How to Make Beef Broth in a Slow Cooker

Save your roast beef bones to make beef broth in a slow cooker with these directions.

I like to stretch my groceries as far as I can. One way I do that is to make homemade broth. When I make a roast I save the bones to make beef broth. I freeze the bones until I have 3 – 4 pounds of meaty bones. Then I pull them out, thaw them in the refrigerator, and add them to the slow cooker to make beef broth.

If you don’t have leftover roast bones, you can buy soup bones at the store. Roast raw bones in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees or until they are a deep brown. Then add them to the slow cooker and follow the directions for making beef broth.

In the recipe below I listed vegetables to add to the beef bone broth. You can save even more money by using the equivalent in vegetable scraps instead. Save the celery tops and carrot peelings to use in broth rather than a stalk of celery or a whole carrot. The broth will taste the same!

Slow Cooker Beef Broth Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 – 4 lbs. roasted beef bones
• 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
• 2 large carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• water

Directions:

1. Place the bones in the Crock-Pot. Add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic.
2. Fill the Crockpot with water. Cook on high for 2 hours. Then reduce heat and cook on low for 10 – 12 hours.
3. Strain the liquid. Save any bits of meat to use later in soup, but discard the bones and veggies.
4. Cool the broth in the refrigerator. Remove any fat that has hardened on top. Then, line a colander with cheesecloth or a flour sack towel and strain the broth one more time.
5. Ladle the broth into jars and use a pressure canner to can the broth.
6. If you do not want to can your broth or do not have a pressure canner, you can freeze it in 1 and 2 cups portions. Just be sure to leave 1 inch of room in the freezer-safe container or use a freezer-safe Ziploc bag, because the broth will expand when frozen.

Homemade beef bone broth is nourishing on its own. You can sip it from a mug or use it to make soups, stews, casseroles, or to make rice.

Printable Recipe for How to Make Beef Broth in a Slow Cooker

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Slow Cooker Beef Broth Recipe

An easy recipe for Beef Broth made in a Crock-Pot.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Diet Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Low Lactose, Low Salt

Keyword slow cooker beef broth recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 14 hours hours

Total Time 14 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 9kcal

Author Alea Milham

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 - 4 lbs. beef bones roasted
• ▢ 2 stalks celery coarsely chopped
• ▢ 2 large carrots coarsely chopped
• ▢ 1 large onion coarsely chopped
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped

Instructions

• Place the bones in the Crock-Pot. Add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic.
• Fill the Crockpot with water. Cook on high for 2 hours. Then reduce heat and cook on low for 10 – 12 hours.
• Strain the liquid. Save any bits of meat to use later in soup, but discard the bones and veggies.
• Cool the broth in the refrigerator.
• Remove any fat that collects on the top. Then line a colander with cheesecloth or a flour sack towel and strain the broth one more time.
• Ladle the broth into jars and use a pressure canner to can the broth.
• If you do not want to can your broth or do not have a pressure canner, you can freeze it in 1 and 2 cups portions. Just be sure to leave 1 inch of room in the container because the broth will expand when frozen.

Notes

You can use leftover bones from roasts and prime rib in this recipe. If your bones have not been previously cooked, you need to roast them at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Nutrition

Calories: 9kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 0.04g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.002g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1702IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Recipes Using Beef Broth

• Swiss Steak
• Hoppin’ John
• Beef Stew Casserole
• Kitchen Garden Skillet
• Beef Stew with Cabbage
• Corned Beef Cooked in a Pressure Cooker

More Homemade Broth Recipes

Crock Pot Turkey Broth Recipe

How to Make Chicken Broth in a Slow Cooker

How to Make Vegetable Broth in a Slow Cooker

A Quick and Easy Substitute for  Vegetable Broth

This beef bone broth recipe was originally posted on August 21, 2013. It was updated on August 7, 2025.