EASY Instant Pot Bone Broth

Want to learn all you need to know about how to make instant pot bone broth? Discover our easy method for the best warm, hearty, and soul-filling chicken bone broth. There seriously is a difference between homemade and store bought when it comes to bone broth or stock.

Once you make it at home, you will never go back! And every one will be dying over the flavor it adds to your meals.

What is Bone Broth?

Are you wondering what's all the fuss with bone broth? Or what makes bone broth different from stock or broth. Here's a bit more about each one.

• Broth: It's usually made with the flesh of the chicken and herbs. It typically doesn't use bones.
• Stock: Stock is made from bones, herbs, and veggies cooked in water.
• Bone broth: Is prepared similar to stock but is cooked longer to pull out more nutrients from the chicken and its bones into the broth liquid.

What makes bone broth significantly different from stock and broth is it contains all the nutrients that cooks out of the bones, while also being very rich, flavorful, and filling.

Why You Will Love This Chicken Bone Broth Recipe

• Budget-friendly! Making your own instant pot chicken broth will save you some bucks!
• Tastes great. Use veggies, herbs, and spices you enjoy to make a chicken bone broth you really love.
• So many ways to use it!

Ingredients

Let's take a closer look at the simple ingredients you need to gather to make homemade chicken bone broth in the Instant Pot. Be sure to check the recipe card further down the page for the complete list and quantities. 

• Rotisserie Chicken: This is the quick and easiest way to make bone broth and trust me its WORTH IT!
• Veggies and aromatics: A simple combination of onion, celery, carrots, and garlic infuse the broth with more depth of flavor.
• Herbs: We're using thyme, oregano, and bay leaves.

PRO TIP: Find a store that makes a rotisserie chicken with ingredients you trust. I have also found that wholesale stores like Sam's and Costco have the best deals AND the best chickens. They are large birds that are extra juicy, and sold at a great price.  

Can I use a whole raw chicken to make bone broth?

Yes, you can! Making bone broth from a raw chicken has many benefits. It's often cheaper to buy a chicken this way.

Also, unlike rotisserie chicken it hasn't been seasoned or injected with seasoning so you know exactly what is going into your soup!

Making your bone broth from a raw whole chicken will take extra time however so plan on that time. You will need to allow it to cook for an additional 30 minutes under pressure.

Substitutions

• Dried herbs: If you do not have fresh herbs on hand grab some dried herbs! Just remember dried herbs are a lot more potent that fresh ones. 1 TBS of fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon of dried.
• Veggies: You can add parsnips, fennel, leeks, or mushrooms. Just be sure to avoid using cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli which contain compounds that can be quite overpowering and undesirable in bone broth.
• Use different herbs: You can certainly use other herbs to flavor your broth but our favorites are oregano and thyme.

How to Make Chicken Bone Broth Instant Pot

Are you ready to get started? We are! Here's what you need to do.

1. Prep your veggies. They just need to be roughly chopped and there's no need to peel them or chop them very small. You can pull the entire sprig of herbs in -- stem and all. Remove the papery outside of the garlic cloves and chop up slightly.
2. Remove the meat from the rotisserie chicken. Leave the skin on, just break through and pull the meat off. Put the bones into the pressure cooker along with all the drippings in the container. The drippings add nutrients and flavor.

PRO TIP: Save the meat from the rotisserie chicken to use it in other recipes such as chicken lasagna roll ups or chicken enchiladas. If you don't like the dark meat leave it on the bird and just remove the white meat. It will add additional flavor.

3. Add all the veggies on top including the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.
4. Toss in the herbs on top.

5. Add water to fill up the pot to the maximum fill line.
6. Pressure cook on high for 60 - 90 minutes and then use natural release. 
7. Strain the broth. You can buy strainer inserts from amazon or use a fine strainer and do it by hand into a separate container. Use a fine strainer as pictured while the soup is hot so make sure herbs and small bones are all removed.
8. Pour it into jars or a glass container and store. 

Storage

Store it in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator after it's fully cooled.

For freezing, I like to freeze the broth ice cube trays and then transfer to the cubes to an airtight container or plastic bag. This way I can take out exactly the amount I need.  Bone broth will last up to 6 months in the freezer.

Heat it up straight from frozen or allow it to thaw out in the fridge overnight.

How long does Instant Pot chicken bone broth last in the fridge?

If kept in the fridge it will keep for 3-4 days. Keep in an air tight container. Since it lacks preservatives it will go bad fast- so if you need it longer than a few days I recommend freezing it to extend the shelf life.

How to Use Instant Pot Bone Broth

You can use your chicken bone broth in recipes in place of chicken broth. It's especially great used to make soups. Try it these soups and recipes:

• Chicken and Dumpling Soup
• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Instant Pot Black Beans
• Creamy Mac and Cheese

Heat it up and simply enjoy sipping it straight from a mug. I find this a filling dish in between meals and it's also quite soothing when I'm sick with a cold or the flu. 

Use it to make gravy and sauces.

Cook grains such as quinoa, rice and others to add flavor.

You can even add it to your morning smoothie in place of some of the water or other liquid. Try it in 

Expert Tips

• Do you not fill up your pressure cooker past the fill line. Your veggies and chicken should be covered or almost covered. It's ok if they're sticking out a bit, everything will cook down.
• You don't necessarily need the meat on the chicken to make bone broth. If using a rotisserie chicken, remove all the meat and save it to use in other recipes.
• Feel free to vary the seasonings and vegetables if you prefer but remember to avoid cabbage, Brussels, broccoli, and cauliflower because they will make a smelly broth.

Recipe FAQs

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