How To Make Chicken Stock and Bone Broth

Ready to get warm and cozy? When the days get colder, a cup of delicious chicken stock or broth is just what you need!

This is a step-by-step guide to making the most delicious, extra concentrated bone broth. Or you can simply follow the recipe up to step 4 to make chicken stock.

How to Make Chicken Stock and Bone Broth

There are many ways to make stock and bone broth. You can use any bones with meat or without any meat (bones from roast chicken, ribs, etc.), with or without vegetables, various herbs and spices. Make sure to use salt and add lemon juice or vinegar as that will help release more collagen and will help balance the flavors.

To make chicken stock or bone broth, you can use:

the Instant Pot or any pressure cooker
a slow cooker/crockpot
a Dutch oven or any heavy-bottom soup pot

In this recipe we're using the Instant Pot method but you can find more information about the slow cooker/crockpot method and Dutch oven method in this Keto Bone Broth recipe.

What's The Difference Between Chicken Stock and Bone Broth?

There are a few differences between stock (whether it's chicken or beef), and bone broth. Firstly, the flavor of bone broth is typically more concentrated than stock. Also, bone broth contains more protein and more minerals than stock. For these reasons, bone broth is easier to store than stock as it will take less space in your fridge and freezer.

For easy storage, you can pour your bone broth or stock in several freezer bags or in an ice tray and freeze for up to 6 months. When you need to add flavor, just pop a few of them out and add to soups, sauces or gravies!

Note that the nutrition facts in this recipe are estimated based on similar ready-made products. Most of the ingredients are used partially for flavor with large parts discarded.

Preparation time

Hands-on:    15 minutes
Overall:      2 hours

Nutritional values (per cup, 240 ml stock)

Total Carbs	0.5	grams
Fiber	0	grams
Net Carbs	0.5	grams

Protein	3.6	grams
Fat	3.1	grams
of which Saturated	0.7	grams

Energy	41	kcal

Magnesium	120	mg (30% RDA)
Potassium	401	mg (20% EMR)

Macronutrient ratio: Calories from carbs (4%), protein (32%), fat (64%)

Ingredients (makes about 10 cups stock)

2 chicken carcasses (about 1 kg/ 2.2 lbs)
2 medium celery stalks
stalks from 2 fennels or 2 more celery stalks
1 medium yellow or red onion, halved
4 cloves garlic, peeled
juice from 1 fresh lemon or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
3 whole allspice
4 sprigs of thyme
1 tbsp sea salt
8-10 cups water, enough to cover the bones, no more than ²/₃ capacity of your pressure cooker
Other options: carrots, leeks, parsnip, parsley roots or celeriac

Instructions

Cut the celery in thirds. Peel and halve the onion and garlic. Place the chicken carcasses in the Instant Pot or a pressure cooker.
Add water until you fill about two thirds of its capacity. Add the celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves, allspice, vinegar (or use lemon juice), salt and pepper.
Note: Apart from these vegetables you can use carrots, leeks, parsnip, parsley roots, or celeriac.
Set the program to Manual with the valve in the sealed position, and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
Remove the lid. Using tongs, remove all of the vegetables, spices and chicken, and place them in a deep baking tray. Let the meat cool down until cool enough to touch. Shred the meat off the bones and reserve for another use. You can add the meat to soups or cook with some cauliflower rice. Stop at this step if you want to make chicken stock, or continue to the next step for more concentrated bone broth. You should get about 10 cups of stock.
Place the bones and skin back in the pressure cooker, cover with a lid and cook on the same settings for another 60 minutes with the valve still in the sealed position.
Let the pressure release naturally and remove the lid. Strain the bone broth to remove the bones and any leftover skin. Discard the solids.
(This step is optional but recommended for better storage.) Pour the stock in a pot and cook on medium-low for about 60 minutes, until it's reduced to about a third. Once reduced, it will be less opaque. You should get about 4 cups of concentrated bone broth.
Note: Alternatively, you can use the Sautee setting on your Instant Pot to reduce the stock.
Pour in a storage jar to keep refrigerated for up to 5 days, or pour in freezer bags or freezer-friendly containers to store for up to 6 months.
Use just like you would chicken stock or bone broth. It's delicious to drink straight from a cup, or use to make soups, gravies, sauces and more!