Make the best Instant Pot bone broth with this simple tutorial! Bone broth is nourishing, gut healing, and the perfect liquid in which to simmer vegetables and meat into a delicious homemade soup.
I have been making chicken broth on the stove top for many years. The process is simple – simmer bones in water for at least 24 hours.
But for most of us, it just isn’t practical to have one large stock pot and burner constantly occupied with simmering broth. We need that precious stove top space! And no one wants to leave the house with a burner still on. Talk about a fire hazard!
That’s why I decided to make the same 24-hour broth with a much simpler process.
This easy recipe is amazing for many reasons. When made properly, bone broth has a thick consistency that is chock full of amazing nutrients that the grocery store stuff just doesn’t have.
This homemade bone broth is a great base for immune-boosting soups and warm recipes – from cheeseburger soup, to roasted pumpkin soup, roasted red pepper and tomato soup, and much more.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Health benefits – Bone broth has some amazing health benefits, especially when combined with fresh herbs and vegetables. It can help reduce joint pain and inflammation, supports the immune system, and boosts gut health. The collagen can also help with skin elasticity. It is very nutritious and full of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Each batch will vary on how much nutrients are in it.
Easy process – The process is really quite easy! All you need are veggies, bones, water, and an Instant Pot (or pressure cooker) to make your own bone broth.
Less waste – You get the most out of your whole chicken when you roast one. This means even more when you’re buying organic, pasture raised chickens and don’t toss out the leftover bits of meat and bones that are still packed with nutrition.
Ingredients
Chicken or Beef Bones – I prefer to use chicken bones since they are easier to come by. Throw the leftover bones (especially if they still have a little meat!) from a whole baked chicken, bbq chicken legs, thighs, rotisserie chicken, etc. in a Ziplock bag and into the freezer after eating and use those! Beef bones, chicken bones, even pork bones can be used to make homemade broth. Beef soup bones usually have more fat, so there will be a thick layer of tallow at the top of the jar after it is refrigerated. You can also mix bones from different animals in the same pot. You can even use chicken feet! I typically use two chicken carcasses when I make a batch of instant pot bone broth.
Apple cider vinegar – This is optional, but it adds flavor and helps draw out the minerals in the bones.
Vegetable scraps – I use celery leaves and carrot peels. These veggie scraps are optional but add flavor, color, and more nutrients to the stock. When you are chopping veggies for other meals, place the bottoms, tops, and peelings of the veggies that you would normally trash into a zip-lock bag and place in the freezer. When you go to make broth you have veggies to use!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You Will Need
Instant Pot – Any electric pressure cooker will work. I have the Instant Pot brand, but another brand will work just fine.
How To Make The Best Instant Pot Bone Broth
Step 1: Fill the Instant Pot with your bones of choice, about 3/4 of the way to the top, then add enough water to just cover the bones. For the broth to gel, it is important to have a water to bone ratio that isn’t too high. Watch the video to see how many bones and water I add for bone broth that effectively gels. Add a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and set your Instant Pot.
Step 2: Press the soup button on the Instant Pot. Set it to low pressure and the maximum cooking time of 120 minutes or as many hours as your Instant Pot allows. Repeat this process three times or more for a total cook time of 6-8 hours. Sometimes I will repeat this step even longer. This allows the broth to gel, which is what we want! If you can’t get to it immediately, it will just sit on warm until you can. This is fine!
Step 3: Once finished, press the cancel button to turn it off, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for about 10 minutes and then switch to venting.
Step 4: Allow the broth to cool slightly, then place a stainless steel fine mesh strainer over a large bowl. Strain off the bones and pour the broth into half gallon mason jars (I find a funnel is helpful for this). Store them in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Tips
- Keep leftover bones and vegetable scraps in a freezer container until you are ready to make homemade broth with them. This will save you money and help you use all parts of the chicken or beef bones.
- Freeze any leftover broth as desired in an airtight container. After the broth cooled, freeze it in ice cube trays (great for small portions!), a plastic bag, or a quart size mason jar. If using a mason jar, leave a few inches of headroom to allow for expansion. If you don’t leave any space at the top, your mason jar will likely break.
- If you do not eat enough meat on the bone, you can always ask local farmers what they do with the extra bones that people don’t want. They will likely sell them to you for a low price.
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes. After the broth has cooked, set it on warm for 10 hours. I will frequently let the broth cook during the day. When it’s finished, I set the pressure cooked to warm for 10 hours. Then I can strain and store the broth the next day if needed, or when I have more time.
The most important aspect to homemade broth is to get the broth to gel. (This is where all the health benefits are!) So whether you use a slow cooker or electric pressure cooker to make your broth, you want it to gel for the most health benefits.
A conventional slow cooker can accommodate more bones, but it loses more liquid in the cooking process. Slow cookers can contain toxic substances like lead (this is more likely in older models).
I prefer the electric pressure cooker because you set it and forget it. Plus, its made from non-toxic stainless steal, and it gives you amazing bone broth.
Bone broth is full of vitamins, minerals, natural collagen, and amino acids. It has many health benefits making it a delicious choice, good for everyday consumption! I like to have a warm mug of homemade broth first thing in the morning to support gut health.
