The Best Homemade Beef Stock Recipe | French Technique (2024)

Using classic French culinary techniques, this beef stock recipe produces a rich and full-bodied stock that can be used in countless dishes.

There is nothing quite like the comforting smell of homemade beef stock simmering away on your stove! It's a comforting aroma that can make any kitchen feel like home.

Making it from scratch doesn't have to be daunting – take it one step at a time, and soon you'll be making delicious stocks that will add an unbeatable flavour to all your favorite recipes.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Auguste Escoffier, the godfather of worldwide culinary techniques. So let's get started!

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Homemade Beef Stock Recipe

Make this beef stock and add great rich flavor and depth to a variety of dishes. It's also economical to use leftovers and scraps that you may otherwise throw away. With just a few ingredients and simple steps, you can make delicious homemade beef stock in no time!

It is a must have ingredient to make stews, or beef soup. Or tasty french onion soups just is not the same without at least 2 cups of beef stock.

It is important to point out beef broth / bone broth is made from cooking beef, and to make the stock it is done from cooking the bones.

It is possible to use stock and broth interchangeably. Keep in mind the stock will have a great depth of flavor. Be sure to try our great recipe to make chicken stock.

Step #1) The Beef Bones

First purchase them at the grocery store, call ahead and ask the butcher if they have bones available that day. Store-bought beef bones can also be found at Asian supermarkets, my personally favorite way to get them. Sometimes you get some with meat left on the bones.

You will want a mixture of femur and knucklebones.

  • The femur bones are long; most identify as normal bones.
  • And the knucklebones are joints and have a lot of connective tissue, which results in a big flavor.

The Femur Bones

Femur bones are large and full of marrow, often called marrow bones, making them ideal for making stock. The marrow helps give the broth its rich flavor, while the size of the bone allows it to release its flavor over long periods of time when simmering in liquid.

The collagen present in the bone also helps add body and viscosity to your beef stock. These qualities make femur bones an essential ingredient when it comes to making delicious beef stock.

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Knucklebones for Beef Stock

Beef knucklebones are the ankle bones of cows. They are made up of two bones connected by cartilage and have some tendons still attached. The marrow inside the bones adds an intense flavor that cannot be recreated elsewhere.

Additionally, beef knucklebone helps give stocks a rich color and thickness that you don’t get with other ingredients such as vegetables or herbs alone. This makes them ideal for making flavorful stocks that will stand out from the rest.

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Preparing and Cleaning The Beef Bones

We need to clean the bones of impurities. If this step isn't done well, your beef stock will have an off-putting flavor profile. No problem; this step is straightforward.

Add the bones to a large stockpot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. You'll start to see impurities start coming to the surface. You will want to remove as much as you can.

It is essential to boil & skim off the impurities in the bones that rise to the top. Bring to a boil three times, boiling for 5 minutes between skimming. Do this a total of 3 times, removing as much as you can.

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Next, remove the bones from the water, discard the water, and clean out the stockpot.

Step 2#) Roasting The Bones

Roast the bones is an important step when making homemade stock because it helps bring out their flavor and adds color and texture to your finished product!

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Transfer them to a large cookie sheet or roasting pan with aluminum foil for easy cleanup and extra heat insulation. Layout the bones with the marrow side straight up and down.

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After 30 minutes, paint on tomato paste. Only smear tomato paste on one side. You will not get the beef stock's correct flavor if you use too much.

Place back into the oven for additional 20 minutes. The process will brown and caramelize the natural sugars in the tomato paste, creating a great depth of flavor.

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Step 3#) Cooking The Beef Stock

Chop and prepare your mirepoix, which is 50%Onion, 25% Carrot, and 25% Celery. Add the bones and veggies to the stockpot along with thesachet. The sachet is cheesecloth with all the herbs and spices tied with a trusting string.

Mirepoix Ingredients:

For the stock, we will be using equal parts.

  • 3 large Onions (chopped)
  • 3 large Carrots (chopped)
  • 3 stalks of Celery (chopped)

Sachet Ingredients:

  • 15 sprigs of Fresh Thyme
  • 8 Parsley Stems
  • 15 Black Peppercorns
  • 7 Bay Leaves

Place the vegetables and sachet into a large stock pot.

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Next, add all the roasted bones to the large pot. Other options, use a slow cooker, instant pot / pressure cooker.

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Cover the bones with water and place on the stovetop, and boil. Then turn the heat down to low and allow it to simmer for up to 48 hours.

