Yield: 4 quarts

Bone Broth Recipe (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, & Stovetop Recipes)

Clear mug of bone broth held in two hands

Bone broth is a traditional treatment that's made a comeback in recent years. We'll show you how to make it on the stove, in a Crock Pot, or in an Instant Pot!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2-3 pounds chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb, or other bones (try to get bones that have lots of connective tissue—feet, knuckles, necks, backs, etc.)
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 4 cups roughly chopped carrots, onions, and celery (or scraps)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • Filtered water

Instructions

  1. If using raw bones, preheat oven to 425°F. Layout bones in one layer on a large baking sheet or roasting pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Stovetop:

  1. In a large soup pan or Dutch oven, place the bones, apple cider vinegar, carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt.
  2. Fill pot with filtered water until it covers the bones by about an inch. Let mixture rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to as low as your stove will go. You want it to just be barely bubbling. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 24 hours for poultry bones and 48 hours for red meat bones. If cooking overnight on the stove makes you nervous, you can place the whole pot (covered) in the fridge overnight, and restart the cooking time in the morning.
  4. When cooking time is up, strain through a fine mesh sieve, and transfer to jars for storing in the fridge or freezer.
  5. Once chilled, the broth should be jiggly and have a layer of fat on top. Scrape off the fat and use it for other purposes, if desired.

Instant Pot:

  1. In the basin of an Instant Pot, place the bones, apple cider vinegar, carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt.
  2. Fill pot with filtered water until it covers the bones by about an inch (or to the max fill line on the Instant Pot—whichever comes first). Let mixture rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Close lid and turn knob to sealing, set to cook on low pressure for 3 hours for poultry bones or 4 hours for red meat bones. When time is up, let the pressure release naturally.
  4. Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve, and transfer to jars for storing in the fridge or freezer.
  5. Once chilled, the broth should be jiggly and have a layer of fat on top. Scrape off the fat and use it for other purposes, if desired.

Slow Cooker:

  1. In the basin of a slow cooker, place the bones, apple cider vinegar, carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt.
  2. Fill pot with filtered water until it covers the bones by about an inch. Let mixture rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Cover with the lid slightly ajar, and cook on low for 24 hours for poultry bones and 48 hours for red meat bones.
  4. Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve, and transfer to jars for storing in the fridge or freezer.
  5. Once chilled, the broth should be jiggly and have a layer of fat on top. Scrape off the fat and use it for other purposes, if desired.

Notes

  • You can optionally blanch your raw bones before roasting them by submerging them in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. This is to remove some of the impurities that can cause the flavor of the final broth to go off. I tend to do this when making beef broth but not with chicken broth—test out both ways and see what works best for you.
  • When making beef broth, I like to add in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce or coconut aminos, 1 cup roughly chopped mushrooms, and about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste—this helps create a richer flavor.
  • I tend to avoid putting garlic in my bone broth because it can be very overpowering when cooked for that long. If you do want to add garlic, add a single clove in the last hour or so of cooking.
  • My slow cooker runs too hot on Low and too cold on Warm to make good bone broth—so make sure to keep an eye on yours.
  • If you’re short on time, I like to keep some of Kettle & Fire’s Bone Broth on hand, but feel free to try other bone broth brands.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 cup

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 261Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 236mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 27g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

Close-up of a woman holding a divided glass container filled with a prepped meal.

No-Stress Meals!
Meal Prep Made Easy

Tips, recipes and time-saving secrets to magical meals

FREE EMAIL GUIDE