12 Bone Broth Brands, Ranked

Our Stone Age ancestors may have consumed broths made with boiled animal bones over 25,000 years ago. Many cultures have some variation of a bone broth, soup, or stew. But bone broth as we know it today gained popularity with the Paleo diet, taking inspiration from the traditional diets of our ancient ancestors.

While early humans may have eaten bone broth out of necessity, the current trend seems largely based on its collagen content — and the interesting health claims. Alleged health benefits of bone broth range from hair, nail, and skin health to weight loss to immune-boosting superpowers. While The New York Times reports there are "few reliable studies on the medicinal effects of broth," that hasn't stopped the popularity of bone broth from growing exponentially. Broths made from chicken, beef, turkey, pork, or fish bones may reach over $6.3 billion in sales by 2028, per The Insight Partners.

But as interest in carnivore diets like Paleo and Keto remain popular, and demand for packaged bone broths continues to grow, how do you decide which bone broth brands are worthwhile? Many brands are high in sodium or may use additives. Taste, nutrition, ingredient quality, and price are also top considerations. While you could take a gamble and try them all out yourself, why not take a gander at the research we've done to find the top 12 bone broth brands ranked from worst to best?

Dr. Kellyann Petrucci is one of the major advocates of the bone broth diet (she even wrote a book about it), which uses bone broth to provide vital nutrition during periods of fasting. As such, you would think Dr. Kellyann would have created one of the best bone broths around. Sadly, it appears the opposite is true. The liquid broths are one of the most expensive at a little over $7 per serving. And while the dehydrated packages are a little more affordable, they have some of the worst negative reviews on Amazon, with 15% one-star reviews. One disgruntled Amazon reviewer likened the taste to an "instant brown liquid that tastes like it should be scraped off the bottom of a shoe," and complained, "If I could have given it a -star I would have!"

While Dr. Kellyann's broths do use organic ingredients (though not the dehydrated versions), they are the only broths with a Prop 65 warning on the Amazon page due to lead content exceeding California's recommended limits. Not a good look.

A clever play on collagen (get it?), College Inn is one of the cheapest bone broth brands on the market. The broth is seen more often in grocery stores in the Eastern U.S., however, you can also purchase it online. 

Because this is such a low-cost brand, you do get what you pay for in terms of ingredient quality. The brand's beef broths contain sunflower oil, which, according to registered dieticians (via Insider), can "boost their caloric value without boosting nutritional value." 

Unlike other brands that just list the vegetables used to create the broths, College Inn lists concentrates and powders in the ingredient lists. College Inn is also the only bone broth we looked at that uses sugar, as well as a number of natural flavors and additives. If you have high blood pressure, you may want to steer clear of this brand. The academic journal Nutrients recommends that foods should have a sodium-to-potassium ratio under 2.0 to lower blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. College Inn's bone broth has a sodium-to-potassium ratio of 10.0 — five times the recommended amount.

LonoLife only offers dehydrated or instant bone broth powders and no liquid broths. The company has three types of single-serving packages, including K-cup style bone broths, which are convenient for on-the-go usage, but terrible for the environment (via The New York Times). LonoLife's traditional chicken bone broths also have high sodium amounts (700 milligrams per serving), and no potassium, giving them poor marks in the nutrition column. But the company does have low-sodium versions that somehow do have potassium. Go figure!

However, reviews on the company's website and Amazon are mostly positive in terms of taste. There are over 7,000 reviews on Amazon for the classic chicken bone broth sticks, and a five-star review raves, "I've tried several manufacturers' bone broth and I've gotta say this is the best of the best!" But maybe give the Thai curry beef bone broth sticks a hard pass. It has multiple one-star reviews on Amazon, with one reviewer ranting, "The most horrible stuff I have tasted! I took a sip and spit it out, could not even swallow it..." 

Swanson is one of the cheapest bone broth options available in a carton at less than $1 per serving. It's also made with chicken stock, which isn't simmered as long as traditional bone broths. As a result, even though it has eight grams of protein per serving, a disclaimer on the same product page states, "Not a good source of protein." Single collagen is a naturally occurring protein (via the book Biochemistry, Collagen Synthesis) that doesn't seem promising in delivering one of the alleged benefits of bone broth.

Swanson also has four flavors of sipping broths that come in 10.75-ounce microwaveable cups. Sip on plain beef or chicken bone broth, or try something a little different with lemon and rosemary or ginger and turmeric. 

If you have a soy or gluten allergy, steer clear. The sipping broths may contain traces of wheat, and the beef broth contains soy lecithin. If allergies are not a worry, you can get the plain chicken bone broth cups on Amazon, which have 70 percent five-star reviews. For a grocery brand owned by Campbell's, that's not too shabby.

As we get higher up on this list, you'll start seeing more brands that have bone broths in more sustainable glass jars instead of cartons, boxes, or plastic. Zoup! is one of the most affordable bone broth brands that comes in a glass container. However, these bone broths are very low in protein compared to other brands, with just 4 grams per serving for the chicken bone broth. That doesn't seem very promising in the collagen department, but it does make for a lower-calorie broth at just 15 calories per serving.

In terms of Zoup!'s ingredients and flavor, they're somehow blander than some of the other brands like Swanson and College Inn. The bone broths only use natural flavor along with yeast extract and salt for seasoning, and no vegetables are listed. The product descriptions on the website state that you could sip it as is or "add your own spices and herbs." But then what's the point of buying something that's supposed to be pre-made if you then have to DIY?

According to reviews on Amazon, the spicy chicken bone broth seems to be a favorite. "The absolute best chicken stock I have ever tasted. Just the right amount of tang and flavor," noted one happy customer.

