How To Make Chicken Broth (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)

Ever wonder how to make chicken broth? It’s really quite simple, and homemade chicken broth is so much more flavorful than anything you can buy in the store! We’re sharing how to make it using 3 different methods: on the stovetop, in the Instant Pot or in the slow cooker!

How to Make Chicken Broth in the Instant Pot

Once you make your own chicken broth, you’ll never want to make store-bought again! It is so much for flavorful, you get to control the ingredients you add to it, and it is much more cost-efficient to make it at home! Plus, it’s simple to make and a batch makes a ton of it. Once you’ve put in the effort to make it once, it will pay off because you can easily freeze the chicken stock in small quantities to pull out whenever you need it!

The truth is, we’re giving you a very detailed recipe here, but it is a pretty forgiving recipe and you can adjust the amount of bones and veggies you add to your stock, based on what you have on hand. Once you’ve been making your own stock for a while, you can figure out what flavor profile you really enjoy, and you can play around with the recipe.

Ingredients Needed for Chicken Broth

• Chicken Bones
• Onion
• Carrots
• Celery
• Parsley Sprigs
• Whole Black Peppercorns
• Bay Leaf
• Leeks
• Water
• Salt

What Chicken Bones to Use

Chicken bones are the major player here in this recipe and it’s where a majority of the flavor comes from. There is some flexibility in what type of bones to use. In the best-case scenario, over time you are collecting leftover chicken bones, from whole roasted chickens, or rotisserie chickens. Place them in your freezer in a bag to save until you have enough bones to make stock.

If you do not have any saved up bones, you can use uncooked chicken wings, as well as the uncooked neck reserved from a whole chicken. You can use these uncooked bones directly in the stock. Or, you can roast them until they are lightly golden and then use them in the stock. Roasting them first imparts a lovely roasted flavor.

Other Vegetables to Use

For this recipe, we’re suggesting using the classic onion/celery/carrot combination, as well as the optional addition of leeks. You can customize your chicken stock a bit by using what vegetables or vegetable scraps you have on hand.  However, there are some factors to keep in mind. Avoid using vegetables that might give an off-flavor to the broth such as broccoli or cabbage. Other vegetables to avoid are greens, zucchini and starchy vegetables such as potatoes and turnips.

Are Chicken Broth and Chicken Stock the Same?

Ways to Make Chicken Broth

This post covers three ways to make chicken broth: on the stovetop, in the Instant Pot or in the slow cooker! Choose which method works best for you, depending on what time you have on your hands!

Storing It

Store chicken broth in the refrigerator for up to 5 to 7 days. Obviously give it a once over if it’s on the latter end of 7 days and check that it smells fresh and there are no visible signs of spoilage. Boil the stock for a minimum of 5 minutes before consuming. Once the broth is made, freeze it in silicone ice cube trays (I like the ones with lids), then store in freezer bags for up to three months.

Making it Turkey Stock

Yes you can. Simply swap out the chicken bones for turkey!

Watch the video here:

Use this chicken broth recipe in these other recipes:

• Feel Good Soup
• Chicken Marsala
• Roasted Poblano and Chicken Soup
• Turkey Kale Soup

How To Make Chicken Broth (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)

Print Recipe

• Author: Lexi
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Yield: 3 Quartz 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 lb. chicken bones*
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 handful parsley sprigs
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup roughly chopped leeks (optional)
• 12 cups water*
• Sea salt, to taste

Instructions

How to Make it in the Instant Pot:

1. Add all ingredients to your pressure cooker.*
2. Cover and seal the pressure cooker. Using the manual timer, set the pressure cooker to high for 25 minutes. Note: it will take time to come up to pressure with all that water!
3. Once done, use natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Shut off pressure cooker. Carefully release any remaining steam and uncover.
4. Let the broth cool until it is easier to handle, and pour broth through a fine mesh strainer. You may want to strain twice!
5. Pour broth into storage containers and let cool completely before covering. Broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If the broth is unused after 5 days bring it to a boil before using. You can also add salt here to taste, before storing, or add as using.

How to Make it in the Slow Cooker:

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cover with just enough water to cover the vegetables and bones (this will vary depending on the size of your slow cooker).
2. Set it to low and cook for 8 to 10 hours.
3. Let the broth cool until it is easier to handle, and pour broth through a fine-mesh strainer. You may want to strain twice!
4. Pour broth into storage containers and let cool completely before covering. Broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If the broth is unused after 5 days bring it to a boil before using. You can also add salt here to taste, before storing, or add as using.

How to Make it in on the Stove:

1. Combine all ingredients in a very large stock pot and cover with just enough water to cover the vegetables and bones (this will vary depending on the size of your slow cooker).
2. Bring it up to a boil over medium-high heat and then lower the heat to let the liquid simmer, continuing to cook, adding more water to keep the bones and veggies covered, for at least 2 hours. The longer you simmer the better.
3. Let the broth cool until it is easier to handle, and pour broth through a fine-mesh strainer. You may want to strain twice!
4. Pour broth into storage containers and let cool completely before covering. Broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If the broth is unused after 5 days bring it to a boil before using. You can also add salt here to taste, before storing, or add as using.

Notes

2 lbs. chicken bones is roughly the bones from 3 whole chickens. You can easily save the bones in the freezer until you have stored up enough, that’s what I do!

This recipe is based off a 6 quart Instant Pot. If you have a smaller Instant Pot you will have to halve the recipe.