Paleo Bone Broth: Recipe, Real Nutrition & Cost

By Paleo Life Coach Editorial Team · Last updated September 25, 2026 · Nutrition from USDA FoodData Central

Bone broth has a reputation that runs far ahead of the evidence: collagen for your joints, minerals for your bones, a cure for your gut. Paleo bone broth is still worth making, just for plainer reasons. It’s the best-tasting base for soups and sauces, it uses bones you’d otherwise throw away, and it has more protein and less sodium than most boxed broth. This guide gives you a reliable recipe, the lab data on what’s actually in the pot, and what a quart costs to make at 2026 prices.

The quick version: Bone broth is paleo: it’s just bones, water, vegetables and herbs. Simmer 3 lb of chicken bones or legs with vegetables and 2 tablespoons of vinegar for 8–12 hours. USDA data puts homemade chicken stock at about 6 g of protein and 343 mg of sodium per cup. Studies find its collagen building blocks and minerals are modest and variable.

Is bone broth paleo?

Yes. Bone broth is made from animal bones, connective tissue, water, vegetables, herbs and sometimes vinegar, all of which fit the paleo food list summarized in Harvard’s paleo diet review. Store-bought versions are paleo only if the label is equally simple; skip cartons with sugar, soy, wheat, yeast extract or “natural flavor” blends you can’t identify.

“Bone broth” and “stock” are mostly marketing distinctions. Both simmer bones in water; bone broth usually means a longer simmer (8–24 hours) and more cartilage-rich parts such as feet, knuckles and wings, which set into a jelly when chilled. That jelly is gelatin, the cooked form of collagen.

How do you make paleo bone broth? (Stovetop recipe)

Makes about 3 quarts.

3 lb (1.36 kg) chicken bones: backs, necks, wings, feet, a roast chicken carcass or bone-in legs
1 onion, quartered (skin on for color)
2 carrots and 2 celery ribs, in large chunks
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf, 1 tsp peppercorns, a handful of parsley stems
About 4 quarts (3.8 L) cold water, enough to cover by 2 inches
Roast for flavor (optional). Roast raw bones at 425°F for 30–40 minutes until browned.
Soak. Put bones in a large pot with the water and vinegar and let stand 30 minutes.
Simmer low. Bring just to a boil, skim any foam, then hold at a bare simmer, uncovered or with the lid ajar, for 8–12 hours for chicken (beef bones can go 12–24). Add water if bones become exposed.
Add vegetables late. Add the vegetables and herbs for the last 2 hours so they don’t turn bitter.
Strain and cool fast. Strain through a fine sieve, divide into shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours (FDA safe food handling).
Skim. Lift off the fat cap once chilled; save it for cooking or discard.

The vinegar has a real purpose: a 2017 lab study found that lowering broth pH from 8.4 to 5.3 increased calcium and magnesium extraction about 15- to 17-fold, and that simmering longer than 8 hours pulled out more minerals than shorter cooks (Hsu et al., Food & Nutrition Research). Even so, the totals stay small, as the next sections show.

Slow cooker option: combine everything except the vegetables on low for 10–12 hours, adding vegetables for the last 2 hours. The paleo slow cooker guide covers slow cooker safety rules.

What’s actually in a cup of bone broth?

Here’s how homemade stock compares with boxed broth, per cup, using USDA laboratory data.

What’s actually in a cup of bone broth?
Per 1 cup	Calories	Protein (g)	Sodium (mg)	Potassium (mg)	Calcium (mg)
Home-prepared chicken stock (FDC 172884)	86	6.0	343	252	7
Home-prepared beef stock (FDC 172883)	31	4.7	475	444	19
Chicken broth, ready-to-serve (FDC 174536)	15	1.6	924	45	10
Chicken broth, reduced sodium (FDC 172888)	17	3.3	554	204	19

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central per-100 g values and USDA cup weights (240 g; 249 g for ready-to-serve broth). USDA’s home-prepared stocks include vegetables and some salt, which is why the chicken stock carries carbohydrate and sodium.

Two things stand out. Homemade chicken stock has about four times the protein of regular boxed broth and less than half the sodium. And calcium is tiny: 7–19 mg per cup, under 2% of the 1,000 mg most adults need (Harvard). If you left dairy behind on paleo, bone broth won’t replace it; the paleo calcium guide lists foods that will.

Harvard’s Nutrition Source puts the protein from gelatin at roughly 5–10 g per cup, depending on the recipe. For comparison, one large egg has about 6 g.

Does bone broth give you collagen?

Not reliably. Your body breaks collagen down into amino acids like any other protein, and the amount of those amino acids in broth varies a lot from batch to batch. Three laboratory studies are worth knowing:

Does bone broth give you collagen?
Study	What they tested	Key finding
Alcock et al., 2019	Amino acids (glycine, proline, hydroxyproline and others) in homemade, café and commercial bone broths	Standardized homemade broth had significantly lower collagen amino acids than a 20 g dose of collagen supplement; non-standard recipes varied widely; commercial broths were lowest
Hsu et al., 2017	Calcium, magnesium and heavy metals extracted from animal bones in controlled cooking tests, plus homemade and commercial broth-based foods	Calcium and magnesium were under 5% of daily needs per serving; lead and cadmium were a few micrograms per serving, judged minimal risk
Monro et al., 2013	Lead in three organic chicken broths	Chicken-bone broth had 7.01 µg/L of lead and skin-and-cartilage broth 9.5 µg/L, vs 0.89 µg/L in tap water cooked the same way

Lead per cup (0.237 L), calculated from Monro’s figures: about 1.7 µg for bone broth and 2.3 µg for the skin-and-cartilage broth.