Please note that you do not have to cook it this long, at least 4 hours. If you want to cook it faster, I suggest boiling at a higher temperature to help release the bone marrow and natural flavors.

The reason for cooking the beef stock for 48 hours is flavor extraction. Over the last 8 to 12 hours of simmering, I suggest removing the lid and allowing the stock to reduce a little bit. Congratulations, you now have excellent beef stock with authentic beef flavor that bought stock is lacking.

Straining The Stock

The finished stock, strain stock through a fine mesh, or strain the stock through cheesecloth. Make sure to cook the brown liquid down to around 72 degrees room temperature. This will reduce the chance of bacteria growing during storage.

Store in the refrigerator covered. The next day you will see the stock has a gelatinous texture. Plus clean tallow beef butter that will rise to the top.

Watch How-To Make Beef Stock

You can see in the photo below, the beef stock looks beautiful in color.

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How To Freeze

The first step is to make sure that you are using the right containers for freezing your beef stock. BPA-free plastic containers, food-grade plastic bags, or glass jars with lids will work best for freezing beef stock. Make sure all of your containers are thoroughly washed and dried before adding your stock.

Once your containers are clean, fill them with the cooled beef stock until they are about two-thirds full. Don’t overfill them – leaving some empty space at the top will allow for expansion as the contents freeze.

Labeling Your Containers
It may seem like an unnecessary step, but labeling your containers is essential! This way you can easily track when they were made and when they should be used by (generally within 2 months). You should also note what type of stock it is - whether chicken or beef - as well as any additional ingredients that might have gone into making the stock (such as onions, garlic, etc.).

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📖 Recipe

Classic French Beef Stock

Steven Pennington

How to make clean homemade beef stock

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Prep Time 50 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 days d

Total Time 2 days d 50 minutes mins

Course Classic Stock

Cuisine French

Servings 6 Quarts

Calories 21 kcal

Suggested Equipment

1 Stock Pot

1 Cheesecloth

1 Strainer

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds Beef Femur Bones Femur & Knuckle
  • 5 tbps Tomato Paste

Mirepoix

  • 3 large Onions Vidalia Onion-Texas Sweets
  • 3 large Carrots You can add more if you like a sweeter beef stock
  • 3 large Celery

Sachet

  • 15 sprigs Fresh Thyme
  • 15 Black Peppercorns
  • 7 Bay Leaves
  • 8 stems Parsley There is a lot of flavor in the stems. Add leaves if you like.

Instructions

  • Cleaning The Bones:

    First, add the beef bones to a large stockpot and cover it with water. Bring to a boil. You will start seeing impurities come to the top. Boil for 5 minutes and scoop out everything that floats to the top. Repeat 3 times, cooking for 5 minutes each time.

    Remove the bones and discard the liquid. Clean the stockpot well.

  • Vegetable Option: You could roast the onions, carrots, and celery in the oven until tender. It adds flavor but is not required.

  • Roasting The Bones:

    Place the bones on a cookie sheet or roasting pan covered with aluminum foil. Helps with the roasting and clean up.

    Roast bones in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Next, paint on tomato paste to the tops "only" of the beef bones and place back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.

  • Cooking The Beef Stock:

    Place all roasted bones, onion, carrots, celery & Sachet into a large stockpot and cover with water.

    Bring to a boil, turn the heat low, and cover.

    Cook for 36 hours, then remove the cover and allow it to reduce, but do not turn up the temperature. Slow reduction.

Notes

French beef stock, or fond de veau, is an important component of French cuisine. It is typically made from beef or veal bones and aromatics, and it is used to flavor and deglaze dishes.

There are a few things to keep in mind when making beef stock. First, you want to simmer the stock for a long time so that the flavors can develop. This means that you'll need to start with good quality bones - they should be fresh, not frozen.

French beef stock is an intensely flavorful and aromatic base for countless delicious dishes. Made by simmering beef bones and vegetables in water, it's rich in minerals and slowed-cooked flavor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupCalories: 21kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 0.3gFat: 1.2gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.8gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 31mgPotassium: 120mgFiber: 0.8gSugar: 1.4gVitamin A: 210IUCalcium: 10.5mgIron: 0.2mg

Keyword French Beef Stock, Homemade Beef Stock

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The Best Homemade Beef Stock Recipe | French Technique (2024)

FAQs

How do you make the best stock? ›

Points to remember
  1. Place chicken carcasses/bones into large pan and top with cold water. Heat to a gentle simmer and skim off any protein scum which rises up. ...
  2. Add vegetables and bouquet garni. ...
  3. Strain the stock, pour into a clean pan and boil fiercely to reduce the stock and intensify the flavour.