Adding broth to dishes helps boost flavor and nutritional value. Some of my favorite ways to use it in cooking include:
Use as a base for a delicious and nutritious soup
Add to stews
Cook rice, couscous, risotto, quinoa, etc. in bone broth instead of water for added flavor and nutrients
Baste a chicken or turkey in homemade broth
Use it in place of water in savory Instant Pot or Crock-Pot dishes
Make our families’ favorite Sourdough Stuffing or Chicken Pot Pie
This is up to your preference, but the fat is healthy and delicious. While some people recommend skimming off the fat for flavor purposes, I like to leave mine to add extra nutrients. You could also skim it off to use the fat and save it to use for cooking. Use it for pan frying, sautéing, or just leave it in when making soups.
Find Delicious Recipes With Broth
- Easy Zuppa Toscana Soup
- Split Pea Soup
- Tomato Soup From Scratch
- Homemade Creamy Chicken And Gnocchi Soup
- Chicken Marsala Soup
- Sausage Sauerkraut Soup
- Creamy Chicken And Wild Rice Soup
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Instant Pot Bone Broth
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken bones
- 1/2 gallon water
- Veggie scraps, onions, celery, carrots, etc.
- Herbs, parsley, thyme, basil, etc.
- 1/2 tablespoon Peppercorns
- 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place the chicken bones into the Instant Pot and pour over water with veggie scraps and apple cider vinegar.
- Add lid and set to seal.
- Set to low pressure for 240 minutes.
- Once the time is up, set it again for 240 minutes.
- When it is done cooking, you can either allow it to naturally release or flip the valve to venting.
- Strain off the broth using a fine mesh strainer and store broth in the fridge.
Notes
- Keep leftover bones and vegetable scraps from other meals in a freezer container until you are ready to make homemade broth with them.
- Any bones will work, but I typically use chicken because we like the taste of the broth. You can also mix bones from different animals.
- This will store for up to a week in the refrigerator. Or you can freeze for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Id love to hear more of your experience with the GAPs diet. I want to go on it and need some motivation! Suggestions to make it easy. Thanks!
Yes I would love to hear more about your experience with GAPS as well!
Love this and are now making broth regularly
Can you make a recipe card for this bone broth?
Hi Lisa,
I’ve been wanting to can my own bone broth for a while, but there are other recipes that say you absolutely need to use the pressure canning method. I am not going to use the broth right away so it will be kept in my pantry until I need to use it. What are your thoughts on the pressure canning method and is it safe to keep the cans in my pantry until I want to use it?
You can can it normally by just heating up the jars and lids in three oven at 100c, for 10 minutes. No need for complex tools and methods. Just your oven.
In Europe they still waterbathe most things, including broth. The standard recommended prpcessing time is 45 minutes to an hour for all liquid bone broth.
Can this broth be sealed in mason jars and shevled
Yes! I can mine, because I make large amounts at a time. Here’s a good link for that. https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-bone-broth/
You will need to do this in a pressure canner, not a water bath canner.
Great video. Your explanations are clear and concise. It all makes good sense when you explain it the way you do. Thank you!
Are there any statistics comparing nutrittive value of bones prepared in an Instant Pot for 2 hours and those prepared in a slow cooker for 12+ hours? Just curious, as to whether it would be possible to extract more from the bones by re-pressurizing them? Thanks
Anne
The recipe says you re-pressurize a total of 3 times. So I believe it would be a total of 6 hours to achieve the gel consistency.
Just found you. Thank you so much for what you are doing. I am very new to all of this and i am wanting the chicken broth to help me increase my immune system and am wanting to drink about 1/2 a cup to a cup a day, i am looking at 70 years young these days and need all the help i can get. My question to you is about the tallow, how do i use it, im not a soup eater so what would you suggest i do with it ? Thank you so much and i am so glad to have found you. I look forward to watching more, God Bless.
I am curious about how to use the tallow as well. The only way I have heard of that is making tallow candles.
Most homes in past decades had a pot of something going on the stove 24/7. This is where the term pottage comes from.
I like to use it to cook with. Ill throw it in a cast iron and then cook my eggs in it etc. 🙂
This post is the reason my husband surprised me with an Instant Pot! And I’ve been LOVING using it as a guide to make my broth quicker (and more healthful) than was possible with my crockpot. My question now is: can I cook with the soup function on medium or high pressure in order to make the process faster? Usually I time the 6 hrs well enough, but not today. Wondering if next time I need it in 4-5 hrs I could just use higher pressure?
Hi Lisa,
I make chicken broth using the same ingriedents as you. However, I use my crockpot and cook it for 24 hours, cool, and strain it into a large pot using a cheesecloth inside my colander. I then portion it into freezer containers and freeze for future use.
I usually make this on the weekends so I’m always around just in case there’s an issue with the crockpot. (Never had one but I trend to be overly cautious. Old electricity, plumbing, kitchen in midst of renovation, 100 year old house…..?
This is the best broth to use when making soup or when a recipe calls for broth. Way more flavor, cheaper and better for my family than the store bought stuff.
Thanks again for all your tips and the great videos.
Annie
Sounds like another great way to make it! Thanks for sharing, Annie! 🙂
How do you store the broth in the freezer Annie? Doesn’t the liquid expand while freezing?
I freeze mine in a dedicated silicone mold, and then put then ion ziplock bags 🙂