So the honest read is: bone broth is a food, not a supplement. Harvard notes the lead in the broth studied was still under half the amount EPA permits in drinking water, and the larger 2017 study judged heavy-metal risk minimal. Still, it’s a reason to rotate bone broth with other foods rather than drink quarts a day, especially for children and during pregnancy.

What does homemade bone broth cost?

Bone broth is cheapest when the bones are a by-product. Two methods at August 2026 U.S. average prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

What does homemade bone broth cost?
Method	Chicken cost	Yield	Chicken cost per quart
Buy bone-in chicken legs for broth: 3 lb at $1.67/lb	$5.01	about 3 quarts	about $1.67
Roast a 4½ lb whole chicken at $2.01/lb, eat the meat, simmer the carcass	$9.05 (buys dinner too)	about 2 quarts	about $0 extra

BLS U.S. city average prices, August 2026. Vegetables, vinegar and energy are not priced; onion, carrot and celery scraps from the week keep that cost low.

For the leg method, pull the meat off after about 3 hours of simmering and return the bones to the pot; the meat goes into soup or paleo bowls, so you’re not paying for broth alone. BLS does not track boxed bone broth prices, so compare the per-quart figure above with the shelf price where you shop.

How long does bone broth keep?

Refrigerate homemade broth for 3–4 days or freeze it for 4–6 months, the storage guidance Illinois Extension gives for its turkey bone broth. Reheat to a rolling boil before drinking or using in soup.

Freeze in useful sizes: 1-cup containers for sauces and 1-quart containers for soup. Ice cube trays hold about 2 tablespoons per cube, handy for deglazing a pan. Leave headspace, since liquids expand when frozen. The paleo freezer meals guide has more container tips.

How do you use bone broth on a paleo diet?

Soup base. Every recipe in the paleo soup recipes guide starts with stock.
Sipping. Warm a mug with a pinch of salt, grated ginger and a squeeze of lemon.
Cooking liquid. Use it in place of water for cauliflower rice, braised greens or mashed sweet potatoes.
Pan sauces and gravy. Reduce with herbs and thicken with an arrowroot slurry. The Thanksgiving turkey carcass makes an excellent batch; see the paleo Thanksgiving guide.
AIP-friendly base. Broth fits the autoimmune protocol as long as you skip peppercorns; the autoimmune paleo recipes use it often.

Common bone broth mistakes

Boiling hard. A rolling boil emulsifies fat and makes cloudy, greasy broth. Keep it at a bare simmer.
Adding vegetables at the start. After 10 hours they turn bitter and muddy. Add them for the last 2 hours.
Cooling the whole pot on the stove. A full stockpot stays warm for hours. Split it into shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours.
Salting early. Broth reduces; salt at the end or when you use it.
Expecting a calcium supplement. At under 20 mg per cup, it isn’t one.

Frequently asked questions about paleo bone broth

Is bone broth allowed on the paleo diet?

Yes. Bone broth is made from bones, water, vegetables and herbs, which are all paleo foods. Store-bought bone broth is paleo when its ingredient list is that simple; avoid products with added sugar, soy, wheat or yeast extract, and compare sodium, since regular boxed chicken broth averages about 920 mg per cup in USDA data.

How much protein is in bone broth?

USDA data put home-prepared chicken stock at about 6 g of protein per cup and beef stock at about 4.7 g. Harvard’s Nutrition Source gives a range of 5–10 g per cup from gelatin, depending on the bones and cooking time. Regular boxed broth has only about 1.6 g per cup.

Does bone broth help joints or skin?

There’s no good evidence that drinking bone broth improves joints or skin. A 2019 analysis found bone broth provided inconsistent and lower amounts of collagen amino acids than the supplement doses used in collagen research. Enjoy it as a nourishing food, but don’t rely on it as a treatment.

Is there lead in bone broth?

Small amounts can be. One small 2013 study found 7–9.5 µg of lead per liter in chicken-bone broths, several times the level in tap water cooked the same way. A larger 2017 study found only a few micrograms per serving and judged the risk minimal. Rotating broth with other foods is a sensible middle ground.

How long should you simmer paleo bone broth?

Simmer chicken bones for about 8–12 hours and beef bones for 12–24 hours at a bare simmer. Laboratory work shows cooking longer than 8 hours, and adding an acid such as vinegar, extracts more minerals, though the totals remain low. Add vegetables only for the last 2 hours.

Your next step: save your next chicken carcass

The easiest bone broth starts with a roast chicken you were going to eat anyway. Freeze the carcass, add a second one or a pound of wings, and simmer a batch on the weekend. Then use it for the soups in the paleo recipes hub all week.

Paleo Bone Broth: Recipe, What It Really Contains and What It Costs to Make