Homemade chicken broth is one of those effortless things that I love making. It’s amazing how much broth we can use in a week! Not only is it used in our soups, our one pot meals, and gravies, but I also use it every time I cook rice. It’s a really simple trick that helps take the rice from bland to flavorful. Since the broth takes on the flavor of how the roaster was seasoned — homemade broth doesn’t need a lot of seasonings. When you are buying that much broth each week, it can get very expensive!
Long before the benefits of bone broth seemed to go mainstream, I was cooking our own broth. It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing from the get go. I had preservative allergies, and my middle gets migraines to MSG. Cutting out convenience foods was a really simple way to make sure that we stayed healthy and we stayed on budget. I used to cook it in our 12qt stockpot, but now that my kids are older and I’m constantly driving them to various school functions, activities, and dance lessons, I don’t always have the time to babysit the stove. Yes, even cooking it in the slow cooker became too time consuming.
Cooking it in the Instant Pot* is where I hit my stride. I prefer to start this at night, usually as we’re dividing up our chicken from a roaster, I’ll have the instant pot liner available and throw the bones and skin in there. Then top with water, and cook. It really couldn’t get any easier!
When it’s done, I like using our hand strainer and an 8 quart container to store the broth in while it cools in the fridge. Once the broth has cooled and the fat has solidified, I remove the fat from the top of the broth, and separate into storage containers. I like using wide mouth mason jars, but I will also use quart ziploc bags if I’m storing the broth in the freezer. You can store it in the fridge for about 2 weeks, or the freezer for about 6 months. But trust me, this broth won’t last that long!
Ingredients:
- Remnants of a roaster chicken, veggies, etc
- Water
Directions
- Add the roaster to the Instant Pot liner.
- Add water to the max fill line. For my Instant Pot, that’s 2/3 full.
- Put the lid on your Instant Pot. Make sure the lid is set to sealing, not venting.
- Set the instant pot to Stew / Meat. I have the Instant Pot Ultra*, and it comes with this setting. If yours doesn’t, set to Manual, or Pressure Cook, and cook at high pressure. Set the timer for 4 – 5 hours.
- When the cook time on the Instant Pot is done, allow it to natural release until the broth has come to room temperature. Using a strainer, remove the chicken bones and skin from the broth.
- Store the broth in a large container until it’s cooled. Separate the fat from the broth.
- Transfer the broth to mason jars or ziploc freezer bags for storage. Store in the fridge for 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Leave a Reply