Bone Broth Hot Chocolate is Going Viral

I’d take hot chocolate over a coffee any day. It transports me to the center of a Hallmark Christmas movie town square—a snow-packed street lined with garlands and twinkling lights, complete with a decked-the-halls-out Christmas tree. I use any excuse to drink hot chocolate as an adult. But the winter drink is no longer reserved for kids or a cold weather dessert; the wellness girls have reclaimed hot chocolate using a key ingredient. Bone broth hot chocolate has gone viral for its gut-friendly spin on a treat that’s otherwise loaded with added sugar. I did the research to find out everything you need to know about the viral protein hot chocolate: what experts say, if it actually tastes like hot chocolate, and how to make it yourself.

What is Bone Broth Hot Chocolate?

Made popular by nutrition creator Fallon Danae Lee, bone broth hot chocolate combines seven simple ingredients, most of which you likely already have in your kitchen: your milk of choice, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla, sea salt, collagen, and bone broth (ICYMI, a soup that’s made by boiling animal bones and other ingredients until it soaks up the marrow and other nutrients). It’s been deemed “a good replacement for coffee” by Wellness Her Way podcast host Gracie Norton and “your new favorite thing to drink during your menstrual phase” by holistic nutritionist Grace Wagner.

How Does It Taste?

I know what you’re thinking: It sounds weird and gross, right? But despite what you might think, bone broth hot chocolate doesn’t taste like chicken or beef. TikTok creators say you can’t even taste the bone broth. Norton described it as “so chocolate-y, rich in flavor,” while Hannah Holt called it “the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.” Hannah Burch, who admitted she doesn’t like hot chocolate much to begin with, was shocked after trying bone broth hot chocolate for the first time, saying, “Why did I think it was going to taste chicken-y?” she said in a video. “This is so, so good; you actually have to try this.” Another TikToker, Amaya Kirchner, shared that she’s “obsessed” with the drink: “Do not knock this until you try it because I also was skeptical, but I promise you it is so good.” “This hot chocolate not only tastes delicious, but it has amazing health benefits as well!” Wagner shared in a TikTok post. “It’s packed full of magnesium, antioxidants, high in protein, gut healing, [and] immune-boosting.”

What are Its Benefits?

Improved gut health, joints, and skin

While further research needs to be done on bone broth’s health benefits, its nutrition profile suggests improved gut health, lessened joint pain, maintained bone and muscle strength, reduced stress, and healthy skin. “Using bone broth instead of water as the base to hot chocolate helps to layer in additional benefits that you would otherwise be missing out on,” said Autumn Bates, a certified clinical nutritionist. “Bone broth is a whole food collagen source, which is crucial for healthy skin, joints, and gut.”

Ideal for post-workout recovery

Bates also shared that the hot chocolate is ideal for post-workout recovery, thanks to its sodium content (read: electrolytes), and it provides the building blocks it needs to rebuild muscle. Bone broth is high in collagen, which helps repair connective tissues and joints, contains readily available amino acids like glycine and proline that can reduce inflammation, and provides electrolytes to replenish fluids lost during exercise, aiding in muscle recovery and overall post-workout healing.

Antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties

Bone broth isn’t the only superfood in the drink. Cocao (specifically a raw cacao powder, not a cocoa mix with sugar) provides powerful benefits as well. A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that regularly drinking flavanol-rich cocoa (flavanols are a natural compound commonly found in foods and drinks such as cocoa, grapes, and teas that may have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties) significantly reduced systolic blood pressure and improved blood vessel function by 47 percent compared to low-flavanol consumption. “We found that cocoa flavanols might even directly mobilize important cells that could repair damaged blood vessels,” said study author Christian Heiss, MD.

How to Try It for Yourself

To get the most out of bone broth hot chocolate, using high-quality ingredients makes all the difference (not all bone broths, maple syrups, and cacao powders are created equal). As for bone broth, reach for organic, pasture-raised, and/or grass-fed varieties, and make sure bones are listed second on the ingredient list, after water, and aren’t alongside additives (or you can make your own). Choose a maple syrup with only 100 percent pure maple syrup listed as its ingredient sans corn syrup or any flavoring. And when it comes to cacao powder (don’t mistake it for cocoa, which is often processed with a chemical solution to reduce its acidity and bitterness, and it usually contains added sugars with much lower antioxidant levels), aim for one that is at least 60-80 percent cacao, preferably single-origin and without soy lecithin to ensure it’s minimally processed, preserving its nutrients.

To make the viral pick-me-up, give Lee’s OG Bone Broth Hot Chocolate recipe a go: