How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant That Gels

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You’ll almost always find a mysterious bag of bones in my freezer. There’s also probably some onion peels, carrot nubs, parsley ends and celery leaves in there – it’s my bag of bone broth making goodies. All that stuff that you’d typically throw away in the garbage is perfect for making homemade bone broth, or stock as it’s otherwise known. Making bone broth in your Instant Pot is easy, economical, and healthy. It’s a great way to stretch your food dollar and provide your body with a boost of nutrients and protein.

So, whenever I’m chopping up some veggies for dinner, I’ll pull out that ziploc freezer bag and just load those peels, ends and leaves in there. And, when I’m making something chicken wings or thighs, those bones will find their way in there too.

When the bag is full, I just empty it into my Instant Pot, add a good glug of apple cider vinegar (it helps pull the nutrients out of the bones) and add water to 1-inch below the max fill line. Then, I just set it to cook on high pressure for 120 minutes.

Once the 2 hours is up, I let the pressure release naturally (it takes about 15 minutes) and voila! Strain the broth and discard the bones and veggies and you’re left with the most beautiful, golden homemade broth!

Let’s dive into the ingredients and how-to’s so that you can make the most delicious bone broth that gels every time!!

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Instant Pot Chicken Bone Broth Ingredients

  • Chicken Bones or 1 (2-3 pound) rotisserie chicken – we like to use the leftover bones from chicken thighs or wings or even a whole chicken.
  • Apple Cider Vinegar – Vinegar is a key ingredient as it pulls the nutrients from the bones into the broth.
  • Vegetables – Carrots, Carrot peels, Celery, Parsnip, Onion, and Garlic. We recommend adding vegetables as they add great flavor and nutrients, however, they are optional.
  • Fresh Herbs – we like to use a mix of sage, rosemary, thyme, and/or parsley. Like vegetables, herbs are optional.
  • Seasoning – salt, peppercorns, and a bay leafThis is not an exact science. Start a bag of vegetable scraps and chicken bones that stays in your freezer. When it gets full make broth. If you want to make beef broth instead of chicken broth just swap out the chicken bones with beef bones or pork bones for pork broth.

How To Make Instant Pot Bone Broth

It might sound intimidating, but bone broth is truly so simple to make in your Instant Pot.

  1. Add meat bones, veggies, herbs/seasonings, apple cider vinegar, and plenty of water to your Instant Pot. Your water level should be just below the “max fill” line.
  2. Lock Instant Pot lid into place, flip vent valve to “Sealing”
  3. Select “Manual” (if you have a newer Instant Pot and don’t have a manual option, select “Soup/Broth” and make sure the setting is on “High Pressure”) and adjust the time to 120 minutes.
  4. When cooking time is done, allow pressure to natural release (this should take 20-30 minutes).
  5. Allow to cool to room temperature, then strain the contents of the pot into storage containers (I like to use mason jars) to store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Why Bone Broth is Good for You

Making bone broth in your Instant Pot is easy, economical, and healthy. As the bones and connective tissue slowly simmer, the nutrients get released into the water, making a very nutritious liquid. Bone Broth is also known for having high nutritional value and is great for your gut health.

The health benefits of bone broth
Natural Collagen contains joint-supporting amino acids, such as glucosamine and chondroitin
Minerals (calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron)
Vitamins (A and K2)
Essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6)

Is your Instant Pot Good for Bone Broth?

Yes! Instant pot bone broth is just as healthy as any bone broth. Bone broth of any kind is healthy -especially if you’re using good quality bones and cooking the bones long enough – you’ll be good! And it will make the best bone broth in a fraction of the time.

But if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can still make bone broth in your slow cooker. Just know that it takes quite a bit longer to make broth in your slow cooker (24-36 hours) versus the less than 2 hours needed to make bone broth in an electric pressure cooker aka Instant Pot.

How do you know when Bone Broth is done?

The broth is done when it is a rich golden-brown and the bones are falling apart at the joints. Strain the bone broth. When the broth is finished, strain and cool the bone broth as quickly as possible. Set a strainer over a large pot or even a stand mixer bowl and line it with cheesecloth if desired.

instant pot bone broth

How to Store Bone Broth

Broth can be kept in the refrigerator in a sealed container, such as mason jars, for up to 5 days. Freeze or pressure can for longer storage.

How To Freeze Bone Broth:
Freeze broth in silicone muffin cups or ice cube trays
Once broth blocks are solid, remove them from the tray and store the blocks in a ziplock bag or other freezer-friendly sealed container in your freezer.
When you’re ready to use, simply remove the amount you need and reheat on the stove or in the microwave, or throw frozen blocks directly in soups for a flavor boost.

Can You Cook Bone Broth for Too Long?

If you cook your broth too long, it will develop overcooked, off-flavors that can become particularly unpleasant if you’ve added vegetables to the broth pot which tend to break down, tasting at once bitter and overly sweet.

How many times can you reuse bones for bone broth?

How many times can you reuse bones for broth? poultry bones are the most fragile and are good for 2-3, maybe 4 batches. By 3 chicken bones will crumble easily in your hands, but you can keep reusing them if you want.

Typically, I’ll cook up a batch of Instant Pot bone broth once or twice a month. It’s so much cheaper to make your own homemade chicken broth, rather than buying those cartons in the store – plus it tastes SO much better.

What to make with your flavorful bone broth?