Homemade bone broth is quite literally liquid gold. It is delicious, super healthy, and is a zero waste recipe! Bone broth provides major amounts of minerals and nutrients that support your immune system and gut health.
Need bones to make this homemade bone broth recipe? Make my easy spatchcock chicken recipe and use the bones to make this recipe!
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Try this bone broth in my easy chicken and dumplings recipe, or my souper (see what I did there, haha) popular hamburger soup for an extra punch of flavor and nutrients! This bone broth is also the main ingredient in my easy homemade vegetable soup, and can be used in my slow cooker lasagna soup, so be sure to check those out too!
Use Bone Broth to Make Any Soup Recipe
Stock or broth is the main ingredient in every soup recipe, and replacing it with bone broth is an excellent way to make more nutrient-rich soups and stews.
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Ingredients for Homemade Bone Broth
- Bones - Use any leftover poultry or beef bones for this recipe. Bones from a simple roast chicken or Thanksgiving turkey work perfectly! Bones can be fresh or frozen.
- Apple Cider Vinegar - One of the main ingredients in bone broth is apple cider vinegar, or any kind of vinegar. The added acidity helps break down the bones and draw out all the good stuff!
- Vegetables - Vegetables that can be used in bone broth include onions (especially the peel!), garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and any kind of fresh herb. Avoid vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, beets, and sweet potatoes. Store veggie scraps in the freezer and throw them in whenever you're making a batch.
A full list of ingredients & quantities can be found on the recipe card below.
Did You Know?
The onion peel contributes to the rich, vibrant color of bone broth. So, when making bone broth, simply cut the onion in half, unpeeled and throw it in!
How To Make Homemade Bone Broth
This recipe demonstrates using the 8-quart IP Duo Instant Pot to make pressure cooker bone broth.
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You do not need an Instant Pot to make bone broth. You can use a large stock pot or Dutch oven and let the broth simmer on the stovetop for 12-14 hours.
But for today, I am going to teach you exactly how to make homemade bone broth in 2 ½ hours using a pressure cooker.
Step 1
Start by grabbing the inner bowl of the Instant Pot and adding the bones, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, peppercorns, salt, and apple cider vinegar.
After all the ingredients are in the inner bowl, fill the pot to the maximum line with filtered water. It should be about 12 cups of water; do not fill past the max line.
Step 2
Place the inner bowl into the Instant Pot, attach the lid and make sure the valve is in the sealing position.
Set the Instant Pot on high pressure and set the timer. If the bones you are using are fresh, set the timer for 2 hours. If they are frozen, set the timer for 2 ½ hours.
When the timer goes off, release the pressure valve right away. Wait until the float valve goes down, unplug, and remove the lid.
Hot Tip- When releasing the pressure from the Instant Pot, place a folded tea towel overtop of the steam valve. It will prevent it from spraying everywhere as the pressure is being released.
Step 3
Place a large strainer into an even larger bowl. Make sure that the bowl you choose can hold at least 16 cups of liquid.
Pour the broth and bones into the strainer, remove the strainer from the bowl, and your bone broth is done!
Step 4
Let the broth cool completely to room temperature before transferring it to air-tight storage containers or freezer containers.
Expert Tips
- Do not skip the apple cider vinegar. Using apple cider vinegar helps break down the bones and draw out precious vitamins and minerals.
- After the bone broth is cooked and fully cooled, you might notice that it turns into a jiggling gelatinous liquid. This is good! It only happens sometimes, and is totally dependent on the bones and the amount of collagen drawn out of them. This jiggly gelatinous liquid signifies that there is a ton of collagen. If this doesn't happen, that is OK too. Your bone broth will still be loaded with vitamins and minerals.
How To Store Bone Broth
Homemade bone broth will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days and can be frozen for up to 3 months.
To freeze bone broth, let it cool completely and transfer it to freezer-safe containers. I like to use compostable containers or deli containers like these. If you are using mason jars, leave room at the top of the jars for expansion during freezing. If you don't leave room for expansion, the jars could shatter during freezing.
Another option is to freeze bone broth in ice cube trays. Perfect for adding a little flavour to a dish or as a cool treat for your furry friends!
FAQ's
Yes! To make this bone broth on the stovetop, add all of the ingredients to a large stock pot and cover them entirely with water, submerging them by at least 1". Bring to a rolling boil and then lower the heat to a light simmer, cover, and let cook for 12-14 hours. Strain the bone broth and use as desired.
