This is without a doubt the recipe I use my Instant Pot for the most. I make a big batch of some kind of stock/broth about every two weeks. I use it year round in everything from Shortcut Chicken Noodle Soup to Spinach and Artichoke Pasta to Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken (and then I use those chicken bones to make more stock) (it’s called the circle of life). If you don’t want to make your own, in the words of Queen Ina, store-bought is fine. I promise you though, it’s worth your time to make your own. It is about 4 hours start to finish, but pretty much all of that is just letting your pressure cooker work it’s magic.
It’s a stretch to call this a recipe, but here’s how I make it.
Whenever I prep veggies, I put the scraps in a gallon zip top bag in the freezer. This usually consists of bell pepper cores, onion and garlic peels, carrot ends, mushroom stems, and celery hearts. Depending on what I’m making and what else is coming out of the garden, sometimes there will be miscellaneous herbs, zucchini bits and pieces, etc. I try to avoid anything that’s going to impart too strong of a flavor or too much spice. Basically if you wouldn’t put in chicken noodle soup, don’t put it in your stock.
Then when I make any kind of bone-in chicken or pick up a rotisserie chicken, I throw the cooked bones in the freezer with the veggies. (You could use raw chicken bones, I just think the flavor is better when the bones are cooked and I don’t like having raw chicken bones laying around.)
When I get a gallon bag full of veggies and bones, it’s time to make stock.
Ingredients:
One gallon bag filled with veggie scraps and chicken bones
Water
2 bay leaves
Directions:
Put vegetable scraps and bones in pressure cooker and cover with water, making sure not to fill past the max fill line. Secure the lid, set the vent to seal, and cook on manual for 3 hours. Allow to natural vent until pressure has been released. Strain through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in a tight lidded container in the fridge or freezer.
Note: I really like these deli-style storage containers like the ones below for storing and freezing stock (and for everything) but ziplock freezer bag will also work. Just lay the bags on a sheet pan in the freezer so they freeze flat, and then label and they can be stacked or filed in the freezer.
