I’ve made bone broth on the stove top and in my slow cooker for decades. It’s delicious, but it makes our house smell like a bone broth factory. Not good! I’ve solved this problem and now I want to help you too. That’s why I’m going to teach you how to make bone broth in the Instant Pot.
How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot
Making bone broth in the Instant Pot is super easy. Feel free to skip the step of roasting the beef bones to make your beef bone broth. I roast them because it creates a deep rich flavor for the broth, and I don’t mind taking the extra time to do it.
Use an Acid to Make Bone Broth
I use apple cider vinegar in my bone broth recipe because the acid in the vinegar helps to release minerals and other nutrients from the bones. Don’t worry, you can’t taste the vinegar in the final product. This recipe is for beef bone broth. If you need chicken stock, see my post called How to Make Bone Broth from Chicken.
The Best Store-Bought Bone Broth
If you’re too busy you can buy a fantastic bone broth product from Kettle & Fire. I like their beef bone broth, but am absolutely obsessed with their chicken broth and often drink it plain with a pinch of salt before dinner.
How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 4 pounds beef bones
- 1 onion, cut in half
- 1 head garlic, cut in half (no need to peel)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- water to fill line of Instant Pot
Instructions
- Place beef bones on a baking sheet
- Roast at 350°F for 60 minutes
- Remove bones from oven and transfer to Instant Pot
- Place onion, garlic, bay leaf, vinegar, and salt in Instant Pot
- Fill the Instant Pot with water until just below the “max fill line”
- Put on the lid and lock to close
- Set to manual high pressure for 90 minutes
- Release pressure, then remove lid and allow to cool
- Strain mixture into 3 one quart mason jars
- Refrigerate for 4 days, or freeze for up to 6 months
Pre-Heating the Instant Pot
The Instant Pot takes time to get to high pressure. If a recipe says cook for one hour at high pressure, give yourself an extra 10-30 minutes for the cooker to pre-heat. When the cooker says “on” but doesn’t yet display the time you entered it is pre-heating.
How to Use the Instant Pot
If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, I have created a fantastic Instant Pot cheat sheet for you called How to Use the Instant Pot. It includes a handy chart explaining all of the buttons on the front of the Instant Pot. Many readers tell me they print it out and put it on the fridge.
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How to Strain Bone Broth
I use the same bowl, strainer, and funnel every time I make bone broth and these tools work like magic! I often use the same beef bones several times. I throw everything back in the pot and add more vinegar, salt, and water. These extra batches are not quite as strong but still very good.
How to Freeze Bone Broth in Mason Jars
If you’re going to freeze your bone broth, do not fill the mason jars all the way to the top. Leave space for the broth to expand when it’s frozen.
Easy Soup Recipes Made with Bone Broth
Here are some of my soup recipes that use bone broth:
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first shared this recipe in February 2017.
ANN M KNOEDL says
I read that it was not good to make bone broth in a stainless steel pot. Also, I read that instant pots are not good because they destroy the nutrients. Please comment.
Elana says
Ann, I cook all my food in stainless steel or cast iron. What do you make your bone broth in? Cooking destroys some of the nutrients in food but also makes them far more bio-available for folks like me that have compromised digestion :-)
Michelle says
Hello Elana,
I hope this is not too silly a question, but, what exactly is an instant pot? I can’t see any images, and I would love to try and make some of your bone broth. I live in Australia so would I need to order this online? Is there a brand I can look for?
I am not actually a foodie person but I love your blog, I don’t use facebook or Twitter but have your books, and of course visit your site as I am a Hoshi sufferer and love your recipes and your sharing your life with us.
Thank you for all of your help thus far, you are a blessing:)
Have a great day with kindest regards,
Michelle
Elana says
Michelle, thanks for your excellent question! Here’s a link to my post on the Instant Pot and it contains photos:
https://elanaspantry.com/how-to-use-instant-pot/
Enjoy!
Elana
Gayle Friz says
I freeze my bone broth in 1 1/2 pint freezer jars. These jars are straight-sided.
Elana says
Thanks Gayle!
Ronald Romanoski says
I don’t have an IP. Can these be made in a slow cooker?
Elana says
Ronald, here you go:
https://elanaspantry.com/how-to-make-bone-broth-from-chicken/
Enjoy!
Elana
Miriam Kearney says
I’ve always had this question. When you save scraps for broth making do you save the root end of the onion and carrot or is that truly compost waste?
Elana says
Miriam, I use all the scraps!
Amy says
I make bone broth in my Instant Pot at least once a month! Love it. I keep 3 or 4 jars in my freezer for backup at all times. My biggest problem has been with the frozen mason jars cracking while they’re thawing out. I’ve found that if the level of liquid touches the curved part of the jar neck at all, it tends to break more often. If you keep the level of liquid down below where the curve starts, it usually doesn’t break. I wish I had figured that out sooner! I had just been told to “leave room for expansion”, and I was indeed doing that. But there’s something about that curve… If the frozen contents expands up into that curve while defrosting, it can break the glass. Elena, your photo shows the perfect fill height!! :)
Elana says
Amy, thanks so much for your astute observations!
Susan says
Hi Elana, I only make broth in the IP and love it. Question about chicken stock: often the fat doesn’t completely solidify on top and just stays liquidy. Often it seems like 2 layers of fat, a thin one that solidifies (like 1/16″ or less) and then a more liquidy type for about 1/4″ below it. What’s your method for removing the fat layers? (For beef it’s easy because the fat becomes a solid mass and the broth is more like jello, so it’s easy to see and separate the fat from the stock.)
Elana says
Susan, if you chill the stock in the fridge a hard layer of yellow fat will form at the top :-)
Marcia says
When you put your roasted beef bones in the Instant Pot after roasting, do you also add the rendered fat from the roasting pan? I just roasted some knuckle bones and there’s gorgeous fat in the pan….
Elana says
Marcia, yes!
Mary Feeney says
Because my celiac disease was diagnosed well into my 50s, I have unfortunately developed osteoporosis in my lumbar spine. Is there any evidence that consuming bone broth and/or collagen supplements helps bone health?
Elana says
Mary, I’m in a similar boat. I was not diagnosed with celiac disease until 1998, when I was 31 years old, and I have similar issues with bone density. The best way to deal with that is weight bearing exercise like walking (I do that every day) and weight lifting (I do several times per week). I have seen a study or two with very small sample sizes indicating collagen can be helpful for bone density as well.
Santana says
If using chicken bones instead of beef, would you roast those bones as well?
Elana says
Santana, yes :-)