Although you can technically use raw bones when making bone broth, I would highly recommend roasting them first.
Roasting the bones adds an incredible flavour to the finished broth.
To roast the bones, preheat the oven to 400°F and place the frozen raw bones on a baking sheet lined with parchment or aluminum foil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes before beginning.
The best bones for bone broth are chicken, turkey, or beef bones.
Using leftover bones from my spatchcock chicken recipe works perfectly! This recipe has been thoroughly tested using chicken carcass, turkey carcass, and beef bones.
Yes! Vegetables you can use in bone broth include carrots, celery, onions (unpeeled), garlic (unpeeled), mushrooms, and herbs. Avoid vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, and potatoes.
Potatoes are too starchy for bone broth. They will leave behind a gritty, cloudy texture and soak up all of the sodium in the recipe.
What can bone broth be used for?
It can be substituted in any recipe in place of stock, or you can simply enjoy a warm cup of it snuggled up on the couch.
If you made this Homemade Bone Broth or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating, a 💬 comment and share it on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook!
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Homemade Bone Broth
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Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 3 lbs chicken or turkey bones/carcasses OR roasted beef bones 2 chicken carcasses or 1 turkey carcass
- 3 large Carrots roughly chopped
- 3-4 stalks Celery roughly chopped
- 1 large Sweet Onion cut in half
- 1 head Garlic cut in half
- 1 tablespoon Whole Black peppercorns
- 1-2 teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt Chunks
- 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 12-13 cups Filtered Water
- 3 Bay Leaves optional
- Fresh Herbs optional
Instructions
- This recipe is made using the 8-quart IP Duo. If you are using a different size Instant Pot or preparing it on the stovetop, see the notes below.
- In the inner bowl of the Instant Pot, add the bones, carrots, celery, garlic, onion, peppercorns, salt, and apple cider vinegar. Fill the pot up to the max line with filtered water. It should be about 12 cups of water; do not fill past the max line on the Instant Pot. Place the inner bowl into the pressure cooker base, attach the lid and make sure the valve is in the sealing position. Set the Instant Pot on high pressure and set the timer for 2-2 ½ hours*.
- When the timer goes off, release the pressure valve right away. Wait until the float valve goes down, unplug, and remove the lid. Place a large strainer into an even larger bowl. Make sure that the bowl you choose can hold at least 16 cups of liquid. Carefully (it will be hot!) pour the broth and bones into the strainer, remove the strainer from the bowl, and your bone broth is done!
- Let cool to room temperature and transfer the bone broth to air-tight or freezer-safe containers. Refrigerate the bone broth for up to 3 days or freeze the bone broth up to 3 months.
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Notes
- Bones are more flavourful if they are cooked/roasted before making bone broth. If you are using raw frozen beef bones or a raw carcass, roast the bones in the oven at 400°F for 30 minutes before beginning.
- Do not skip the apple cider vinegar. The vinegar helps break down the bones and draws out the nutrients. If you do not have apple cider vinegar, you can use regular white vinegar, rice vinegar or white wine vinegar.
- When releasing the pressure from the pot, place a tea towel overtop of the steam valve. This way, it won't spray everywhere as the pressure is being released.
- To make bone broth on the stovetop: add all of the ingredients to a large stock pot and cover entirely with water, submerging them by at least 1". Bring to a rolling boil and lower the heat to a light simmer, cover, and let cook for 12-14 hours. Strain the bone broth and use as desired.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator and it will vary based on the ingredients that you use.
Lauren says
If I wanted to add chicken feet, would I also toast those first? Or could I add them straight from the package?
Jessica says
Hi Lauren,
Toasting them first will help bring out a better flavour, but it is not necessary!
Jessica
Lala says
Hi Jess,
My instant pot is 6 quarts, what would the quantities be please? Also after I’ve roasted the bones can k freeze some of them for another batch as I think I’ve roasted too many to fit my pot. Thank you!
Jessica says
Hi Lala,
For a 6qt instant pot, fill it with bones and veggies and then add the water, filling to the "max fill line". Roasted bones can be stored in the freezer and used in a later batch.
Jessica says
Such a genius way to use up every single part of a chicken! We especially love it to make a big batch using our leftover Thanksgiving turkey!