If you need a flavorful liquid base for making homemade sauces and gravies, you can make this simple beef stock from scratch in just a few hours. This simple beef stock is a rich, tasty liquid, and it’ll become a favorite recipe in your traditional foods kitchen!

Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My content may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

What is Beef Stock?

Beef Stock is a cooking liquid made by roasting beef bones, usually marrow bones, with various aromatics, including onions, carrots, and celery. (Beef stock is also referred to as Simple Beef Stock or Simple Stock.) After roasting, you’ll add these ingredients to a stock pot, cover the contents with water, and simmer everything for two to three hours. Once strained, you’ll typically use the beef stock as a base to make sauces and gravies.

How is Beef Stock Different from Brown Stock?

Brown Stock, or what is often referred to as Brown Beef Stock, is different from a simple beef stock in two ways:

  1. Brown Stock uses a combination of bones (usually beef marrow bones) with the addition of meaty bones (usually beef shanks), which increase the rich brown color of the stock.
  2. Brown Stock is simmered longer than a simple beef stock, generally for four to five hours or even longer, to reach the color and richness of flavor desired.

Beef Stock Recipe

I am always looking for efficient ways to use my time in the kitchen while still trying to prepare nutritious and flavorful meals. Having beef stock on hand ensures that I will always have a base for making the tastiest sauces and gravies that are made from real whole food ingredients.

Unlike many of the prepackaged beef stocks sold at the grocery store today, your homemade stock will not contain maltodextrin, yeast extract, food starch, caramel color, and the ever-questionable natural flavors that can include over 100 chemicals! As traditional foods home cooks, these are the ingredients we want to avoid.

You’ll find this method of making Beef Stock easy because it takes less time and uses fewer ingredients than Brown Stock. However, you will still create a semi-gelatinous liquid that will be the perfect ingredient for your meals that call for a sauce or gravy.

Watch the How to Make Beef Stock video tutorial and see just how easy it is to make a simple beef stock. Let’s get started!

Watch the How to Make Beef Stock video

Ingredients to Make Beef Stock

Find the full printable recipe with ingredients below.

  • Bones – 4 to 5 pounds of beef marrow bones
  • Celery – 2 stalks of celery, rough chopped
  • Carrots – 2 carrots, unpeeled and rough chopped
  • Onions – 2 yellow onions, unpeeled and rough chopped
  • Olive Oil – 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Black Pepper – 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper plus 10 peppercorns
  • Herbs – 1 bay leaf
  • Acid – 1 cup wine or fortified wine
  • Water – to deglaze and to cover ingredients in the stockpot

How to Make Beef Stock

Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.

  1. Place bones and vegetables on a baking sheet.
  2. Drizzle olive oil on bones and vegetables.
  3. Roast bones and vegetables in a 425°F (220°C) oven for 30-45 minutes until browned.
  4. Transfer bones and vegetables to a stockpot.
  5. Add wine or fortified wine to the stockpot and add the bay leaf.
  6. Deglaze the baking sheet with water and add to the stockpot.
  7. Fill the stockpot with water just to cover the ingredients by no more than one inch.
  8. Bring the liquid up to a boil and immediately turn it down to the lowest setting. Skim off any foam that rises to the top.
  9. Cover the stockpot with a tilted lid and allow to simmer for two to three hours to allow for some evaporation and a deepening of the color of the liquid.
  10. Strain and decant the stock.

Beef Stock Variations

  • If you prefer not to use wine or fortified wine when making beef stock, add a small amount of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to the stockpot.
  • If you do not have access to beef marrow bones, you can substitute with beef knuckle bones or beef patella bones (preferably with some of the femur attached).

Beef Stock Recipe Tips

  • For the richest flavored beef stock, use a red wine or a dark-colored fortified wine, such as port, as the acidic ingredient.
  • Be sure to allow the bones and vegetables to roast until they are well browned.
  • Simmer the beef stock until you see about an inch or two of evaporation and the liquid darkens to a rich brown. This process should take two to three hours.
  • DO NOT over simmer the stock to the point of significant evaporation. You want to make sure that you have sufficient liquid in the stockpot.

Storing and Reheating Beef Stock

Storing

  • Refrigeration – Store beef stock in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
  • Freezing – When stored in a freezer-proof container and frozen, your beef stock can stay fresh for up to two to three months.

Reheating

  • Warming – Gently warm your beef stock in a saucepan on the stovetop.

