Is Bone Broth a Complete Protein? What It Means, and Why It Still Counts
Bone broth isn’t a “complete” protein on its own. Here’s what that actually means, why it matters far less than it sounds, and what broth brings that your other protein doesn’t.
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You’ve read somewhere that bone broth “isn’t a complete protein”, and now you’re wondering whether that tablespoon in your coffee is doing anything at all. Is it real protein? Does it count? Have you been drinking a very savoury placebo?
Short answer: it counts. Every gram. Here’s what “complete” actually means, why it matters far less than it sounds, and what bone broth brings that your other protein doesn’t.
What “complete protein” actually means
Protein is made of amino acids. Nine of them are essential, which means your body can’t make them and has to get them from food. A food that contains all nine in decent amounts gets called “complete”. Eggs, meat, fish and dairy are the usual examples.
Bone broth protein comes mostly from collagen, and collagen is naturally low in one essential amino acid: tryptophan. So on paper, judged entirely on its own, it isn’t “complete”.
Here’s the thing: nobody eats one food
“Complete” is a label for a single food eaten in isolation. That isn’t how anyone eats. Your body doesn’t check each mouthful for a full set. It draws on everything you eat across the day. The British Nutrition Foundation makes the same point about plant proteins: a variety of foods eaten during the day gives you all the essential amino acids you need.
So the real question isn’t “is this one food complete?” It’s “is my day complete?” If you’ve had eggs, chicken, fish, cheese, yoghurt, oats or tofu at some point, the tryptophan is covered, and the protein from your broth simply adds to the total.
What a “complete” day looks like
| When | What you have | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Eggs on toast, with a tablespoon of Pure Beef stirred into your coffee | The eggs bring the full set. The coffee adds 9.6g of protein and still tastes like coffee. |
| Lunch | A chicken, tuna or tofu salad | More of the same, without thinking about it. |
| 4pm | A mug of Beef Marrow instead of the biscuit tin | 7.7g of protein, savoury, ready as fast as the kettle boils. |
| Dinner | Salmon and rice, with a tablespoon of Chicken + Veg in the pan | 8g more protein, and rice that actually tastes of something. |
Not one meal had to be planned around “completing” anything. The broth just slotted in where there was little or no protein before.
How much of your protein can come from collagen?
More than you’d think. A 2019 study in the journal Nutrients worked out how much collagen protein could go into an otherwise normal diet before overall protein quality dropped.
The share of your daily protein that can come from collagen while your diet still scores top marks for protein quality (Paul et al., Nutrients, 2019).
A tablespoon or two a day is nowhere near that ceiling. You’re topping up, not replacing. And because our broths are concentrated, a single tablespoon goes a long way:
What bone broth brings that your other protein doesn’t
Here’s the twist. The thing that makes collagen “incomplete” is exactly what makes it worth having. It’s unusually rich in glycine and proline, the amino acids your body uses to build collagen in connective tissue. Steak, chicken breast, eggs and regular protein shakes are mostly muscle and milk proteins, which carry far less of them.
And your body may not keep up on its own. Researchers writing in the Journal of Biosciences estimated that the glycine we make ourselves plus what we typically eat could fall short of what the body needs for collagen by around 10g a day. Their conclusion: glycine may be worth getting more of from food.
So, honestly: when did you last eat the slow-cooked, bone-in, gristly bits your grandparents never threw away? For most of us, the answer is “not recently”. A mug of broth is the easy way back.
Bone broth vs the other options
| Our bone broth | Regular protein shakes | Collagen powder | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made from | Grass-fed beef or free-range chicken bones, slow-simmered for up to 16 hours | Usually milk | Processed collagen, often from hides or fish skin |
| Rich in glycine and proline | Yes | Not especially | Yes |
| Taste | Real savoury broth, or neutral (Pure Beef) | Usually sweet and flavoured | Nothing much at all |
| Sweeteners and flavourings | None | Often | Sometimes |
| Fillers | None | Often a long ingredients list | Varies |
| Use it in | Coffee, mugs, soups, sauces, eggs and everyday cooking | Shakes and sweet bakes | Drinks and smoothies |
Collagen powder gives you the same amino acids with none of the flavour. Regular protein shakes give you flavour, mostly of the sweet, milky kind. Bone broth is the only one that’s actual food: savoury, slow-simmered, and at home in your coffee, your bolognese and your mug at 4pm. Curious how it stacks up against collagen powder in more detail? We’ve compared bone broth and collagen powder side by side.
How to make your day “complete” without trying
- Pair it with what you already eat. Eggs, fish, meat, dairy, tofu and beans all fill the gap. Stuck in a chicken rut? Try these high-protein foods that aren’t chicken.
- Put it where protein usually isn’t. A tablespoon of Pure Beef in your morning coffee is our favourite. Here’s how to add protein to your coffee without it clumping, or try The Broffee.
- Cook with it. Stir it into sauces, soups and rice. Our sneaky bolognese is the gateway recipe.
- Spread it through the day. A mug mid-afternoon, when most of us get very little protein at all.
Questions people ask
Is bone broth a complete protein source?
Not on its own, because collagen is low in tryptophan. As part of a normal day with eggs, meat, fish, dairy or tofu, the gap is filled and every gram of broth protein counts.
Does bone broth have protein?
Yes, though it depends hugely on how it’s made. A thin carton can have very little. A tablespoon of our broth powders gives you 7.7g to 9.6g, depending on the flavour.
Does incomplete protein still count towards my daily protein?
Yes. Your body digests and uses it like any other protein, and amino acids from different foods add up across the day. Not sure how much you need? Here’s how much protein you need a day.
Do I need to eat bone broth with a complete protein at the same meal?
No. Your body pools amino acids from everything you eat during the day, so there’s no need to pair foods at every sitting.
Is collagen powder a complete protein?
No, for the same reason: collagen is low in tryptophan. The difference is that bone broth is a real slow-simmered food you can drink, cook with and actually enjoy.
Is bone broth a gimmick?
Kitchens around the world have been simmering bones for generations. What’s new is the format. A concentrated powder means a mug in a minute, and in the case of our Pure Beef, 96% protein by weight.
Our pick
Pure Beef Bone Broth Powder: 96% protein, 9.6g in every tablespoon, made from slow-simmered grass-fed beef bones with no fillers, no sweeteners and no salt added. It’s neutral in flavour, so it disappears into coffee, smoothies and sauces. Mix and match with our other broths and save up to 15%.
Shop Pure Beef Bone Broth Powder →
Related Reading
- Bone broth protein powder: the savoury alternative to protein shakes
- Bone broth vs collagen powder: which should you choose?
- How much protein do I need a day?
- How to increase protein intake: 12 easy ways
Sources & Further Reading
- Paul C, Leser S, Oesser S (2019). Significant amounts of functional collagen peptides can be incorporated in the diet while maintaining indispensable amino acid balance. Nutrients, 11(5), 1079.
- British Nutrition Foundation: Protein
- Meléndez-Hevia E et al. (2009). A weak link in metabolism: the metabolic capacity for glycine biosynthesis does not satisfy the need for collagen synthesis. Journal of Biosciences, 34(6), 853–872.
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