Scotch Broth

I have shared a few recipes over the years for making Traditional Scotch broth but this recipe has to be one of my absolute favourites. It was inspired by some of the older Traditional Scottish recipes for barley broth.

This recipe is perfect at this time of year for its warming and filling qualities but is also a favourite as a starter around the Traditional Scottish Christmas and Hogmany table. We quite often started our Christmas dinner with a bowl of warming Scotch broth its so delicious with a slice of hearty bread and real salted butter.

I have used lamb neck in this recipe recipe but in other traditional Scottish recipes they would quite often use a piece of mutton. I have also added in a few stock bones. A good marrow bone is a hearty and nutritious addition if you can get your hands on one.

Below is another broth you may enjoy that I made in the Summer months.

I made a list of items that I frequently use in the kitchen for my recipes. Most of them are similiar or identical to the ones you see in my photographs. They are listed in my page – Equipment I use in the Kitchen. I’m always adding new items to it so check it out if you are looking for something simliar to what you have seen in my photographs.

You may also enjoy some of these other recipes for Winter time and these are also particularly enjoyed around Christmas. We love a good Clootie dumpling at Christmas its such a hearty classic pudding and one to put hairs on yer chest! My Scottish salmon salad would be a great dish to serve after this soup as its light and introduces a Scottish salmon element to the Christmas or Winter table.

Tips for making this recipe:

Organic meat and stock bones are both worth the investment in this recipe. You really want the meat and bones to be of the best quality as you can afford. This is important because they may be more nutritious and you are extracting all of the goodness out in the long slow cook.
If you can’t get your hands on a good stock bone the lamb neck will be enough for this recipe.
This recipe makes quite a big portion and if it is too much I would recommend freezing half. As a big family of six which includes a wee baby we get through this pot in about 3-4 days having it for lunches.
Fresh parsley works really well on the top of this recipe and a chunk of a hearty loaf or savoury Scottish bannock would work really well too.
Remember to skim the scum off the top of the soup in the initial boil to ensure you have a nice colour and consistency.
The bone is cooked for a relatively small period compared to a broth so you could pop the bone and any grizzly fatty bits of meat you don’t want to add to the soup, back into a slow cooker with some vegetables scraps from making the broth and cook on low for 24hrs to create a delicious bone broth. Remember for safety to switch the slow cooker off at night and continue the cooking process in the morning.

Scotch Broth Recipe:

450g Lamb neck & 1 medium stock bone or marrow bone
75g of dried barley
150g of dried broth mix (inc barley, peas, lentils)
1 small neep diced
2 grated medium carrots
1 medium onion diced
1/2 small cabbage diced
2 tbsp of parsley
4-5 litres of water or half water half stock

Recipe Instructions:

Bring the water or water and stock to the boil and add in the lamb neck and stock bone. Skim the surface of the water for arising scum and discard. Repeat this skimming for a good few minutes.
Bring the water back down to a medium simmer and add in the barley and broth mix to the water and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.
Add in all the chopped vegetable apart from the cabbage and maybe a little more water or stock if required. If it looks too thick then it needs more water or stock. Boil and simmer for 1 hour and a half.
Add in the cabbage and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Remove the lamb neck and bones from the soup and cut up the neck into small pieces. Add it back to the soup. Remove any meat off of the bone, chop it up into small pieces and add back into the soup if its not too fatty. You can then pop the bone back into a slow cooker and make a further broth as per instructions above.
Serve immediately and leave on a low heat all day to fill yoru kitchen with wonderful aromas and so that the broth is available for the family during the day. A small cup of broth is a wonderful warming food as a snack in the Winter.