat up your kitchen, and you can totally walk away from it (no checking and basting every 20 minutes required. The BEST thing about the Instant Pot is that it is also a SLOW COOKER.  You can do everything in this contraption.

So, we roast a whole organic chicken, pick it clean and save the meat for our weekly meals, and then put the bones and skin back into the Instant Pot.  Add in some water and a little apple cider vinegar and switch it over to slow cooker mode for 24-48 hours.  Boom!  Bone broth.  AND you don’t have to clean the thing in between roasting and making your bone broth.  If you have to do everything in the stove and then move to the slow cooker you have way more clean up.  Also, with the InstantPot you don’t smell the bone broth cooking like you do with a slow cooker or crock pot.  Although I loved the smell- it drove my husband crazy (in a bad way).  So he loves the Instant Pot too!  If you don’t want the full 8 qt Instant Pot or you are looking to save a buck, you can definitely fit a small-medium organic chicken in a 6 qt Instant Pot! We own both sizes because we are crazy addicted to this contraption.

You can make this as fancy or as simple as you like.  We keep it super simple and efficient.  We’re after all that goodness leached from the bones, and we don’t want to put in a bunch of veggies and herbs that are just going to take a bunch of time to chop and then be strained out.  Of course, their goodness will be leached to, so if you have the time and are inclined, add some yummy nutritious stuff! I’ve seen recipes that include fennel, swiss chard, lemongrass, astragulus, reishi mushroom powder, etc.  Sounds like fun I don’t have time for :-).

Alright, without further adieu, here is the recipe!

INSTANT POT SLOW COOKER BONE BROTH

Ingredients

• Bones, skin, neck, from one whole organic chicken (that you’ve probably just made) or organic bones from the butcher
• Enough filtered water to cover the bones and skin completely
• 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• Any extra veggies you want- onions, garlic, celery.  We used to do this, and then got lazy.
• Any extra herbs you want- rosemary, thyme, bay, etc. We just keep the herbs we used in the roast chicken and put them back in.
• Extra salt and pepper if desired

Directions

1. Put the bones, skin, neck, and any veggies and herbs you desire into the Instant Pot or your favorite slow cooker/crockpot.
2. Cover completely with filtered water. Don’t add more than 2/3 of your Instant Pot.
3. Add 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
4. Press the Slow Cook setting on your Instant Pot.  Slow cook for 18-48 hours. On the Instant Pot, select 24 hours of cook time.  You’ll have to reset the time after 24 hours. We get our best bone broth from 48 hours of cooking. Alternatively you can Pressure cook for 1-2 hours if you are in a hurry.  But, I think there is something special about slow cooking bone broth. Plus, if you pressure cook it, you’ll have to strain it and clean up the same day.  If you slow cook for days, you can strain tomorrow or the next day.
5. Strain the liquid (we use these stainless steel mesh strainers) and save it in a non-toxic heat safe container like a large 64 oz size mason jar.
6. Drink a big warm mugful every day, and store in the fridge!  Make sure to drink the fatty stuff- that’s where all the good collagen is!  Don’t worry, when you heat it up it will melt.