Ina Garten’s Richest Beef Stock Recipe: Perfect Every Time

Beef stock transforms ordinary dishes into culinary masterpieces with its deep, rich flavor profile that resonates through kitchens worldwide.

Home cooks often underestimate the magical complexity brewing within a carefully crafted beef stock.

Robust bones slowly simmer, releasing profound layers of umami and intense meaty essence that penetrate every ingredient.

The secret lies in patient roasting, strategic ingredient selection, and understanding fundamental flavor development techniques.

Each batch represents a potential symphony of taste, connecting traditional cooking methods with modern gastronomic innovation.

Passionate cooks recognize beef stock as more than a mere ingredient – it’s a transformative culinary canvas waiting to unleash remarkable depth: Get ready to master this fundamental technique.

Why Homemade Beef Stock Is Worth It

• Unleash Rich, Deep Flavors: Roasting beef bones and vegetables before making stock creates an incredible depth of flavor that transforms ordinary recipes into extraordinary culinary experiences.
• Master a Professional Cooking Technique: This method mimics classic French stock-making techniques, allowing home cooks to develop restaurant-quality base for soups, sauces, and braised dishes with minimal professional training.
• Craft a Versatile Kitchen Staple: Homemade beef stock becomes a powerful ingredient that elevates multiple recipes, offering superior taste and nutrition compared to store-bought versions, while giving complete control over salt and ingredient quality.
• Enjoy a Simple, Hands-Off Cooking Process: Despite taking several hours, this recipe requires minimal active cooking time, making it perfect for weekend meal preparation or when you want to accomplish something delicious while doing other household tasks.

The Must-Have Beef Stock Ingredients

• Beef Bones: Rich source of flavor and collagen, preferably from a butcher with grass-fed or organic options for deeper taste.
• Beef Marrow Bones: Adds extra richness and depth to the stock, choose bones with good marrow content.

• Tomato Paste: Enhances color and provides a subtle sweet-tangy depth to the stock.
• Onions, Carrots, Celery: Classic mirepoix that builds foundational flavor and adds natural sweetness.
• Garlic: Provides robust, earthy undertone to the stock.

• Herbs de Provence or Fresh Herbs: Adds herbal complexity, can use mixed dried or fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary.
• Black Peppercorns: Whole peppercorns release gradual, warm spiciness during long cooking.
• Salt: Enhances overall flavor, adjust to personal taste preference.

• Red Wine: Helps deglaze the pan and adds sophisticated depth to the stock's flavor profile.
• Water: Primary liquid for creating the stock's base, use filtered water for best results.

How to Simmer Stock Like Ina

Step 1: Prepare Roasting Setup

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange beef bones on a large roasting pan, ensuring they are spread out evenly for maximum flavor development.

Step 2: First Roasting Stage

Roast the bones for 1 hour until they develop a deep golden-brown color and release rich, meaty aromas throughout the kitchen.

Step 3: Add Flavor Enhancers

• Onions
• Carrots
• Celery

Layer these ingredients around and on top of the bones.

Step 4: Second Roasting Session

Return pan to oven and roast for an additional 30 minutes, allowing vegetables to caramelize and intensify their flavors.

Step 5: Create Flavor Base

Transfer roasting pan to stovetop. Pour red wine into the pan, scraping up all the delicious browned bits from the bottom using a wooden spoon.

Step 6: Build the Stock

• Fresh thyme
• Bay leaves
• Whole peppercorns
• Garlic cloves
• Kosher salt

Step 7: Simmer and Extract Flavors

Bring liquid to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low simmer. Let stock develop for 4 hours, allowing flavors to meld together beautifully.

Step 8: Finish and Strain

Remove from heat. Skim off any accumulated fat from the surface. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding bones and spent vegetables. Your homemade beef stock is ready to use in multiple culinary dishs.

Tips for Richer, Deeper Flavor

• Boost Flavor Depth: Roast beef bones and vegetables until deeply caramelized, creating a rich, complex base for your homemade stock.
• Capture Golden Goodness: Deglaze the roasting pan with wine, scraping up every delicious browned bit to unlock maximum savory notes.
• Keep it Crystal Clear: Gently skim foam and fat during simmering to produce a pristine, clean-tasting stock with restaurant-quality transparency.
• Strain Like a Pro: Use a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove all solids, ensuring a silky-smooth liquid with professional-level refinement.
• Storage Savvy: Cool the stock completely before refrigerating, and skim off any solidified fat on top for a lighter, more concentrated flavor base.

