KateLearn how to make your own homemade chicken broth in the pressure cooker. It’s so simple and tastes way better than store-bought!
Homemade Chicken Broth in the Pressure Cooker
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A few months back, a friend told me she had signed up for a class. Great, right? Learning is awesome.
But that class was entitled “How To Make Chicken Broth” and it was a $30 fee. You didn’t get any produce or chicken bones or stock pots in order to make your own broth…the teacher literally just talked about why homemade chicken broth is better than store-bought and how to make it. Uhhh…
I’ll hook you up with that sweet info for free, friend!
Family History Lesson About Not Wasting
When I told my farm-raised Grandma about this class, she just gave me this weird, glazed over look. Then she laughed and laughed.
For a woman who was born during the Great Depression and who remembers rationing food to survive, this paying to learn how to make broth stuff is absurd…because it is crazy simple and families did it all the time. When you are hungry and praying that your neighbors might have some vegetables or fruit you can trade for, you don’t waste anything. You definitely don’t waste something that would provide nutrition to your children.
That is where homemade bone broth came in.
After that chicken or cow or whatever was butchered to feed the family, those bones were thrown back into a stock pot and slowly simmered until all the gelatin and minerals were pulled from them. This cheap, nutrient dense food helped keep tummies full and bodies healthy in a time when food was scarce.
Unfortunately, this traditional skill is being lost to the ways of packaged, processed convenience foods.
Why Is Homemade Broth Better Than Store-Bought?
Once you try cooking with homemade broth, you will realize there is no comparison as far as taste. That homemade broth will give each soup and meal you make a deeper, richer flavor that no box can give you.
It’s incredibly cheap to make too. If I’ve already cooked a whole chicken for my family, why not use those bones instead of just throwing them away? I’m pretty much making treasure from something that is normally trashed. I guess I’m like Rumpelstiltskin, turning straw into gold….except I don’t try to take people’s babies. What a creep!
And if you don’t normally cook whole chickens? That’s fine! We save bones from chicken thigh and leg recipes and pop them in the freezer. When we have enough, we use them exactly the same way.
Pressure Cooker vs. Slow Cooker vs. Stove Top
I’ve made broth by simmering for like 5 hours on the stove, but I mostly used the slow cooker method (I have and love this one!) because it is so hands off. You set it for 8 hours and forget it!
But since I’ve been experimenting with my new Crockpot Express? I’ve really come to love this method the best! It’s faster since the pressure cooker reaches much higher temperatures and the flavor is really great. And it’s the same exact process for the Instant Pot. The only drawback is that I can’t get as much broth since my actual slow cooker is larger than my pressure cooker.
I really hope you give homemade broth a try. It’s easy, makes your meals taste great and it freezes perfectly.
Oh, and my friend? She didn’t take the class. She got some free info from me, realized it was incredibly easy, and now she makes broth all the time.
Chicken Broth in the Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken Bones
- 1 Medium Onion, cut into large pieces
- 2 Large Carrots
- 2 Large Celery Stalks
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Thyme
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Black Peppercorns (or Black Pepper)
- 1 tbsp Vinegar
- Water
Instructions
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Place bones of 1 whole chicken (or approximately 1 1/2 pounds worth) in Crockpot Express or Instant Pot
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Add vegetables, seasonings, and vinegar.
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Fill with water to Max Line.
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Seal lid and set Steam Release Valve to closed. For Crockpot Express, choose Soup option for 30 minutes. For Instant Pot, you can choose Manual, High Pressure, 30 minutes.
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Let steam release naturally for 10 minutes before opening Steam Release Valve with a long utensil.
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Store broth overnight in refrigerator overnight. Before storing extra in freezer, scrape fat layer off top. Save in freezer safe containers or Ziploc baggies for up to 3 months.
I have always wondered how to make my own chicken broth! I am totally going to do this and freeze it. Thank you for this post!
Let me know how it goes, Brittany!
I need to try this! I finally used my Instant Pot for the first time tonight. I think it will be so useful once I get the hang of it.
I was really nervous to use mine at first! I mean, it makes weird hissing noises that I wasn’t used to. But now I use it all the time!