Easy beef stock

Our beef stock recipe is better than anything you can buy. It won’t contain salt (shop-bought stocks often contain too much) and it’s simple to make.

See our step-by-step guide for how to make meat stock too.

Our beef stock recipe is better than anything you can buy. It won’t contain salt (shop-bought stocks often contain too much) and it’s simple to make.

See our step-by-step guide for how to make meat stock too.

Ingredients

Cook Mode Sticky screen? No thanks! Tap to prevent your screen from going off while cooking.

Put the bones into a large, sturdy roasting tray with the onions. Roast in a hot oven for an hour until well browned.
Put the bones and onions into your largest saucepan and fill the pan with cold water. Add the carrots, celery sticks, peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme and parsley.
Bring just to a simmer, not a raging boil – as this encourages the surface scum to boil back into the stock. Using a ladle, skim off the scum (the froth that floats on the surface) as often as you want.

Cook for about 2-3 hours. Taste it – and taste it often – until the stock has a good depth of flavour.
To strain the stock, pour the contents of the pan through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Skim off any fat from the surface. If you have time, leave the stock to go cold, then chill overnight. The next day, lift off the solidified fat on top.