Bone broth is traditionally used to support the immune system during times of illness and recovery. But it’s not the only food that people turn to for a little added support. Rather, medicinal mushrooms like reishi, shiitake and chaga, can also act as powerful allies. They help support your body during times of stress or when your immune system needs a little extra assistance. Plus, you’ll find both in this savory, deeply flavorful Medicinal Mushroom Broth with the added boost of garlic, onions and fresh sage.
Jump to Recipe | What is it? | Choosing Mushrooms for Broth | Tips | Uses
What is Mushroom Broth?
Mushrooms broths are sipping broths made with or seasoned by mushrooms. Like other bone broth recipes, this broth is intended for sipping. But, you can also use it as the foundation for soups and stews, sauces or other dishes.
Mushroom broths have a deep, savory flavor with rich umami notes. In this recipe, slow-roasted garlic and onion sweeten the broth. And tossing a few sages leaves into the pot at the very end gives mushroom broth a bright herbaceous note. Together, you’ll make a nutritious broth that still tastes good. Plus, it helps support your body during times of stress or when you need a little extra immune boost.
While many mushroom broth recipes are vegan or vegetarian, this recipe includes chicken bones – and it acts as a seasoned chicken bone broth. Therefore, it’s not only rich in the anti-inflammatory and adaptogenic properties of mushrooms, but it’s also a good source of various amino acids and protein.
Choosing Mushrooms and Herbs for Broth
All mushrooms contain a modest array of nutrients including minerals and B vitamins as well as other anti-inflammatory compounds. Yet, some micronutrients and medicinal compounds are particularly concentrated in select wild mushrooms like reishi, chaga, matustake, shiitakes and others. It’s these medicinal mushrooms that bring not only flavor, but powerful nutritive compounds to the food we eat.
- Reishi mushroom supports your body’s ability to handle stress and provides immune system support, too. They may also help calm the nerves while supporting healthy sleep cycles.
- Shiitake mushrooms have rich earthy flavor and are also high in various antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds. They also have antiviral properties, too.
- Chaga mushroom helps support the immune system and it also helps support blood sugar regulation, and is a good source of various antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.
- Astragalus root isn’t a mushroom at all, but has a slightly sweet, gingery flavor and is traditionally used to support the immune system, to help the body adapt to stress, to support blood sugar regulation and as a lung tonic.
- Garlic and onion are alliums and while we don’t often think of them as medicinal herbs, they are great additions to immune-supporting tonics like Fire Cider and this mushroom broth.
- Dulse is a sea vegetable that gives the broth a briny flavor and a nice boost of minerals.
- Sage is an herb that herbalists often use to ease the sniffles or inflamed throats, but it’s also a powerfully rich in antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds.
Tips for Making Mushroom Broth
Making mushroom broth, or any broth, is fairly straightforward. If you can bring a pot of water to a boil, you can make broth. But, there’s a few key techniques that’ll ensure your broth comes out good every time.
- Roast most of the ingredients before you simmer them. Roasting bones, vegetables and mushrooms improves flavor and introduces savory notes into the broth.
- The frame of a roasted chicken, chicken backs and wing tips work well.
- You can also use beef bones, if you prefer them over chicken bones.
- Mind your temperature for the best flavor and gel. Grab these tips on getting your broth to gel.
- Add the fresh herbs at the end, to keep their vibrant flavor.
- Salt your broth when you serve it, otherwise the salt will concentrate as the broth cooks. As a result, your broth will be too salty and won’t taste good.
Medicinal Mushroom Broth Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken bones
- 1 medium yellow onion (halved)
- 3 bulbs garlic (halved)
- 3 medium celery ribs (chopped int 2-inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 8 slices dried reishi mushroom
- 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1/4 cup dried chaga mushrooms
- 3 slices astragalus root
- 3 tablespoons dulse flakes
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 quarts water
- 10 medium sage leaves
Equipment
- Rimmed Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Stock Pot
Instructions
Roasting for flavor.
- Heat the oven to 300 F, and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Arrange the chicken bones, onion, garlic, celery, medicinal mushrooms, and astragalus on the baking sheet. Sprinkle them with dulse flakes, and then drizzle the olive oil over them. Slow-roast the ingredients together until fragrant, about 45 minutes.
Simmering the broth.
- Transfer the contents of the baking sheet to a stock pot or Dutch oven, and then pour in the wine and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and then immediately turn down the temperature to medium low and simmer, uncovered, at least 6 and up to 8 hours. Stir in the sage leaves about 20 minutes before turning off the heat.
- Turn off the heat, strain the broth and discard the solids. Serve immediately, or store in the fridge up to 5 days and in the freezer up to 3 months. Adjust seasoning with fine sea salt before serving.
Where to Find Medicinal Mushrooms
While some mushrooms, like shiitakes, can be cultivated or farmed, collectors must gather others from the wild. For this reason, you need to take extra care in sourcing them to ensure they’re collected both sustainably and ethically.
Order them from Mountain Rose Herbs, a longtime sponsor of Nourished Kitchen. They specialize in organic, fair-trade and sustainably wild-crafted herbs and spices.
How to Use It
Most medicinal mushrooms have adaptogenic and immunomodulant properties. As adaptogens, they help your body adapt to a wide variety of stressors. And as immune tonics, they support a balanced immune system response in a gentle way.
Accordingly, this medicinal mushroom broth is excellent when you’re feeling particularly run down by stress. Alternatively, you can tuck it in the freezer and bring it out when everyone around you is getting sick to give your immune system that extra support.
- Season it with fine sea salt and sip it when you need a little extra nourishment.
- Use it as the base for a nourishing soup or stew, like mushroom stew or turkey and wild-rice soup.
- Cook grains in the broth or add it to your mushroom risotto.
- Braise vegetables or meats with the broth. It works nicely for braised root vegetables.
Can you make this without chicken bones for vegetarians? And do you need to rehydrate the dried mushrooms before roasting them?
You can make this without chicken bones; however, you will also lose out on the medicinal and nutritional benefits that chicken bones bring to the broth. And, no, you don’t need to rehydrate the mushrooms.
If you have a pressure canner, you can can the broth. (Low acid foods must be pressure canned… And no, an instant pot is not the same thing as a pressure canner). I can fit either 7 quarts or 19 pints into my pressure canner (you can double stack jars in taller canners).
Ball canning jar company has a great website. (Or, join a church and ask the older ladies to teach you to can; you will get advice and free supplies, love and knowledge.) If you get a used canner, take it to your local 4H office for testing – ours has a week every summer for free testing and also has commonly needed parts available to purchase at that time.