Storage Advice for Beef Stock Success

• Freezer Bags Method: Pour cooled stock into labeled freezer-safe bags, removing excess air to prevent freezer burn. Lay bags flat for space-efficient storage that allows quick thawing and easy stacking.
• Ice Cube Tray Method: Freeze stock in ice cube trays for perfect small portions. Pop out frozen cubes and transfer to sealed freezer bags, ideal for adding quick flavor to sauces, gravies, and recipes requiring small stock amounts.
• Glass Jar Method: Transfer completely cooled stock to wide-mouth glass mason jars, leaving one inch of headspace for expansion. Seal tightly and store in freezer, ensuring minimal risk of cracking by cooling stock thoroughly before freezing.

Flavor Variations for Your Next Batch

• Herb-Infused Bone Broth: Enhance the stock by adding fresh rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves during roasting for an aromatic depth of flavor. The additional herbs will create a more complex and rich taste profile.
• Smoky Beef Stock: Incorporate smoked beef bones or add a splash of liquid smoke during the roasting process. This variation introduces a deep, campfire-like essence that elevates the traditional stock.
• Wine-Enriched Beef Stock: Use a full-bodied red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon instead of standard wine for deglazing. The robust wine will intensify the stock's complexity and provide a more pronounced depth of flavor.
• Asian-Inspired Beef Broth: Replace traditional herbs with star anise, ginger, and green onions during the simmering stage. This version transforms the classic beef stock into a more globally inspired culinary experience.

Beef Stock Recipe Summary

Culinary enthusiasts rejoice in Ina Garten’s robust beef stock recipe, which transforms ordinary ingredients into liquid gold.

Kitchen masters can elevate their dishes with this deeply flavorful foundation of professional cooking.

Layers of complex taste emerge from carefully roasted bones and caramelized vegetables, creating an extraordinary base for soups, sauces, and stews.

Garten’s meticulous technique guarantees rich, concentrated flavors that home chefs can master with patience and precision.

Professional and home kitchens alike benefit from this sophisticated stock method, which unlocks profound depth in countless recipes.

Passionate cooks – you’ll want to bookmark, share this incredible technique, slam that like button, and spread the delicious knowledge with fellow culinary adventurers!

Ina Garten Beef Stock Recipe

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4.8 from 32 reviews

• Total Time: 5 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: 10 1x

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Description

Ina Garten’s beef stock emerges as a culinary cornerstone, rich with deep, robust flavors from carefully selected bones and aromatic vegetables. Home chefs will discover this foundational liquid elevates soups, sauces, and braised dishes with professional-grade complexity and depth.

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Ingredients

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Proteins:

• 7 pounds (3.18 kilograms) beef bones, sawed into 2-inch pieces

Vegetables and Aromatics:

• 2 cups (300 grams) chopped onions
• 1 cup (150 grams) chopped celery
• 1 cup (150 grams) chopped carrots
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled

Liquid and Seasonings:

• 2 cups (470 milliliters) claret wine
• 1 (6-ounce) (170 grams) can tomato paste
• 1 ½ gallons (5.68 liters) water
• 20 peppercorns
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Arrange the bones in a roasting pan, ensuring they are spread out evenly for thorough roasting.
2. Roast the bones for approximately 1 hour until they develop a deep golden-brown color and release rich, aromatic flavors.
3. Remove the roasted bones from the oven and generously spread tomato paste over their surface, coating them completely for enhanced depth of flavor.
4. Carefully distribute chopped vegetables around and on top of the bone-tomato paste mixture, creating a flavorful bed for additional roasting.
5. Return the pan to the oven and roast for an additional 30 minutes, allowing the vegetables to caramelize and intensify their natural sweetness.
6. Transfer the roasting pan to the stovetop and deglaze with wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the concentrated browned bits clinging to the pan’s bottom.
7. Carefully transfer the entire mixture into a large stock pot, incorporating all the caramelized elements and roasted ingredients.
8. Add fresh herbs, minced garlic cloves, whole peppercorns, and season with salt to enhance the overall taste profile.
9. Bring the liquid to a vigorous boil, then immediately reduce the heat to maintain a gentle, consistent simmer.
10. Allow the stock to simmer slowly for 4 hours, periodically skimming off any accumulated fat from the surface.
11. Once cooking is complete, strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the spent bones and vegetables, and reserve the rich, flavorful stock.

Notes

• Enhance the beef’s richness by roasting bones and vegetables until deeply golden and caramelized before simmering.
• Capture maximum flavor by using wine to deglaze the roasting pan, lifting every delicious browned bit from the bottom.
• Remove impurities and excess fat throughout cooking by gently skimming foam from the stock’s surface.
• Filter the finished stock carefully through a fine mesh sieve to guarantee crystal-clear, silky liquid.
• Cool stock completely before storing, allowing fat to solidify on top for easy removal and cleaner flavor profile.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
• Category: Dinner, Snacks
• Method: Roasting
• Cuisine: American

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 10
• Calories: 50
• Sugar: 2 g
• Sodium: 60 mg
• Fat: 1 g
• Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0.5 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 7 g
• Fiber: 1 g
• Protein: 3 g
• Cholesterol: 10 mg