Bity
Instant pot chicken stock is the one recipe in this house that costs almost nothing to make. A roast chicken carcass, a few tired vegetables from the drawer, and forty five minutes at pressure gives you eight cups of gold.
Honestly, I used to throw the bones away. Then I worked out that a Sunday chicken quietly contains the base for the next week of soups and risottos, and the bin stopped getting them.
Quick Breakdown
Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Chicken Stock
- Forty five minutes instead of six hours. Pressure does to bones what a long simmer does, only faster.
- It costs the price of an onion. Everything else is scraps.
- Eight cups per batch. Enough for two big soups with some left for gravy.
- No skimming, no watching. Sealed pot, no evaporation, no scum to chase.
- It sets to jelly in the fridge. That wobble is the sign you did it right.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken bones or carcass. Two and a half to three pounds. A leftover roasted carcass, raw backs and wing tips, or a bag of bones saved in the freezer all work.
- Onion, carrots, celery. One onion and two of each, roughly chopped. Skins on the onion are fine and add colour.
- Garlic. Two cloves, lightly crushed, no need to peel them properly.
- Apple cider vinegar. One tablespoon. This is the ingredient people skip and then wonder why their stock is thin.
- Water. Eight cups, and no more. Overfilling is the fastest way to a weak result.
- Salt and pepper. Light on the salt, because you will reduce this in whatever you use it for.
Long cooked bones give up their collagen, which is why Cleveland Clinic notes that a cup of bone broth carries around nine grams of protein against two to six in an ordinary stock. Under pressure you get a good part of that in under an hour.
Stock or Broth, and Does It Matter?
People use the two words interchangeably and mostly it does not matter, but there is a real difference underneath.
| Stock | Broth | |
|---|---|---|
| Made from | Bones, mainly | Meat, mainly |
| Texture cold | Sets to a jelly | Stays liquid |
| Seasoning | Barely salted | Seasoned to drink |
| Best for | Sauces, risotto, braises | Sipping, light soups |
This recipe sits on the stock side of the line, because it leans on bones and stays under salted. That said, add another half teaspoon of salt and it drinks perfectly well from a mug.
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Stock
1. Load the pot. First, put the bones or carcass in the base, then pile the onion, carrots, celery and garlic on top.
2. Add the liquid. Next, pour in the water and the apple cider vinegar, then season with the salt and black pepper. Do not go above the pot’s maximum fill line.
3. Pressure cook. Then close the lid, set the valve to Sealing, and cook on High Pressure for 45 minutes.
4. Let it drop on its own. After that, allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes. Because a fast vent churns the pot, a slow drop is what keeps the liquid clear.
5. Strain. Finally, pour everything through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids. Cool slightly before storing.
Why Add Apple Cider Vinegar?
One tablespoon of vinegar in eight cups of water will not make anything taste sour. What it does is lower the pH slightly, and mildly acidic water pulls minerals and collagen out of bone far more efficiently than plain water does.
The proof is in the fridge the next morning. A batch made with vinegar sets to a soft jelly. In fact, the wobblier it is, the more gelatin you extracted, and gelatin is what gives sauces body later.
Lemon juice does the same job if you have no cider vinegar. Instead of doubling it for a stronger result, just add more bones.
Tips for the Best Instant Pot Chicken Stock
- Save bones in a freezer bag until you have enough. They keep for months and nothing is wasted.
- Roast raw bones at 425°F for twenty minutes first if you want a darker, deeper result.
- Keep the water at eight cups. More water does not make more stock, it makes weaker stock.
- Leave the onion skins on for colour, but skip anything from the brassica family, since cabbage and broccoli turn it bitter.
- Chill it overnight, then lift the solid fat off the top in one disc.
- Underseason on purpose. You can always add salt to the dish it ends up in.
Should You Roast the Bones First?
Raw bones give you a pale, clean, delicate stock. Roasted bones give you something darker and much more savoury, and the difference is bigger than you would expect from twenty minutes in the oven.
Spread raw bones on a tray and roast at 425°F for around twenty minutes, until they have taken on real colour. Tip the bones and any browned juices into the pot, then splash a little water onto the hot tray and scrape that in as well, because most of the flavour is stuck to the metal.
A leftover roast carcass has already had this done to it, which is why stock from a Sunday chicken tastes richer than stock from a bag of raw wing tips.
Still, there are times you want the pale version. For a delicate risotto or a clear soup, raw bones and no roasting keeps the colour light and the flavour from dominating. In fact, I keep two labelled tubs in the freezer for exactly that reason.
Storage and Freezing
- Fridge. Up to four days in a sealed container. A layer of fat on top acts as a seal, so leave it until you need it.
- Freezer. Up to three months in airtight tubs. Leave an inch of headspace, because liquid expands.
- Ice cube trays. Freeze a tray of concentrated cubes for deglazing pans and quick gravies.
- Portioning. Two cup portions are the most useful size for most recipes.
- Reheating. Straight from frozen into a pan over low heat, no thawing needed.
Variations and Substitutions
- Herb stock. A bay leaf and a few parsley stalks, added before sealing.
- Peppercorn heavy. A teaspoon of whole black peppercorns instead of ground.
- Asian style. Ginger coins, a spring onion and a star anise, then use it as the base for something like our miso soup with greens and tofu.
- Turkey. Same method, same timing, and the carcass from a holiday bird is enormous.
- Vegetable only. Skip the bones and drop to 15 minutes.
- Richer still. Add a couple of chicken feet if your butcher has them.
What to Use It In
Anything that currently says water. It turns rice into something worth eating on its own, and it is the difference between an ordinary soup and one people ask about. A batch is the natural starting point for a creamy chicken noodle soup or a bowl of ham and corn chowder.
Meanwhile, if you want more ideas for the pressure cooker itself, our collection of pressure cooker chicken recipes is a good place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Instant Pot Chicken Stock Method
Can I use raw chicken bones?
Yes. Raw bones and a leftover roasted carcass both work well, and a mix of the two is arguably the best of both.
Why add apple cider vinegar?
The vinegar helps draw minerals and collagen out of the bones, which makes for a richer result. You will not taste it in the finished stock.
Can I make this without vegetables?
Yes. Bones, water and salt alone give a clean, neutral base that suits delicate sauces, though it is less interesting to sip.
Why is mine cloudy?
Usually a fast pressure release, which agitates everything. Let it drop naturally and strain gently without pressing the solids.
Storage and Troubleshooting
How do I remove the fat?
Refrigerate it. The fat rises and sets in a firm layer overnight, and lifts off in one piece with a spoon.
Why did mine not set to a jelly?
Too much water for the amount of bone, or not enough connective tissue. Still, a liquid stock is perfectly good, it just has less body.
Can I reuse the bones for a second batch?
You can, though the second run is noticeably weaker. Use it for cooking grains rather than as a soup base.
How long does it keep?
Four days in the fridge and three months frozen. After all, it is easier to freeze it on day one than to guess later.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs chicken bones or carcass 1 to 1.4 kg, up to 3 lbs
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 15 ml
- 8 cups water 2 liters
- 1 tsp salt 5 g
- 1/2 tsp black pepper 2 g
Instructions
- Add the chicken bones or carcass to the Instant Pot.
- Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic.
- Pour in the water and the apple cider vinegar.
- Add the salt and black pepper.
- Close the lid and cook on High Pressure for 45 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes.
- Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve and discard the solids.
- Let the stock cool slightly before storing.
