Boost your immune system and get an extra dose of collagen with this easy-to-make tutorial for Instant Pot Bone Broth. Learn how to make bone broth in your pressure cooker using food scraps and leftover ingredients to give your food a second life!

Table Of Contents

• Benefits of Bone Broth
• How to Use Bone Broth
• How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot
• How to Store Bone Broth

I love having a batch of bone broth on hand basically all winter long. It is so nourishing and simple to use. Plus, it’s made from food scraps and you know I’m all about wasting less. A few years ago I shared my tutorial for making bone broth in your slow cooker but this was the pre-Instant Pot days. Now to be honest, there’s nothing new about pressure cooking but the Instant Pot has really changed the game by making it super simple and safe. I tried an old school pressure cooker once and it felt like I was trying to diffuse a bomb.

We got our Instant Pot for our wedding and it quickly became one of our most-used kitchen appliances. Our favorite things to make are rice and bone broth! Instead of cooking your bone broth in your slow cooker for 24+ hours or on your stove top too, you can just set it and forget it. Seriously, if you’ve wanted the benefits of bone broth but don’t want to put in the leg work you can make it in the Instant Pot and will not believe how simple it is to make.

Best part? It’s a great way to use up food scraps! You can use chicken bones from a leftover chicken and veggie scraps if that’s what you have. I give instructions for what kinds of veggies to use below but honestly you can use anything. You can even leave the skins on the veggies. You won’t be eating them so I do recommend using scraps in order to give your food a second life. Alright, let’s get into why we’re making bone broth in the first place!

Benefits of Bone Broth

Bone broth is packed with beneficial ingredients. It is high in a ton of vitamins and minerals as well as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The nutrient bone broth is most well known for is collagen. Bones contain the protein collagen and when cooked, it turns into gelatin which is amazing for joint, skin, nail, and hair health. It may also help with inflammation and gut health.  All around, a great addition to any diet!

How to Use Bone Broth

I like to enjoy a hot mug of bone broth just like it were a cup of tea. I will say, it can be an acquired taste so if you’re not a huge fan of it on it’s own, there are other options for you! Use it as a broth for soup or as a base for a sauce or gravy. Anytime a recipe calls for regular ol’ broth or stock, swap in bone broth! You can also use it as the liquid while making grains. To recap:

1. Enjoy on its own
2. In stocks and soups
3. To cook grains
4. As gravy
5. For dogs! Yes – bone broth is great to add to your dog’s food.

How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot

I’ll be honest, I was weary of the Instant Pot when it first came out but now I am obsessed! You can make ingredients and meals so fast. It really is really nice to have on hand if you have extra cabinet space. I love making bone broth in my Instant Pot because what usually takes all day (or night!) long in the slow cooker takes just 2-3 hours. Perfect for my impatient self. You can either pressure cook on high for 2 hours or low for 3 hours. This is the equivalent to 24 hours in the slow cooker (which is what I used to do).

Here’s what you need:

• 1 lb chicken bones*
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 4 garlic cloves
• herbs
• apple cider vinegar
• salt and pepper

*You can either save these from a cooked or raw chicken carcass or ask your butcher if they have any chicken bones. Whole Foods almost always has so be sure to ask!

Note: apple cider vinegar is essential for this recipe as it helps the collagen release from the chicken bones.

STEP 1

Place all ingredients in your Instant Pot and cover with water at least 1 inch above ingredients.

STEP 2

Set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 3 hours. When finished allow pressure valve to release for 20 minutes then quick release the remaining. Allow to cool before handling.

STEP 3

Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth. The finer the better to catch all particles.

STEP 4

Divide into mason jars or sealable containers. See storage instructions below.

How to Store Bone Broth

You can store your bone broth in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. If you won’t be able to enjoy it that fast, you can freeze it and heat it up as needed. I recommend using an ice cube tray or small containers so you can just heat up what you need!

Read Also: Best Healthy Soup Recipes

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