A nourishing Homemade Beef Stock made just for baby! This salt-free, gluten-free and additive-free beef stock recipe is perfect for babies starting solids around 6 months. Homemade beef stock provides a nourishing base for baby’s meals, adding depth and a rich source of minerals. Use it in purees, soups, sauces, and casseroles, or just add a small amount to soften and flavour cooked veggies and proteins. Just like with my homemade vegetable stock recipe, making your own beef stock allows you to control the ingredients and avoid the additives and salt found in many store-bought options.
Ingredients in Homemade Beef Stock
Here’s what you need to make this gentle, baby-friendly beef stock:
Beef bones – I use soup bones available from my local supermarket. The more meaty the bone, the more flavour! Look for marrow or knuckle bones, which are high in collagen and create a rich, nutritious stock. If your supermarket doesn’t stock them, ask your butcher for quality bones.
Apple cider vinegar – This helps to draw out the minerals from the bones.
Onion, carrot, and celery – These vegetables add depth of flavour to the stock.
Bay Leaves – Adds a subtle aroma to the stock. A dried leaf is fine, but if you have fresh leaves then use those instead!
Parsley, thyme and oregano – Fresh herbs add a gentle flavour. Fresh parsley is a must, but you can substitute with 2 teaspoons of dried thyme and oregano if needed.
Black peppercorns – For extra flavour, use whole peppercorns.
Water
How to make Beef Stock for Baby
To make this beef stock, first roast the bones. This step enhances the flavour and colour of the stock. Place the bones on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 45 minutes until browned. Then, add the bones to a large pot with the apple cider vinegar. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes, for the minerals to be drawn out from the bones. If you like, at the same time you can de-glaze the roasting tray and add the drippings to the stock pot. Then, into the stock pot add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, oregano and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a very gentle simmer.
It’s really important to try to have it on the lowest simmer possible! I have a gas stove, and it’s so hard to lower the temperature enough so that the stock just bubbles ever so slightly, once in a while. I have to leave the pot half off the burner, and regularly turn and check it. But if the stock simmers too hard, it will go cloudy and reduce too much, leaving you with very little yield!
Let it simmer for 6-8 hours, allowing the flavours and nutrients to infuse. Once done, strain the stock to remove the bones and vegetables, and your homemade beef stock is ready!
You’ll find the recipe card below, with ingredient amounts and detailed steps.
Beef stock vs. beef broth vs. bone broth
In the culinary world, beef stock typically has no salt and is simmered with bones for an extended time, creating a rich base. Beef broth, on the other hand, is usually seasoned and may not include bones. For baby, stock’s unseasoned base is perfect, so you can avoid unnecessary sodium, and customise flavours to suit baby’s palate as they grow!
Bone broth is often promoted as a really nutrient-dense food for baby. As far as I can tell, bone broth uses gelatinous cuts of bones and cooked longer than stock, to try to draw out the gelatin, collagen and other minerals within them.
How long to simmer beef stock for
This Beef Stock recipe suggests gently simmering for 6-8 hours. Just keep simmering the baby’s beef stock for as long as you can. The longer it cooks, the more nourishing and flavourful the broth will be.
Some recipes, particularly those for bone broth for baby, recommend simmering for 24 to 48 hours. At first I thought it was a typo! I’m just not confident enough to go to sleep with the stovetop on, and I think for most home cooks with babies, it’s a bit unrealistic. If you can achieve it, well done!
It’s because of this long cook time, that I haven’t called this a bone broth recipe.
Using Homemade Beef Stock
Beef stock is incredibly versatile for baby’s meals! Use it in purees, soups, and casseroles, or add it when cooking grains like rice and quinoa. It adds a boost of nutrition and flavour without needing extra salt or seasonings. For older babies, you can use it to soften mashed vegetables or mix it into cooked proteins.
It also makes a really flavourful base for a No Salt Gravy, which is perfect for the whole family, baby included.
Storing Homemade Beef Stock
Allow the Beef Stock to cool fully before storing. You can place the uncovered pot in a sink full of cold water to cool it more rapidly. You can change the water every so often as it warms up. Cooling the stock as quickly as possible is really important to prevent bacteria growth.
Place it in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days. When refrigerated, the fat on the surface of the stock will solidify and can be scraped off. The stock itself should solidify too into a jelly-like substance from the rich gelatin in the beef bones.
For longer storage, you can freeze in small portions for up to 3 months. When freezing, pour the stock into ice cube trays or small silicone moulds. These are easy to pop out and use in baby’s meals. I like to freeze my stock in 1/4 cup portions in silicone muffin trays and then transfer them to labelled freezer bags. Always label with the date, and remember to follow safe food handling practices when freezing, thawing, and reheating baby food.
Looking for more essentials to make baby’s meals flavourful? Try my baby-friendly vegetable stock. It’s another salt-free, nourishing option perfect for baby food.
If you make this Homemade Beef Stock for Baby, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing how my recipes work for you and your family! Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more baby food recipes.
Happy cooking,
Chloe x
Homemade Beef Stock for Baby
Category: Family MainsTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 2 kg beef soup bones (Note 1)
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (Note 2)
- 3 L water
- 1 onion peeled and quartered
- 1 carrot peeled and cut into 4 pieces
- 1 celery stick cut into 4 pieces
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh oregano
- 6 sprigs fresh parsley
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced). Grease a roasting tray with olive oil.
- Place the 2 kg beef soup bones onto the tray. Roast for 45 minutes, turning at 30 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Add the beef bones to a large stock pot along with the 2 tsp apple cider vinegar and 3 L water. Let sit 30 minutes for the minerals to be leached from the bones.
- OPTIONAL: De-glaze the roasting pan. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat. Add ¼ cup extra water. When it starts to simmer, scrape the tray. Once the drippings/food has mostly been removed from the tray and dissolved into the water, pour into the stock pot.
- Add all remaining ingredients to the stock pot: 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, 2 dried bay leaves, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 2 sprigs fresh oregano, 6 sprigs fresh parsley. Bring the stock to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer uncovered on the lowest heat possible for 6-8 hours (Note 3).
- Check the stock regularly, scooping off any surface scum.
- Remove stock from the heat, and remove the bones. Carefully strain through a fine mesh sieve into another large pot or heat-proof container. Squeeze any remaining liquid from the vegetables.
- If not using immediately, allow the stock to cool. Transfer into sterilised jars for refrigerating or portion out into containers/ice cube trays for freezing. Once chilled, you can remove the solidified fat from the surface of the stock.
One Response
I love this salt-free beef stock! It makes an amazing flavour base. Not as cheap or easy as store-bought liquid stocks, but WAY better in terms of taste. Plus, I know the quality of ingredients and how long it’s been cooked for to get all that good stuff out of beef bones.