Where to Buy Chicken Bones: A Comprehensive Guide

Chicken bones have become an increasingly popular ingredient for making bone broth and stock. Their collagen and mineral content makes them ideal for creating a nutrient-dense, gut-healing broth. But where can you buy quality chicken bones for broth? This guide will walk you through the top places to source high-quality chicken bones for all your culinary needs.

Online Sources for Chicken Bones

Ordering chicken bones online is often the most convenient way to get your hands on high-quality bones for broth making. Here are some of the top online shops to buy chicken bones:

Direct from Farms

• Primal Pastures This pasture-raised meat company based in California sells 2lb bags of chicken bones directly from their farm. Their chickens roam freely and eat grass, making their bones rich in nutrients Their bones can be used to make a mineral-rich broth

• Seven Sons Farm: This beyond organic farm in New York offers soup bones from their pastured chickens. You can buy them in bulk orders of 5lbs and up. Their regeneratively-raised chickens produce nutritious bones for broth.

Online Butchers

• US Wellness Meats This popular online butcher sells “chicken feet and necks” for broth making Their chickens are humanely raised without antibiotics or hormones

• Butcher Box: This meat delivery service offers chicken backs and necks for broth. Their chickens are certified humane and free of antibiotics and hormones.

• Piccinini Brothers: This old-school butcher shop in NYC delivers nationwide and sells chicken necks and backs for broth making. Their chickens are humanely raised and USDA approved.

Local Sources for Chicken Bones

Checking out your local butchers and farmers markets is another great way to source quality chicken bones. Here are some places to look in your area:

Butcher Shops

Many local butcher shops will have chicken bones for sale, often for cheap! Let them know you’re looking to make broth and ask if they have any chicken backs, necks, wings or feet available. Smaller community butchers are often happy to save and sell bones for broth making.

Farmers Markets

Visit farmers markets in your area and ask pastured chicken farmers if they have any bones for sale. Many that process their own chickens will have bones leftover that they are happy to sell for a good price. This helps reduce waste while supporting local farms.

Asian Markets

Asian grocery stores and markets frequently stock odd chicken parts like feet and heads for making Asian soups and broths. Check the freezer section for packages of chicken bones, often labeled for making bone broths. These bones often come from standard grocery store chickens.

Ethnic Butchers

Seek out ethnic butcher shops in your area, like Kosher butchers, Halal butchers, or Mexican carnicerias. These specialty butchers will often have chicken bones for sale from the whole chickens they process in-house. The bones may come from chickens raised in standard commercial settings versus pastured.

What to Look for When Buying Chicken Bones

To make the most nutritious, mineral-rich bone broth, look for chicken bones that come from high-quality sources:

• Pastured/Free-Range: Chickens that are able to roam on pastures and eat grass and bugs will produce more nutritious bones. Their diet positively impacts the mineral content of the bones.

• Organic/Regenerative: Organic operations focus on soil health, which also leads to more nutrients in pastures and thus the chicken bones. Regenerative farms take this further by revitalizing ecosystems.

• Non-GMO: Chickens fed GMO soy and corn feed will produce bones with a less diverse nutrient profile. Seek non-GMO verified bones for optimal nutrition.

• Antibiotic-Free: Antibiotic use leads to poorer gut health in chickens, which reduces nutrient absorption. Choosing antibiotic-free bones avoids any potential antibiotic residues.

When sourcing chicken bones, try to find the highest quality source possible from chickens that were able to live natural, healthy lives. This will provide your homemade broth with the maximum health benefits.

Storing Chicken Bones

Once you’ve sourced your chicken bones, proper storage is important. Here are some storage tips:

• When buying in bulk, freeze any extra bones until ready to use. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.

• Fresh bones from the butcher should be used within 3 days for optimal freshness. Store in the refrigerator.

• After simmering bones to make broth, let the broth cool and then transfer to the fridge. Bones can be reused 1-2 extra times to extract more gelatin.

• For long term storage, cooked broth can be frozen for several months. Ice cube trays make convenient serving-sized portions.

Following proper food safety practices will ensure you get the most use out of your chicken bones for making nutritious batches of bone broth and mineral-rich soup stock.

With so many sources available, from direct online farms to ethnic butcher shops, finding high-quality chicken bones for broth making is easier than ever. Seek out the freshest bones from the highest quality sources possible, such as pastured, organic chickens. Proper storage and handling will help optimize use of your bones for multiple rich batches of homemade broth. So get simmering with these chicken bone buying tips and experience the flavor and health benefits of real bone broth made from scratch.