Easy Homemade Instant Pot Chicken Bone Broth
Rich in collagen, amino acids, and gut-healing goodness—perfect for sipping, cooking, or adding a depth of flavor to soups, stews, and sauces!
Check out the simplest way to make a delicious chicken bone broth, using your leftover chicken carcass. If you haven’t tried making broth in your Instant Pot yet, then this is the post for you! This recipe is exactly like my beef bone broth recipe, just with chicken. If you need more information on broth, head over to my Beef Bone Broth post to read more.
I try to source my chickens from local farmers. If you don’t have access to that or its not in the budget, then do your best to source what feels good for you and your family and buy a quality meat chicken. I tend to purchase whole chickens because they are dual purpose. I cook them to first use the meat for other recipes such as enchiladas or chicken salad. After I’ve pulled all the meat off for other meals, I then use the carcass to make broth. Not only are you using the chicken for the meat, but you’re doubling your money because you’re making a second product, like broth, off of your initial purchase!
Some of the farmers I buy from also sell odd cuts and extra bones that you can buy separately from the meat. This happens when they are cutting up the whole chicken to sell in pieces that most of us are used to like breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings. These extras also come in handy when you don’t want to purchase a whole chicken for the bones. Another great option if you’re just looking to make broth with quality bones!
This recipe is a simple guideline for you to follow. I don’t always follow it exactly, like I stated in the beef broth post. Sometimes I only have one bone. Or one carrot. I still make broth and it still serves the purpose I need from it.
For chicken, I do sometimes use the broth straight from the instant pot into a recipe I’m making simultaneously. For beef, I don’t typically do that. The only reason I don’t is because of taste. To me, I can taste the extra grease in the beef broth when I skip the step of chilling and removing the risen fat, so I try my best not to. But for chicken, the fat that rises is much less and therefore I can’t taste much of a difference whether I skip the step or not. It comes down to personal preference so if you decide that chilling it is an unnecessary step than don’t let that stop you from making great broth!
I know that using my Instant Pot really made making broth so much less of a chore. I hope that by following this recipe you too can incorporate making broth into your routine and enjoy the many health benefits of it. I hope it is as great an addition to your kitchen as it is to mine. You can either sip your broth, or use it as the base for any soup. Check out my Potato Leek Soup recipe here!
Ingredients:
How To Make Homemade Chicken Bone Broth:
- Rinse and prep vegetables, cut ends off carrots and celery and discard.
2. Cut onion and peel off outer skin layer. Roughly chop carrots, celery and onion.
3. Add chicken bones, carrots, celery, and onion to Instant Pot.
4. Add apple cider vinegar and water to MAX fill line.
5. Press soup/broth button. Check to make sure it is set to high pressure. Set Timer for 3 hours. Allow to come to pressure. You will do this twice, for a total cook time of 6 hours. (Do not release pressure in between both cook time sets, just restart time.)
6. Once the second cooking cycle is complete, press cancel. Place a kitchen towel over valve, and switch button from ‘seal’ to ‘release’. Allow pressure to slowly release.
7. Remove lid from Instant Pot. Place a strainer over a pot or bowl that will fit inside your fridge and pour broth over.
8. Once broth is strained, discard bones and vegetables.
9. Allow broth to cool, then stick it in the fridge over night.
10. The next day, remove broth from fridge and skim the top to remove the chilled scum. Discard what you removed.
11. Voila, your broth is ready to use!
12. Enjoy your broth immediately or store in freezer safe containers for up to 3 months.
Tips:
- Placing a towel over the Instant Pot valve helps keep the broth from spraying all over you and your kitchen. (I used to take my instant pot outside for this and then discovered there’s an easier way, of course!)
- I love to save the cooked bones for my dog. I keep them in the refrigerator and give one a day to her until they’re all gone. I also like to scoop out the hot marrow and put on a piece of toast with some salt for a delicious, nutrient dense snack! This isn’t for everyone so don’t feel pressure to eat it. Your dog will thank you if you don’t want it!
FAQS
Do you have to chill the broth overnight in the fridge?
No you don’t. There are many times where I have taken the chicken broth right from the pot and poured into a soup I am making the same day. That’s the beauty of the instant pot! But most of the time I am making broth to freeze it for later, thus following the Nourishing Traditions guidelines of refrigerating overnight.
What if I’m missing one or more ingredients?
You can still make broth! In my opinion, the vegetables are added for more color and flavor. The vinegar is to help aid in breaking down the nutrients in the bones. If you are lacking in ingredients, don’t let that stop you from making broth. Sometimes I strictly make ‘only bones’ bone broth. All you need is water and bones to make a broth.
Homemade Chicken Bone Broth
Rich in collagen, amino acids, and gut-healing goodness— this broth is perfect for sipping, cooking, or adding a depth of flavor to soups, stews, and sauces.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken carcass
- 2 peeled carrots, roughly chopped
- 3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- Fresh or dried herbs (optional)
- 3 quarts water or fill to MAX line
Instructions
- Wash and prep your vegetables. Roughly chop celery, onion, and carrots.
- Add all ingredients into your Instant Pot. Place lid on and securely close. Make sure vent is on 'seal.'
- Press soup/broth button. Check to make sure it is set to high pressure. Set timer for 3 hours and allow to come to pressure. (This can take around 10-20 minutes.)
- Once 3 hours have passed and timer goes off, reset again on soup/broth function for another 3 hours and let cook. Total time is 6 hours. Do not release pressure in between cook times.
- Once second cooking cycle is complete, press cancel, place a kitchen towel over valve, and switch button from 'seal' to 'release'. Allow pressure to slowly release.
- Remove lid. Strain broth over a colander into a clean pot or glass bowl that fits inside of your fridge.
- Discard bones and vegetables and allow broth to come to room temperature before covering with cloth and placing inside fridge over night.
- The next day, remove broth from fridge and skim risen fat off of the top. Discard.
- Use immediately, or store in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
Notes
I love to use these containers to freeze my broth in. They are shatter-proof for ultimate freezer storage and can be cut off the frozen broth in case you forgot to thaw it in time for a recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 CupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 10Sodium: 20mgCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 0.5g
Nutrition Information isn't always accurate.
