I’ve got a delicious and nutritious treat to share with you today!
Our resident herbalist Tara has put together a video for an easy-to-make medicinal broth that’s packed with healing ingredients. (The best part is that you can tweak it to fit your family’s dietary needs and tastebuds, which is always a plus.)
Drinking herbal broth on a regular basis is one of the simplest ways to get concentrated herbal healing into your diet every day. Whether you put some in a bottle and drink it at work or you use it as a base for your favorite dishes, you’re benefiting from the medicinal qualities of up to 10 herbs and veggies that you may be missing from your regular old diet.
Think of a broth as a really strong tea. You can boost digestion, overall feelings of balance, strengthen your immune system and calm your mind in just a few sips.
I hope you enjoy this soul-nourishing recipe as much as we do!
Ingredients:
- 8-12 Cups of Water
- 1 Large Onion, Chopped in Half
- 2 Carrots, Chopped
- 1 Stalk of Celery Chopped
- 3 Large strips of any seaweed per 1 Cup (Kombu, Alaria, or Digitata Kelp Seaweed are some solid options)
- 1-2 Cups Mushrooms- dried or fresh is fine (Shiitake, Porcini, Reishi, Lions Mane are a few good starters)
- 1/4 Cup Calendula Flowers
- 1 Cup Loose Nettle Leaf
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger, chopped
- 4 Cloves Garlic, crushed
- 1-2 Tablespoons Fresh Turmeric Root or add 1 Tablespoon Powdered
- Optional but recommended: 1 Tablespoon each Burdock Root, Dandelion Root & Astragalus
- Meat-eater option: add bones to the broth with 1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar and let it cook in a slow cooker for at least 12 hours.
Preparation:
This recipe can be made in a slow cooker or on your stovetop. If using a slow cooker, set it on low for 8 hours or overnight-this is usually how I make my broths!
- Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer on very low heat/flame for 4-8 hours.
- Strain and press as much goodness as possible through a mesh sieve.
- Salt to taste
- add a squeeze of lemon
- Add a tablespoon of Miso if desired (don’t simmer or boil miso as it is alive! Mix it into warm broth.)
PRO-TIP: If using a combination of mushrooms, know that certain mushrooms have a more bitter flavor, like reishi, so add a smaller amount if you are sensitive to bitterness.
Where to find the herbs:
Many of the dried herbs/flowers and mushrooms can be purchased online from well-respected suppliers like mountainroseherbs.com. But as always, work with what you’ve got and what’s in season in your area.
Stay curious,
Nick Polizzi
Host of Healing Kitchen: Let Food Be Thy Medicine
& Founder of The Sacred Science
27 Responses
Does the heat damage any of these herb’s/veggie’s nutrients? I know heat destroys almost all of the nutrition in beets.
Thanks again, Nick. You are a god-send.
Your Sage tincture spray works like a charm, did you know? Sore throats gone over night. Amazing.
I do a similar thing but process everything in my Vitamix so I don’t have to waste all the vegetables–might have to extract a few things if they are harder or you don’t want to eat–like maybe all the seaweed. But waste not, want not! And we know food waste is not kind to the environment!
I have never cooked with nettles before. Do you literally pick them from outdoors and put them in the pot or do you do anything with them first? What about the sting? The lady was touching the leaves and I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t being stung?
You could, or you may simply buy dried Nettles and rehydrate them. There are some specifics when wildcrafting – being at least 150 feet from a road, never pick in the city, always get far from development, know your location (toxins, pollution), and there are some fun steps when engaging a plant.
Maybe the nettles were young and less prickly?
Is the broth organic?
It certainly can be … or Pasture-raised or Non-GMO or local or Humanely-raised, et cetera.
Thanks Nick for these pearls of nutritional wisdom . Veggie soup that tastes good and heals you too.
Doesn’t get any better than that. Love and light.
I am very interested in learning its my life with nature
.
I think it would be helpful if you realize many people do not have ingredients as you mention. Are we expected to go out and buy ingredients if they are even available in our area. That is why most things are not followed through, I am sure. I for one am in no position to do many of the things you suggest as a limited senior. It certainly is a back to nature movement, but that isn’t always possible or even probable. Sad but true as there is also spoilage to consider when buying things.
Can you use an instant pot for a broth? Or does it destroy the nutrients?
Probably best to set the instant pot on the slow cooker or some other low setting, or yes it would destroy the nutrients/
some of the items you have shared , not easily to get. Possible for common items like carrot, tumeric etc. other not easy. Kelp seaweeds. Can all these items get it easily from supermarket.
I really need this with everything going on in my body all my dr. Does is painkillers, painkillers,
How much should you consume daily?
What nutrients remain there for eaters after 4+ hours of cooking?
Some minerals? Definitely not any vitamins…
Maybe it would be interesting also for others to know about the science behind long-time cooking?
I assume you strain the broth and discard leftovers when finished just like with regular bone broth?
I use some of those ingredients in a green smoothie or pesto sauce, so it’s not affected by heat.
Thank you for this hearty veg recipe
Thanks Nick for all you knowledge about natural alternatives. Many of them work.
Thank you Nick for the soup recipe. I am growing Stinging Nettles, I knew they were good for you
but did not know how to harvest them. Do you have to let them dry out first before adding to soup?
If adding bones, do I cook the rest of broth ( 8 hrs ) and then add the bones after for another 12 hrs – or just toss it all in together from the start?
Also- I assumed the bones have to be “cooked” already, correct?
Hi Nick,
Thank you for your emails, I really enjoyed them.
I’m so with you re natural alternatives to conventional medicine.
What are the natural remedies for reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol please?
It would be advised to use distilled or purified water for this broth, as with any broth or medicinal preparation. Distilled water can “pull” nutrients out of the ingredients more fully.
I LOVE YOU ALL for your work & your tenacity to help us live better, in good health , with professionals, fun, hope, structure & complicity!
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!
And specially Nick Polizzi, the person that started this Big dream…
Thank you so much Nick. I plan to watch your documentary. ☺️