Healthy Recipes

Collagen-rich beauty bone broth

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Looking to improve your skin’s texture and elasticity? One of the simplest – and most economical ways – is by eating a wholesome bone broth that’s rich in the essential amino acids that help create collagen.

Found in the connective tissues of all animals, collagen makes up at least 25% of all the protein in the human body. Bones, ligaments, tendons, skin and even our eyes contain this super-strong, super-flexible protein. It’s essential for skin elasticity, healthy hair and nails.

Along with being excellent for our skin health, collagen (and its component amino acids) has also been shown to help aid digestion and improve joint mobility.

About our collagen bone broth

We use bones from grass-fed beef here, but you can use any large bones to put into your broth. When it comes to sourcing meat, opt for organic and grass-fed. Eating organic, free-range meat helps ensure the meat you’re eating is more likely to be free from antibiotics and their residues, often used in intensively farmed pork and poultry.

While this broth won’t supply collagen itself when eaten  (as this is broken down in food by powerful acids in the stomach, especially when heated to high temperatures), it can help replenish essential amino acid supplies which our body can then potentially turn into collagen. It’s particularly important to eat plenty of protein in later life as we become less and less efficient at converting amino acids into collagen as we age. This is why, from the age of 25, we lose 1.5% of our collagen stores per year and begin to notice a loss of elasticity and tone in our skin. A collagen supplement may be helpful too.

The amino acids in this broth may also help to aid digestion and protect against a leaky gut and IBS.

This recipe makes a plentiful supply of bone broth, with enough for you to freeze and re-heat portions whenever needed. Serve with a dash of Worcestershire sauce for a truly delicious kick!

Top tip: Don’t reboil your bone broth once made. This can further break down the collagen proteins making them less effective. Serve lukewarm at a temperature of below 70 degrees.

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Ingredients

  • 2kg pasture-fed (grass-fed) beef or large lamb bones
  • Generous grind of freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 small onions, including skins, quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • ½ fennel bulb, roughly chopped
  • Filtered water to cover (around 5 litres)
  • A tray of ice cubes (to cool the broth)
  • Dash of Worcestershire sauce to flavour

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the bones. Boil hard for 20 minutes before removing the bones from the water – this is important to boil off any impurities, then discard the water.
  2. Place the bones in a roasting tin and blast in the oven for an hour or so until darkened. Remove from the pan and place the bones back into the large saucepan. Retain the beef fat or dripping in the roasting tin and use in cooking or feed to the birds.
  3. Cover the roasted bones with fresh water, add the onions, garlic, cider vinegar and pepper and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 9 hours (the longer the better). Add more water as required.
  4. When the broth is ready, remove the bones (these can be used to make broth again, literally until they disintegrate) and strain the liquid into a wide shallow container, cooling quickly by adding a tray of ice cubes. It’s important to cool it down rapidly to prevent bacterial spoilage. As soon as the liquid is cool enough not to raise the interior temperature of the fridge, keep refrigerated. Your broth should be gelatinous in consistency, with a layer of beef bone fat on the surface, which can either be removed once set or stirred back into the warmed broth for extra nourishment.
  5. Heat up as required and enjoy or freeze in easy to re-heat portions. This broth is delicious served with a dash of Worcestershire sauce.