Hearty Chicken Bone Broth (Instant Pot Recipe)
Try this Hearty Chicken Bone Broth Instant Pot recipe
Try this Hearty Chicken Bone Broth Instant Pot recipe
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- carcass and bones of 1 whole free-range chicken (a little meat still on the bone)
- 1 medium brown onion peeled and quartered
- 2 small carrots
- 2 celery sticks (i use up the smaller sticks with le
- 2-3 slices of fresh ginger3 cloves of garlic
- 3-4 slices of red chilli (optional)
- handful of fresh parsley (good to use up the stalk
- handful of fresh cilantro/coriander (good to use u
- generous pinch of cracked black peppers
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional also you can't taste)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (white vinegar is fine)
- 2.25-2.5 litres (around 9 cups) of water (ideally filtered)
- Carbohydrate 15.1884233333333 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.346246666666667 g
- Fiber 3.90163330729802 g
- Protein 1.58431 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0741066666666667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 litre (156g)
- Sodium 71.3526666666667 mg
- Sugar 11.2867900260353 g
- Trans Fat 0.100346666666667 g
- Calories 65 calories
Step-by-step
- Place all ingredients inside the Instant Pot, place and lock the lid. Make sure the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing.
- Press Soup function key and then press Manual and change the timer to 100 minutes. After 3 beeps, the pressure cooker is ready to go. Relax and enjoy yourself!
- Once the timer goes off, and the Soup cooking function goes to Keep Warm/Cancel, press Manual again and change the pressure to LOW, set the timer to 60 mins. To be honest, the broth is ready after 100 minutes but to get the most out of those bones, I like to extend the cooking time on low pressure for a bit longer.
- Once finished, allow the pressure to release naturally before opening the lid (at least for 5-10 minutes). If you want to use the quick release method, make sure to pull the steam release handle to Venting very gently, a little bit at a time with little nudges. There will be a lot of hiss and possibly some broth spitting. That's why I release it gently.
- Once the pressure valve is back down and you have opened the lid, let the broth cool down to handling temperature.
- Strain the broth into clean jars or storage container, seal with lids and store in the fridge or freezer. Remove any visible chicken meat from the bones and store to enjoy with the broth.
- You can use the broth to make chicken soup with fresh vegetables and cooked meat, or to use it as a base for other soups and stews. I like it simply heated and served in a bowl or a cup with some fresh herbs, a little garlic, sea salt and lemon or lime juice. You can also add some miso paste, scallions/spring onion, chilli and Tamari soy sauce.
Apple cider vinegar does the heaviest lifting in this pot by supplying acetic acid, which lowers the pH of the cooking water. This mild acidity helps break down collagen within the connective tissue of the chicken bones, hydrolyzing tough structural proteins into water-soluble gelatin that gives the final liquid its rich mouthfeel. Cooking bones at high temperatures under pressure accelerates this hydrolysis far beyond traditional simmering methods.
Thermal energy inside the sealed chamber forces moisture deep into the bone matrix, rendering marrow fats and minerals into the surrounding liquid. Aromatics like onion and garlic contribute sulfur compounds and free amino acids, building savory depth through Maillard-adjacent reactions during the prolonged heat phase. Ginger introduces zingiberene, an enzyme that imparts a clean, sharp finish to offset the heavy gelatin.
Fish sauce supplies free glutamates, synergizing naturally with the nucleotides released from the chicken meat to amplify umami perception without leaving a discernible fishy taste. When the 100-minute high-pressure cycle concludes, dropping the unit to low pressure for an additional 60 minutes maximizes mineral extraction from the calcified matrix.
Allowing the pressure to release naturally prevents violent boiling that can emulsify fats and cloud the broth with particulate matter. Straining the warm liquid through a fine mesh yields a clear stock that solidifies into a gelatinous gel upon chilling in the refrigerator.
