The Basics: One Hour Pressure Cooker Chicken Broth
Learn how to make pressure cooker chicken broth in one hour. This is a simple, basic recipe that can easily be customized to your own taste!
And just like that, i’m all domesticated and making my own chicken broth and everything.
But you know what, I’m a cheater. That’s what I am. Because we’re making a quick and easy pressure cooker chicken broth that takes an hour plus 5 minutes to make. And the countless benefits! Let’s talk about how it’s low on the sodium, made to your taste, FRESH, you get a whole cooked chicken when you’re done, and something about homemade chicken broth that just tastes 1000 times better than the store bought stuff.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely not above store-bought chicken broth. It’s perfect for when you need to get dinner on the table quickly. Or when you’re under-the-weather and NEED chicken noodle soup FAST and can’t even think about making your own broth.
But around this time, when the weather starts cooling down, I love making a batch of pressure cooker chicken broth to keep in the freezer. Not only do you get a whole cooked chicken at the end of it, you also get around 2 quarts of the freshest, made-to-preference chicken broth. You can keep the chicken stock or broth in the refrigerator for 5 days. And it’ll last for 2 months in the freezer. Just pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and BAM — homemade chicken broth at your fingertips.
This July, I took the plunge and invested in an Instant Pot. And i’ve got to say I LOVE IT. I went into the whole thing thinking i’d use it as a slow cooker or even to cook rice or quinoa quickly. What I didn’t see myself doing is making pressure cooker chicken broth. I usually would let a big pot of water simmer with veggies and a whole chicken for a at least half the day on the back burner of the stove. Low and slow. And by usually, I mean the TWO TIMES in my adult life that i’ve actually made chicken broth from scratch not using a pressure cooker.
If you aren’t familiar with the Instant Pot, allow me to explain. It’s an electric pressure cooker// slow cooker// yogurt maker// rice cooker // steamer // sauté pan // porridge maker all in one.
What I love about this pressure cooker chicken stock recipe is that it takes 5 minutes to prep the chicken and veggies. You then add it all into the Instant Pot and letting it do it’s thing. It’ll take around 20 minutes for the pressure to build-up. Then 1 hour for the broth to PREPARE ITSELF. So sit back, catch up on a couple episodes of Gilmore Girls (can you tell i’m excited?) while your whole house smells like slow simmered chicken broth.
You have a few different options for making chicken broth in the pressure cooker. I like to use a whole, raw, skin on chicken. Because when it’s done, I have a whole chicken that I can shred and use in a recipe or freeze for later. You can also use 2 1/2 -3 pounds of chicken pieces, like chicken wings, drumsticks, necks, or thighs. Chicken breasts usually don’t make the best chicken broth, so I suggest pieces that have bones. The last option, use 2-3 rotisserie chicken carcasses. That’s a terrible word, ‘carcasses’ and I’m terribly sorry for using it.
What makes this chicken broth extra special, the 5 minutes we take to just sear the skin. This causes the skin to brown and adds so much flavor to final product. One thing that sets this chicken broth recipe apart is a couple teaspoons of nutritional yeast. It’s said to help boost immune functions and has antiviral properties. Don’t worry, using nutritional yeast is completely optional, but I do feel it adds a nice bit of flavor and color to the broth.
This pressure cooker chicken broth // chicken stock // bone broth — whatever you wanna call it — is perfect to use in all your recipes! Make a batch this week and have it on hand for all your favorite recipes!
Friends! I hope you aren’t mad that I called this a “one hour chicken broth recipe”. It’ll take just 5 extra minutes to sear the chicken but I PROMISE this will make your final product sooo much better!
Here are 5 recipes to use your homemade chicken broth in:
- One Skillet Chicken with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce
- Chicken Noodle Soup (Slow Cooker)
- One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice Pilaf
- One Skillet Chicken with Garlicky Mushroom Cream Sauce
- Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (Slow Cooker)
The Basics: One Hour Pressure Cooker Chicken Broth
Learn how to make pressure cooker chicken broth in one hour. This is a simple, basic recipe that can easily be customized to your own taste!

Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 (2 1/2 -3 pound) raw whole chicken with skin (see notes)
- 1 medium onion, quartered (leave the peels on)
- 1 carrot, chopped into thirds
- 1-2 stalks celery, chopped into thirds
- 2-4 cloves garlic (optional)
- 8-9 whole peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt (optional)
- 2-3 sprigs parsley (optional)
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
Instructions
- PRESSURE COOKER/ INSTANT POT: Heat the pressure cooker on high (use sauté button for Instant Pot), when hot, add the oil along with the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic and allow the oil to just brown the outside of the veggies for 1 minute. Remove the veggies to a plate. Add the whole chicken (or pieces) to the pot and allow the skin to brown on both sides for a total of 4 minutes.
- Add the veggies back into the instant pot along with the peppercorns, nutritional yeast, salt, parsley, and thyme. Pour in cold water till it reaches the 10 cup line.
- Make sure the pressure valve is on the 'sealed' setting. Lock the lid, press the 'manual' button and hit the up arrow until the display reads 60 minutes. It'll take around 20 minutes for the pressure to build up before it actually starts the cooking process.
- When done, move the valve to the 'venting' position to do a quick release, or allow the pressure to release naturally. Allow the broth to cool a bit before removing the chicken and veggies. If using a whole chicken you can shred it and use immediately or freeze till ready to use. Once the broth cools a bit, strain it into freezer safe containers (if freezing). You can refrigerate the broth for up to 5 days and freeze for up to 2 months.
- SLOW COOKER: Use a large sauté pan to brown the veggies and the chicken (read step #1) and transfer all the ingredients along with 10 cups of water into a slow cooker. Allow the slow cooker to cook on the low setting for 8-14 hours. Remove veggies/ chicken. Strain into freezer-safe containers.
Notes
- Here's the Instant Pot that I own. I absolutely LOVE it.
- You can use 2 1/2 - 3 pounds of chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, wings, necks etc.) You can also use the carcass of 2-3 rotisserie chickens.
- You can also use bay leaves, rosemary, leeks, sliced ginger, and whatever other aromatics you prefer.
- To remove the fat from the chicken broth: Refrigerate the broth until the fat layer solidifies at the top. Remove with a spoon before using.
Can you give instructions to make your chicken broth without a pressure cooker, like on stovetop or in a crockpot? I don’t have a pressure cooker. Thanks.
The crockpot directions are listed at the bottom of the recipe.
How do you not have reviews on this yet?! It is amazing!!! I consider myself a good home cook but a very lazy one. I’ve never pressure cooked a whole chicken before, and I honestly didn’t trust that this would be tender, but I loved the idea of an entire chicken to pick from for the week and broth at the same time. We should all cook it this way! For anyone debating this recipe it was akin to good bbq falling off the bone, very tender. After the broth cooled, it became that gelatinous super nutritious kind of broth too. I absolutely loved this and I’ll likely swap herbs and maybe add a bit of lemon juice sometimes, but I will definitely add this to my monthly repertoire. I think the surprising part is usually when you cook two things separately they are better, if you cook some things together one dish often suffers, these were both great and you saved time and effort. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Hi! I used your recipe for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it! (tweaked it a little bit since our family generally takes the skin off the chicken before we boil them, likes lots of onions, etc.) Question .. I found another recipe that instructs using the poultry setting for 30 minutes & doing a natural release .. I looked this up and it seems that is 30 min on high pressure. .. Have you or anyone cooked the chicken for < 60 min & with what results?
This recipe was sooo easy to follow and wonderful. This is my first time making broth, and it turned out perfectly. The chicken just falls off the bone! A great 2 for 1 in getting both broth and chicken. Thank you for this!
Love this recipe! I like to take the chicken out after cooking, pull the meat, and throw the bones, skin, and cartilage back in the instant pot. I just keep the veggies and spices in there too. Re-pressurize and cook for another hour or so – this helps get the most nutrients out of the veggies, and as much collagen as possible from the chicken! Hooray for soup weather!
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I made this with a whole chicken in my stovetop pressure cooker. It turned out amazing. I am canning the leftover chicken and broth. Thank you for the recipe.