Whats the difference between bone broth and chicken broth

What passes these days as bone broth is shocking.

Nay, criminal!

While we hope the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) eventually passes guidelines for bone broth claims, here's some of the most egregious forms of false bone broth advertising:

• Artificial meat-flavored broth containing the neurotoxin, MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• Freeze-dried soup mix
• Canned broth with BPA lining
• Bouillon cubes with synthetic ingredients

But usually, the biggest bone broth lie is when a soup stock is labeled as bone broth.

What's the difference between bone broth and stock?

Let's start with the ingredients.

Real bone broth contains animal parts that you wouldn't normally eat. We're talking, of course, bones. But also joint components like ligaments and tendons. Even the soft, fatty bits of the bones better known as marrow. Bone broth can even include the skin (in the case of a cow, it's called the "hide").

Bone broth also contains vegetables and spices and herbs.

By comparison, soup stock also contains vegetables, spices and herbs. Stock also might contain some meat, even some bones, but not the other animal parts.

The other big difference between real bone broth and soup stock is cooking time.

Typically, soup stock only simmers for a few hours. As for traditional, tried and true bone broth, it takes at least 24 hours of cooking time. Some bone broths even simmer for up to 48 hours (like ours).

That bone broth includes the whole animal and cooks for longer is the reason it's far superior in health than soup stock.

And here's why:

The much longer cooking time of bone broth allows the animal parts you normally wouldn't eat on their own to release some incredible nutrients. Chief among these healing compounds is collagen. Not only does the chicken or cow contain collagen, so do you. In fact, collagen is your most abundant protein in your body. It's in your skin, hair, teeth, joints, bones and more. It provides structure to almost your whole body.

However, as you get older your body's collagen degenerates by as much as 1-2% per year. That's why bone broth is crucial for graceful aging. By consuming collagen from cow or chicken, you are helping regenerate your own collagen.

Soup stock, because of its short cooking time, does not contain collagen. To be sure, if it does contain some collagen, it's very minimal and likely won't help reform your own collagen. Furthermore, soup stock does not contain all the animal parts bone broth contains. This means that even if soup stock was cooked for longer you still wouldn't get as much collagen as you would from bone broth. That's because bone broth contains ligaments, tendons, cartilage, etc.

Although it might be weird to wrap your head around this fact, if you want healthier joints, the traditional way of doing so is consuming the long-simmered joints of animals. In other words, collagen from animals leach into the bone broth only because it simmers for so long. This results in the collagen being easy to absorb and digest.

Here's another important difference between traditional bone broth and soup stock. Bone broth contains more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other vital health-promoting nutrients per serving than soup stock. For example, bone broth contains chondroitin and glucosamine, both of which are critical for curbing inflammation and joint pain.

There are so many health benefits from eating real bone broth. Way more than gussied-up soup stock that tries to pass off as bone broth.

All the health benefits from bone broth are too numerous to mention right now. We'll cover specific benefits in future blog posts.

But suffice to say that hopefully after reading this you won't be fooled.

Bone broth should contain grass-fed bones (in the case of beef bone broth) or pasture-raised chicken bones (and necks, feet, etc.). It should also contain all-natural vegetables and spices and herbs.

Each product has been independently selected by our editorial team. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms.

Picture it now: you're making a delicious soup recipe and it calls for chicken broth. You open your fridge and all you have is stock! Is your soup ruined?

What's the difference, anyway?

Not much, says Rach. "Stock has a little deeper, richer favor. Broth is just lighter and clearer," she explains.

"They're completely interchangeable," she stresses.

WHAT IS STOCK?

Stock is typically made from simmering various ingredients with onions, carrots, celery and herbs in water for an extended period of time. For vegetable stock, this might include only the ingredients above, but for chicken stock and beef stock, it will include bones (great use for a leftover roast chicken!).

Stock usually cooks from anywhere between two and six hours, and you don't add seasoning since it's typically used to add flavor to soups, sauces, and gravy.

WHAT IS BROTH?

Broth typically contains meat simmered in water, in addition to the same ingredients in stock. Unlike stock, broths come together a lot quicker—sometimes in two hours or less! The shorter cooking time means broth is usually more clear and won't be as rich as stock. Broth can be used in the same types of recipes as stock, but since it has more seasoning, it's a tasty snack on its own.

"Broth is just the byproduct of poaching—like when I make poached chicken," Rach explains. "You can put a little or a lot in there, but you don't want to change the color. You want it to be clear and pretty." 

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BONE BROTH (aka bone stock) AND STOCK?

Bone broth has become a popular health trend lately—but it's basically just a trendy name for stock.

Just like a good stock, it's made with "soup bones" that have extra meat and cartilage and simmered for a long time (up to 18 hours—but you really can't overcook it). The goal is to break down the cartilage, which results in a gelatinous, collagen-rich liquid (think meaty Jell-O when you refrigerate it!) that is great for your skin, hair and nails, and your gut health, says nutritionist JJ Smith. Smith claims that it could even help reduce wrinkles!

"Bone stock became really popular because it's literally made with bones, so you get bone marrow and arguably some additional nutrients," Rach explains. "And the marrow has gelatin in it, so it has a different look and feel. But you can buy zero fat and you can make zero fat bone stock, but it's time-consuming. You have to roast the bones or toast the bones, so it's kind of a lengthy process. And then if you want it to be zero fat, of course, it has to be skimmed and skimmed — or [use] a layer of egg white on top to remove all the impurities, so it can be really labor intensive."

"You can't have a vegetarian bone broth, but you can toast the vegetables," Rach adds, "to develop flavor and depth of flavor and color and get that caramelization." 

WHEN DO YOU USE STOCK VS. BROTH?

Basically, it's mostly a matter of flavor! They can all be used interchangeably, so no need to stress if your recipe calls for broth and you only have stock, or vice versa.

Making stock or broth can be time consuming. Luckily, there are plenty of great store-bought options of various broths and stocks, including Rachael's Stock-in-a-Box!

Supermarket options can even be enhanced by simmering with some veggies or herbs for a bit, before using it in your recipe.

Of course, everyone can agree: stock or broth, homemade is always best, especially when you're using it for something where you want a rich flavor, like Rachael's hearty chicken noodle soup. (And it doesn't have to be chicken: you can make tasty beef stock, shrimp stock, and vegetable broth at home, using mostly leftovers!)

Can I substitute bone broth for chicken broth?

Which is healthier bone broth or broth?

Which is healthier chicken stock or chicken bone broth?