A steaming bowl of soup is the perfect body-warming meal for cold winter days. Moreover, they’re simple to make, and you can alter many soup recipes to make them just a bit healthier. One health-forward change that’s easy to make is adding bone broth to a recipe or substituting it for other broth options.

Bone broth, also called stock, is made by simmering animal bones and connective tissue in water. A few possible health benefits of adding bone broth to your diet include:

• Consuming bone broth is a great way to get vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, vitamin K2, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, selenium, phosphorus, iodine, boron, manganese, and omega-3 fatty acids.

• Bone broth is rich in collagen, a protein containing 18 different amino acids. Many people use collagen supplements to improve their skin, build muscle mass, prevent bone loss, and reduce joint pain. You can click here to learn more about collagen and its many uses.

• Amino acids present in broth may help reduce inflammation, relieving symptoms.

• Adding bone broth to your diet can support digestive health because the gelatin component helps food move through the digestive tract and heal the tract’s mucous lining.

It’s easy to see why bone broth has become such a big trend in the health and fitness world. Some people drink bone broth by itself, while others like to incorporate it into their cooking. If the latter sounds appealing to you, soups are a great place to start. To experience bone broth’s many benefits, give the following recipes a try.

Taco Soup

This rich, creamy, and spicy soup is made with a beef bone broth base. It only takes 30 minutes to prepare. Start by sauteing 2 pounds of ground beef with 3 teaspoons of both taco seasoning and cumin and a teaspoon of seasoned salt. Roast two poblano peppers until blackened, then strain the meat and add the beef juice to a separate pot.

On medium heat, combine and saute two tablespoons of the beef juice with onions, garlic, and peppers. Mix with strained tomatoes and stir, then skin and chop the poblano peppers before adding.

Next, add 4 cups of bone broth, a cup of cream cheese, and any extra seasoning you want before stirring and cooking until hot and smooth. For a finishing touch, you can garnish this soup with avocado, scallions, cilantro, or cotija cheese.

Bone Broth Chicken Ramen

To make a collagen-packed chicken ramen soup, simply use bone broth instead of traditional ramen broth. To make a delicious ramen soup, start by combining 2 cups of broth with shiitake mushrooms, garlic, ginger, and chile oil if you want to give the soup a spicy kick.

Simmer this mix for five minutes and add cooked chicken, either a breast or a thigh, along with the ramen noodles (or spiralized zucchini for a low-carb option). After only two minutes of cooking, slice the chicken and serve. The recipe makes a perfect single-serving soup that you can also top with a half-egg and scallions.

Pho-inspired Bone Broth Soup

This soup recipe, inspired by Vietnamese pho, uses beef bone broth flavored with star anise, cinnamon, and black pepper. Combine the seasoned broth with a minced garlic clove, grated ginger, chili oil, soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, and salt. Meaty shitake mushrooms make a perfect topping, and cooked carrots and spinach go well with the richly-flavored broth as well. You can add beef to the soup, but it works well as a vegetable-forward entree.

Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower soup isn’t where you’d expect to find bone broth, but it adds a nice meaty kick to a creamy winter soup. With only five ingredients, it couldn’t be simpler. Add one head of cauliflower broken up to a pot and cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Next, drain the water and add half of the 1.5 cups of bone broth to the cauliflower along with 2 tablespoons of butter. Blend the mixture until smooth, add the rest of the broth, and blend again. Now you need to heat the soup and add salt, pepper, and cheese to taste.

Supercharge Your Soups

Aside from the cream-based varieties, most soups call from some form of stock or broth. By subbing out the broth in the recipe for nutritious bone broth, you can supercharge your meal with the vitamins, minerals, collagen, and amino acids that keep you going strong.

Peter Ranson

Peter has been a keen blogger and amateur food critic for over 20 years.  When eating and drink Peter loves spending time with his family and friends.