Learn how to make beef bone broth in the Instant Pot with this easy and fast (for bone broths!) recipe. Not only is it hearty and tasty, but this Instant Pot beef bone broth is super nutritious and can be used in multiple dishes from stews and soups to gravy and mashed potatoes. Plus, it takes just under 5 hours instead of 12-24 hours on the stovetop or slow cooker.
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What Is Bone Broth?
Bone broth is a nutrient-dense stock made from cooking marrow and collagen-rich animal bones (beef, chicken, turkey, pork) in water for an extended period of time. Vegetables like celery, carrots and onions, as well as seasonings, herbs and garlic are often added for flavor. Apple cider vinegar is also used to help break down the proteins and connective tissues in the bones and meat.
Properly cooked bone broth is nourishing, restorative and healing, packed with age-defying collagen and minerals. You know it's good by how gelatinous it is when cooled. To get all the goodies and gelatin out of those bones, you normally have to cook the bones in the broth for 12-24 hours on the stovetop or in a slow cooker but it's much faster in the Instant Pot.
Unlike stocks or regular cooking broths, which are cooked for shorter periods of time, bone broth is more nutrient-dense and more gelatinous when cooled, however, some stocks can also have a jelly-like consistency depending on the bones/meat used.
Instant Pot Beef Bone Broth
The beauty of using the Instant Pot to make beef bone broth (or chicken bone broth) is that you only need 4-5 hours instead of 12 to 24 hours. Plus, you don't lose any liquid during cooking due to evaporation which happens on the stovetop, in which case you often need to add extra water to the broth.
Cooking beef bones, which are slightly larger and hardier requires around 4 hours on HIGH pressure, while chicken bone broth only takes 3 hours as the bones are smaller and more brittle.
This Instant Pot beef bone broth recipe is easy and can be made on regular basis to make sure you always have a batch of broth in the fridge or freezer. After all, there are many ways you can use bone broth to get all those extra nutrients and collagen into your diet.
Ways To Use Up Beef Bone Broth
- Simply sip a cup of bone broth in the mornings or as a quick snack, especially great when you're feeling under the weather.
- Mix in a teaspoon of miso for a little Japanese soup or stir in a little garlic, pepper or scallions.
- Use it as a base for a delicious and nutritious gravy!
- Use bone broth any time you would regular stock or water: stews, soups, ramens, casseroles, stuffing and so on.
- Add a little bone broth to mashed potatoes or scramble eggs; cook your veggies in bone broth instead of water.
- Great to make baby food with a little bone broth for extra nutrition.
- Salt-free bone broth can even be added to smoothies!
What You'll Need
Here is a quick overview of the ingredients you will need to make the broth:
- Beef bones: knuckles, joints, feet, marrow bones, we love using meaty bones like oxtail, shank and short ribs as well for added flavor. You can use a mix of bones and we recommend choosing some that have a little bit of meat on them. We used 2 pounds /1 kg but you can make a larger batch. We usually do 3 cups of water for 1 pound of bones.
- Vegetables: onion, carrots and celery is the standard combo.
- Flavors: garlic, bay leaves, whole black peppercorns (or ground pepper is also fine). You can also add cinnamon sticks, herbs like rosemary, sage or thyme, whole star anise. Salt and pepper to taste, we often make the broth with just a little salt and you can add it later in dishes you use it in or to a bowl before sipping.
- Apple cider vinegar: Adding an acid, like vinegar or lemon juice, to your bones and water will help extract the collagen in the connective tissue that adheres to those bones.
How To Make Beef Bone Broth In Instant Pot
We used a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo but you can easily make this recipe in an 8-quart. Find the full recipe ingredients and a nutritional breakdown below these step-by-step photos.
- Prep. Cut the vegetables into large chunks. You can leave the garlic cloves whole, just peel them. Rinse the bones well to remove any blood or other impurities.
- Step 2. Set the Instant Pot to Saute (Normal setting) and once hot, add a little oil. Sear the beef bones (in batches if needed) for 1-2 minutes on each side and then on the edges as well. Remove to a plate and press Cancel to stop the Saute function.
- Step 4. While still hot, pour in a cup of water to deglaze the pot. Use a spatula to scrape off the bits of cooked meat or fat stuck to the bottom, which will remain in the liquid.
- Step 5. Add the bones back to the pot and lay the vegetables around. Add the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and half a teaspoon of salt. Pour in 5 more cups of water (total of 6 cups, about 1.5 litres) and add the vinegar or lemon juice. You can add a little more water if you want.