How to Use Beef Stock

Although not as deeply flavored as a traditional Brown Stock, a simple Beef Stock can be used in a variety of ways to provide a delightful flavor to:

  • Gravies
  • Sauces
  • Stews
  • Braising Vegetables
  • As a base for making a lighter French Onion Soup*

*Traditional French Onion Soup is made with Brown Stock

How to Reuse Beef Stock Ingredients

  • Bone Marrow and Bone Broth – Do not discard the bones used to make the beef stock. First, remove the marrow from the bones and use it as a spread on toasted baguettes. Bone marrow is a nutrient-dense food. (Note you can also make roasted bone marrow by itself.) Next, store the bones in the refrigerator, well-wrapped, for a few days or in the freezer for up to 2 months and add to your next batch of bone broth.
  • Thickener – To prevent waste, puree the vegetables used to make the beef stock to create a thickener for soups and stews.

Order YOUR COPY Now!

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook

Seasonal ingredients, traditional techniques, and nourishing recipes. Over 85 traditional, from-scratch recipes! Discover for yourself how you can use simple ingredients and traditional techniques to cook the modern pioneer way.

Bone Broth Recipes

If you loved this Beef Stock recipe, check out these traditional bone broth recipes.

See all →

Looking for Beef Bones for Beef Stock?

If you can’t find beef marrow bones to make beef stock in your neighborhood supermarket or farmer’s market, check out US Wellness Meats.

This post is not sponsored. I’m a long-time customer of US Wellness Meats because I have always been impressed by the quality of their products. Check out my US Wellness Meats unboxing video to see the types of products you can get, including bones for beef bone broth!

Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List

For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!

And if you’re looking for a printed book full of my traditional foods recipes that shows you how to create a traditional foods kitchen, be sure to order your copy of my new bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook. It’s already in its second printing!

Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy

Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.

Kitchen Academy Videos

See all →

Stay in Touch with Maryโ€™s Nest

  1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
  2. Subscribe to Maryโ€™s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
  3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
  4. Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook (Optional Paid) - Get a printed book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Simple Beef Stock Recipe

No ratings yet
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Simmering Time: 3 hours
Total: 4 hours
Yield: 60 ounces
If you need a flavorful liquid base for making homemade sauces and gravies, you can make this simple beef stock from scratch in just a few hours. This simple beef stock is a rich, tasty liquid, and it'll become a favorite recipe in your traditional foods kitchen!

Equipment

  • 1 half-sheet pan Or shallow roasting pan
  • 1 Large stock pot or large Dutch oven
  • 1 slotted spoon or spider strainer
  • 1 Mesh strainer or colander
  • 1 flour sack towel or cheesecloth
  • 1 large bowl, glass or stainless steel

Ingredients

  • 4 to 5 lbs beef marrow bones
  • 2 stalks of celery rough chopped
  • 2 carrots unpeeled and rough chopped
  • 2 yellow onions unpeeled and rough chopped
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup wine or fortified wine
  • 10 whole black peppercorns
  • Water sufficient to deglaze the baking pan and to cover the ingredients in stockpot

Instructions 

  • Place bones and vegetables on a baking sheet.
  • Drizzle olive oil on bones and vegetables.
  • Roast bones and vegetables in a 425°F (220°C) oven for 30-45 minutes until browned.
  • Transfer bones and vegetables to a stockpot.
  • Add wine or fortified wine to the stockpot and add the bay leaf.
  • Cooks Note: If you have not used wine or fortified wine in this recipe, add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to the stockpot.
  • Deglaze the baking sheet with water and add to the stockpot.
  • Bring the liquid up to a boil and immediately turn it down to the lowest setting. Skim off any foam that rises to the top.
  • Cover the stockpot with a tilted lid and allow to simmer for two to three hours to allow for some evaporation and a deepening of the color of the liquid.
  • Strain the stock and decant into airtight glass containers. This stock will stay fresh for one week. .
  • Stored in a freezer proof container and frozen, this stock will stay fresh for two to three months.

Video

Notes

Find this recipe and video at xyz
For more traditional foods recipes and a guide to build your traditional foods kitchen, get my bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook, at https://marysnest.com/my-cookbook/
Free and comprehensive lesson plans to teach traditional food recipes and kitchen techniques to students K-12, download The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum at https://marysnest.com/cookbook-curriculum/
Copyright © 2024 Mary’s Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved
Course: Soups & Stews
Cuisine: French
Keyword: Beef Stock, Simple Beef Stock, Simple Stock
Watch Mary’s Nest on YouTube

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

  • Visit Maryโ€™s Nest Amazon Shop
  • Visit my Shopping Guide page
    Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman's, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!

Posted in: ,

About the Author

Read More About Me

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating