Bone broth is simply made by boiling bones, often with some carrots and onions, to extract minerals and nutrients for easy consumption. It has become extremely popular over the last few years and is simple to make. There is no fixed recipe for this, and you can use what’s easily available to you. Over here, we are using left over chicken bones from our Garlic Lemon Roast Chicken and a pressure cooker to reduce the cook time required. If you prefer, you can also use beef bones.
Preparing the ingredients for the bone broth
First, let’s prepare the bones required. You can either get some chicken carcass bones from your local butcher, or use left over bones from a roast chicken/ rotisserie you had earlier. If you are using fresh bones, roast them in an oven for 15 mins for a darker flavour. Next, chop 1-2 carrots and an onion into big pieces.
Now, add the bones, carrots and onions into the pot. Fill with sufficient water so that the bones and vegetables are just submerged in water. You can also throw in a stick of celery if you like.
Close the lid, and pressure cook at high setting for about 45 minutes. You can choose to cook this for a little shorter (30 mins minimum) or a little longer (1 hour) for a darker taste.
Once you are done, carefully release the steam and open the lid. Feel free to bring the liquid up to boil once again and reduce to your preferred thickness. If you planning to freeze this as stock cubes, boil for another 15 minutes to reduce and make it more concentrated.
Storing the broth
Now, the chicken bones will become very soft and some might be brittle. Use a strainer to separate the bones and veggies scraps from the bone broth, and discard after.
Store the broth in the fridge for up to 3 days and it should last 3 months if you freeze immediately. (Use an ice tray to create you own stock cubes which you can then use easily for cooking!) Once you get the hang of this, you won’t need to buy stock from the store again.
Also, check out this homemade mushroom soup recipe, which is so simple and uses this chicken bone broth as a base!
Chicken Bone Broth (Pressure Cooker)
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker (You can also boil this on the stove but will require 3 hours instead of 45 mins of cook time)
Ingredients
- 1 chicken carcass/ bones
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 stick celery (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken bones. If you are using a raw carcass, you can roast the bones at 190 degree for 10 mins to get a darker stock, before adding it to the pressure cooker. For left over chicken bones, add directly to pressure cooker.
- Add the diced carrot and onion to the pot.
- Fill pot with water till bones and vegetables are submerged.
- Close the lid and pressure cook for 45 minutes.
- Once done, release the steam carefully. With the lid off, allow the liquid to come to boil and reduce to preferred thickness. (If you are storing these as stock cubes, reduce further.)
- Use a metal strainer to separate the broth from the bones/ veggies, and discard bones/veggies after.
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 days, or up to 3 months in the freezer.