How do you make beef stock taste better? ›

Throw In Extra Aromatics

The base of most stocks are flavorful aromatics, like onion, carrot, and celery. An easy way to punch up the lackluster flavor of boxed stocks is by adding more of those basics. An onion sliced in half, plus a few chunks of carrots and celery can go a long way in flavoring store-bought stocks.

What makes the best beef broth? ›

With beef stock, it helps to include some beef scraps or stew meat, as well as aromatic vegetables and herbs. Also, a few veal bones will help provide gelatin to the stock.

What are the best bones for beef stock? ›

Traditional recipes recommend using bones rich in marrow and flavor, such as beef marrow bones, oxtails, beef feet or beef neck bones. For this article, we will focus on beef marrow bones. To make a nutritious and delicious beef bone broth, we recommend using beef marrow bones or beef oxtails.

What cooking method is best for stock? ›

Cooking a Stock. Stocks are gently simmered, never boiled, to extract their flavors. They must be started in cold water to gently open and release impurities, caused by proteins in the meat and bones to rise to the top and be easily skimmed from the surface.

What not to do when making stock? ›

Share
  1. MISTAKE #1: TOO HOT IN HERE. A rich, full-bodied broth comes from the conversion of connective tissue (mainly collagen) into gelatin through the application of heat in the presence of moisture. ...
  2. MISTAKE #2: ALL INGREDIENTS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. When it comes to cooking time at least. ...
  3. MISTAKE #3: FORGETTING TO FINISH.

Why do you put vinegar in beef stock? ›

Then add apple cider vinegar, which is added primarily because the acidity breaks down the collagen and makes it more abundant in the broth.

What add to beef broth for more flavor? ›

Woody herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, tarragon, and marjoram release tons of flavor as they slowly simmer in stock. Give them a rinse and toss in a big handful of sprigs per quart of store-bought stock.

What adds flavor to a stock? ›

The most basic version of vegetable stock only requires a few simple ingredients, such as carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Most recipes will also recommend adding mushrooms, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt for additional flavor.

How do you make broth taste richer? ›

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.

What is the best beef stock? ›

Top 15 Beef Stocks Products
  • Knorr. Gluten Free Beef Stock Pot. 28g. ...
  • Knorr. Beef Stock Cubes. 10g. ...
  • Knorr. 8 Beef Stock Pot. 28g. ...
  • ASDA Extra Special. Roast Beef Stock. 450g. ...
  • Oxo. Reduced Salt Beef Stock 12 Cubes. 71g. ...
  • Aldi Quixo. Quixo Beef Stock Pots Pots. 24g. ...
  • Knorr. Gluten Free 8 Rich Beef Stock Pot. 28g. ...
  • M&S. Cook With M&S Beef Stock. 500ml.

What is the difference between beef broth and beef stock? ›

Although both stock and broth involve simmering in water, broth uses meat while stock uses bones. As a result, broth contains very little protein, a key ingredient in building flavor. Additionally, broth often does not contain vegetables or herbs, thereby requiring higher sodium levels to impart flavor.

What 3 things must you do to prepare bones for a stock? ›

You can make a simple and delicious broth for cooking or drinking by following three easy steps: roast your bones, simmer it low and slow, then strain and store for later use.

How long do you boil bones for stock? ›

Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer: Bring to a boil on high heat and reduce to a low simmer. If scum rises to the surface of the pot (this usually happens in the first half hour of cooking), skim off with a large metal spoon. Let simmer uncovered at a low simmer for 4 to 6 hours.

How do you make stock from scratch? ›

To make homemade chicken stock, place chicken bones, vegetables, herbs and spices into a large pot. Cover with cold water then simmer for about 3 hours. Let it cool, then skim the fat. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

What is the best stock to make money fast? ›

Alongside Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is one of the best money making stocks to invest in. In its Q3 2023 investor letter, Polen Capital, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Adobe Inc.

Do you cook broth covered or uncovered? ›

Bring broth to a simmer and lower heat as low as it will go while maintaining a slight simmer. Leave uncovered or partially covered and simmer 4-6 hours. Remove from heat, cover pot, and let sit on the counter overnight. In the morning, skim off fat, if desired.

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