This easy recipe for Instant Pot chicken broth is the best way to make flavorful chicken broth in an Instant Pot.
Especially during the winter months, a batch of homemade chicken broth in your freezer is a gift to your future self. Especially if your future self is surrounded by children with sniffly noses and sore throats. A mug of warm chicken broth is soothing and nourishing on its own. Without too much effort, it can also turned into a pot of belly-warming soup for dinner.
I know that chicken broth can be made with a chicken carcass or bones, but my family doesn't eat chicken often enough to amass bags of chicken bones in our freezer. So when I make chicken broth, I buy wings (or drumettes, if I can't find wings) because wings provide flavor and collagen for a rich and delicious broth.
Instant Pot chicken broth is fairly quick and very easy to make. Using a slow-cooker to make chicken broth is also a great option - follow this same recipe and cook on low for 8 to 12 hours.
I like to keep individual portions of chicken broth in the freezer, stored in sandwich-sized freezer bags. This is mainly for one of my kids who prefers a mug of broth over a mug of lemon and honey tea when she has a cold. I also keep larger portions frozen for a quick dinner of Matzo ball soup.
More Soup Recipes:
- Instant Pot Vegetable Broth
- Instant Pot White Bean, Cabbage and Tomato Soup
- Instant Pot Red Lentil Soup with Crispy Parmesan Chickpeas
- Stove-top Simple Vegetable Soup
The Difference Between Stock and Broth
Broth is seasoned with salt. Stock is not seasoned. That’s about it!
How to Freeze Chicken Broth
- Let chicken broth cool completely before pouring it into Ziploc freezer bags or freezer-proof glass jars. In both cases, allow several inches of extra space for the liquid to expand as it freezes. To cool the broth, I put the pot, without a lid, into the refrigerator to chill. A faster method is setting the soup pot in a sink or large bowl filled with ice water. In both cases, mixing the broth helps it cool faster.
- I like using Ziploc bags because my freezer is small – I lay broth and soup down flat in the freezer so I can stack several bags on top of each other.
- Defrost broth by putting it in the refrigerator overnight. Or, run cool water over the bag of frozen broth until the liquid begins to break up, then reheat immediately.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Broth
This easy recipe for Instant Pot chicken broth is the best way to make flavorful chicken broth in an Instant Pot.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40 minutes + 20 minutes to come up to pressure
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken wings or drumettes
- 1 carrot, cleaned and snapped in half (no need to peel)
- 1 onion, cut in half (peel can stay on)
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
- 1 small bay leaf (or break a larger leaf in half)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (if you have them)
- A few sprigs of thyme or parsley
Instructions
- Add chicken, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, peppercorns and sprigs of herbs to the Instant Pot.
- Add about 3 quarts/ 12 cups water. Make sure not to fill your Instant Pot more than ⅔ full.
- Optional Step: This step will make a clearer, less cloudy broth but is optional, not essential: Press the saute button and bring the water to a simmer. After about 20 minutes, the broth will be simmering and white foam will be gathering on top. Use a spoon or ladle to skim off the white foam.
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot. Make sure the steam release valve is set to “sealing.” Press the Manual button and program the Instant Pot to cook at high pressure for 40 minutes. It will take about 20 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure.
- After the cooking time is done, let the pressure release naturally. If you try to release the pressure manually, broth might spew out of the pressure release valve.
- Strain the chicken and vegetables from the broth (The chicken and veggies are edible if you want to eat them. Just add salt for flavor.)
Notes
Instant Pot chicken broth can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It can also be frozen for later use.
I only use one small bay leaf because I find the flavor of bay leaf to be overpowering in chicken broth.
This broth is lightly seasoned, but you'll probably need to add more salt for flavor when the broth is done.
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