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.
Do you remove toenails from store bought chicken feet? And still clean them before use?
I just clean them really well before use!
I have a Ninja 9:1 I can slow cook & pressure cook, doesn’t have a soup function so just wondering what option to use, bit confused, can anyone give some advice please?
TIA
Sue
I was wondering emptying out my moms freezer and I found smoked pork neck bones, ham bones, with extra ham, salt pork and beef bones. I plan to roast bones and meat first but can I mix this all together for bone broth or keep pork and beef separate?
I would separate pork from beef.
This is has been my go-to guide for bone broth, and now I’m *really* doing a “Lisa”. I cooked it for six hours, left it on warm for 10, and then needed it to stay hot so restarted a cycle for two hours. I noticed the recipe section says two cycles of 240 minutes, so that is eight hours. I don’t know if that was intentional because it says six hours in the description above. I’m hoping it’s okay this way. Anyway, I’m ready now to hit cancel, natural release, and strain at only 21 minutes into the last two hour cycle. I think it will be great.
Hi Lisa, I am also wondering about the time. Is it three intervals of 120mins (6hrs) or two intervals of 240 mins (8hrs)? I want to maximize flavour and nutritional benefits, but i hear cooking it too long with a pressure cooker can destroy nutrients and alter proteins.
Does keeping it warm for 10 hours yield more flavour and nutrients?
You can do either. Sometimes keeping it on a lower setting like warm, can help produce more flavor for sure. My key is lots of salt to bring out the flavor!
Hello. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
I have followed your instructions to make chicken bone broth, but mine looks so much darker.It tastes good, but I don’t understand why it doesn’t have that beautiful golden color. Do you know what may have caused it?
Have the bones been roasted prior? If you use a rotisserie chicken or something that has been roasted like that, it can produce a darker bone broth. Still equally delicious! I’ve also read that certain onion peels can make it darker too.
Can you pressure can the bone broth when it’s finished in the instant pot.
Yes, you can use a pressure canner to can the bone broth. Just not the instant pot to can them. 🙂
Is it possible to pressure can this?
***oops…just saw someone else’s question concerning canning. Thank you! Love this recipe!
Hi! Could you also use a regular crock pot for this? thank you!
You can use a crock pot for bone broth, but it will take a lot longer.
Is there Nutritional benefit to doing it on low in chunks versus just high?
Yes, it can help to retain more of the nutritional benefit, but it also helps the flavor by doing it low and slow.
HI Lisa.
First up – I love your Farmhouse on Boone blogging. I discovered you a couple of months ago while I was recovering from a winter cold… I think your blog actually made my recovery faster! So, to my reason for contacting you: Ive just made a bone broth following your instructions and it is delicious. However, I looked a t a few other sites and some of the other ‘brothers’ are very very explicit about th eneed to add two other steps to this process: (i) blanching the bones and then (ii) roasting them…..Surely life is too short for all this extra work?….Id love to hear your thoughts. xx Lesley from Maleny, Australia.
That seems like a lot of extra work… I’ve done it this way for years. The bones are technically cooked since I make whole chickens and then take off the meat. I know for beef broth, when you just buy soup bones it is recommended to bake the bones first. But since the chicken is cooked first I don’t worry about the extra steps. Hope that helps. And glad you are enjoying the blog.
Question!
So local farmers are charging about $20 for a whole chicken which is really hard for my family. Will it still be beneficial if I get a whole free range chicken from whole foods? Is there a good in store option for whole chickens?
Yes. It is still nutritious with lots of vitamins and minerals.
You may also reach out to a farm and see if you can just buy bones left from butchering.
Hi Lisa: when you say to leave the broth on keep warm for 10 hours, what level would you set the “keep warm” at? Low, medium or high? (The IP DUO PLUS has three settings) thanks again for all the wonderful information. This is my first instant pot recipe ever!!
Mine doesn’t have that option, but medium or high would be fine.