Bare Bones is one of the few bone broth brands that actually gels, which signals a good amount of collagen content. However, this brand adds gelatin to the liquid broths and collagen powder to the instant broths, which feels a bit like cheating. Shouldn't simmering the bones for 18+ hours be enough to create a bone broth that gels? Maybe not when your first ingredient is plain water since "the ingredient that weighs the most is [listed] first," according to the FDA.

Even still, the brand's instant broths have over 6,000 reviews on Amazon, but the liquid broths are rated higher, with an average rating of 4.6 stars. However, some reviewers don't care for the taste of the beef bone broth. "It tastes like the water you washed a cow with and then added black pepper," according to one reviewer. That may be because Bare Bones sources grass-fed beef, which may actually have a grass flavor (via Nutrition Journal) that gives off those barnyard vibes. At least Bare Bones uses all organic ingredients in its liquid broths and offers a low-sodium version.

Fond has certainly pushed the limits for bone broth flavors. The company caters to more adventurous palates with offerings like black radish and oregano or beet and serrano pepper-flavored. Whether that's your jam or not, some of these flavored bone broths are extremely high in sodium. The butternut squash and rosemary contains 47% of your daily value in a 14-ounce jar! So maybe only use half a jar at a time or try a different flavor.

Fond's flavored bone broths are also one of the most expensive per serving on this list, but judging by the reviews, they may be worth the high cost. The bouquet garni-flavored bone broth (sage, thyme, and rosemary) has the most reviews on the product site and gets a perfect five-star rating from customers.

Also of note: Fond is Oregon Tilth Certified Organic, uses whole food ingredients, and uses free-range animal bones in its broths. It's also really pushing the verified regenerative angle to show the company's commitment to agricultural sustainability. That's a breath of fresh air for any food brand.

You can find this cheap bone broth brand in most grocery stores, which makes it a convenient and accessible choice. The broths are available in 32-ounce and single-serving containers. Surprisingly, Kitchen Basics has fewer additives and more actual whole foods than other low-cost brands on this list. The mirepoix it uses is even marked as organic on the ingredient list for its chicken bone broth.

Although there are only three types of Kitchen Basics bone broths, including chicken, beef, and turmeric and ginger chicken, that seems to be all that's needed. It has devoted fans on Amazon who rave, "I've purchased this bone broth, more than 25 times!!" Amazon review photos even show the chicken bone broth gels, which is promising but surprising for a cheap grocery brand. And it excels nutritionally, too, with a good sodium-to-potassium ratio (1.0), 10 grams of protein, and even half a milligram of iron.

Unlike some of the other artisan-style bone broths out there, Epic's bone broths are not certified organic. But, the company does use free-range and grass-fed animal bones and participates in Stripe Climate, which helps fund carbon removal from the purchase of their broths.

Another plus is Epic uses whole food ingredients for its broths. You won't see any natural flavors or additives listed. It does use a lot of sodium, though, especially in the beef jalapeño broth with 1,000 milligrams per 14-ounce container.

Epic's homestyle savory chicken bone broth has rave reviews, with one customer calling it the "best store-bought bone broth by far." On Amazon, one of the top reviews of the beef jalapeño states, "It's rich and flavorful — and I don't feel like I need to doctor it up like I do with other brands." As a result, Epic seems like a top pick for both cooking and sipping.

Marco Canora, a James Beard award-winning chef, started Brodo after he began selling his bone broth at a takeout window. Currently, the broth is available directly from the Brodo website with a subscription, online via food delivery services, or from one of the NYC Brodo restaurants. According to one Yelp reviewer regarding the broth available at the East Village location, "I can say with confidence that Brodo is the most flavorful." Maybe that's because Chef Canora uses an Italian method to make the broth, including bones that still have some meat on them.

Brodo uses very basic ingredients in its packaged bone broths and it contains no concentrates or preservatives. The animals used in the broths are also either raised organically (chicken and turkey) or grass-fed (beef), and are free of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides. And since Brodo ships its bone broth direct to consumers, it places sustainability as a top concern, ensuring the cardboard boxes and broth containers are fully recyclable and the packaging insulation is made from non-GMO corn, which is compostable and biodegradable.

Kettle & Fire is a well-known brand that has become involved in regenerative sourcing, according to Forbes, which named it the "fastest-growing bone broth brand." The beef bone broth alone has more than 8,000 reviews on the Kettle & Fire website and more than 9,800 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5. That's pretty incredible, especially considering it's a pricier broth.

Cost aside, Kettle & Fire is another brand that uses mostly organic ingredients, although the company is not fully USDA organic certified. It also uses free-range, antibiotic-free chicken and grass-fed beef inspected by Whole Foods Market according to the animal welfare ranking system. And this is the only bone broth brand that claims its broth's collagen content is verified by third-party testing and includes 7 grams in the beef bone broth and 4 grams in the chicken bone broth. 

Bonafide is our top bone broth brand for its high proportion of 5-star reviews on Amazon, with a high percentage of reviewers giving it top marks. The brand was created by a husband and wife team — a chef and nutritionist, respectively — which tells you they know a little something about good, healthy food. The brand's broths are fully USDA organic, and it's committed to clean ingredients, publishing a "Never Ever" list of additives and flavorings you won't find in its products.

Aside from traditional chicken or beef bone broths, it also has more exotic offerings like turkey bone broth and a frontier blend, which is a mix of beef, lamb, bison, and turkey bone broths. Bonafide offers 24-ounce packages in BPA-free bags as well as flavored bone broths in 8-ounce cups. The latter also includes ingredients like MCT oil in its Keto bone broths or lion's mane mushrooms in its Be Well bone broths.

Bonafide is another fine brand that actually gels when chilled, according to a reviewer on Amazon, and it "does not taste watered down." You can find these bone broths at Walmart, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and a variety of other grocery stores across the U.S., making this a convenient choice for an everyday grocery run.