- Step 6. Select the Soup/Broth button and press it a couple of times to cycle through setting options until it says MORE and the time shows 4 hours on HIGH. You can also do this manually by selecting Pressure Cooker, HIGH pressure and adjusting the time to 4 hours but it can be a little tedious to change the time.
- Step 6. Once the time is done, allow the pressure to release naturally. Total time including pressure build-up and release should be about 4.5-5 hours.
- Step 7. Remove the bones and strain the stock into a large bowl or a separate pot. Pour into clean glass jars or Tupperware containers and cool down before refrigerating or freezing. Store for up to 5 days in the fridge and 4-6 months in the freezer.
Proper bone broth will have gelatinous, wobbly jelly-like consistency once refrigerated. The broth will dissolve into its liquid form once reheated.
What to do with the fat from bone broth?
Beef bone broth contains a bit of fat which will usually float up to the top. It's nutritious and filling so you can absolutely consume it but if you prefer clean, less fatty broth, then simply refrigerate the liquid for a few hours or overnight and remove the fat layer that will form on the top. This same solidified fat can be used for cooking. If you don't remove the fat layer, it will dissolve into the broth once reheated.
Rate This Recipe
Instant Pot Beef Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. beef bones with a little bit of meat on
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery ribs
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves of garic
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- About 6-7 cups water about 1.5 litres
Instructions
- Prep. Cut the vegetables into large chunks. You can leave the garlic cloves whole, just peeled. Rinse the bones well to remove any blood or other impurities.
- Sear the bones. Set the Instant Pot to Saute (Normal setting) and once hot, add a little oil. Sear the beef bones (in batches if needed) for 1-2 minutes on each side and then on the edges as well. Remove to a plate and press Cancel to stop the Saute function.
- Deglaze. While still hot, pour in a cup of water to deglaze the pot. Use a spatula to scrape off the bits of meat or fat stuck to the bottom, which will remain in the liquid.
- Add all ingredients. Add the bones back to the pot and lay the vegetables around. Add the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and half a teaspoon of salt. Pour in 5 more cups of water (total of 6 cups, about 1.5 litres) and lemon juice or vinegar. You can add a little more water if you want.
- Pressure cooker. Select the Soup/Broth button and press it a couple of times to cycle through setting options until it says MORE and the time shows 4 hours on HIGH. You can also do this manually by selecting Pressure Cooker, HIGH pressure and adjusting the time to 4 hours but it can be a little tedious to change the time.
- NPR. Once the time is done, allow the pressure to release naturally. Total time including pressure build-up and release should be about 4.5-5 hours.
- Strain & store. Remove the bones and strain the stock into a large bowl or a separate pot. Pour into clean glass jars or Tupperware containers and cool down before refrigerating or freezing.
Notes
- We used a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo but you can easily make this recipe in an 8-quart.
- Proper bone broth will have gelatinous, wobbly jelly-like consistency once refrigerated. Any fat will float and solidify at the top and can be scooped out. The broth and the fat will dissolve into its liquid form once reheated.
- Store for up to 5 days in the fridge and 4-6 months in the freezer. We recommend storing in smaller batches/portions to use up as needed. You can defrost it in the fridge, in a microwave or throw into soups or stews frozen.
Nutrition
Buying Ready-Made Bone Broth
Although we love making homemade bone broth, even with the Instant Pot we don’t always have the time! In this case, we usually buy ready-made bone broth. If you don’t have the time to cook bone broth on a regular basis, you can definitely take advantage of the ready-available brands hitting the market.
For those of you in the United States, make sure to check out the Kettle & Fire brand – they use organic ingredients and grass-fed beef, and their bone broth has a fantastic flavour. They’re also non-frozen and shelf-stable, so you can store a few cartons in your pantry. You can buy their bone broth online AND if you use the promo code cravecollective, you’ll get 15% off your first order.
Related: Kettle and Fire Bone Broth Review: Is this Bone Broth Worth It?
Leah
Very easy recipe to follow. Made a great tasting bone broth. I used an 8 quart Ninja brand pressure cooker to make mine and it turned out perfect.
Ann Fabrizio
Thanks for the feedback Leah!
Judie C
You mention apple cider vinegar or lemon juice as an ingredient, but you don't do anything with it in the recipe. Add it with vegetables?
Instant Pot Eats
Add it in with the water. Will check the instructions!
Tim Mulherin
I pressure can mine in pint jars. Holds for up to 18 months.
Vicki
Hi, I’m interested in trying this recipe and we butcher our own beef. I don’t have the cuts you mention, so should I just cut most of the meat off of a roast or steaks with bones? Also, most bone broth recipes made in a pot on the stove mention skimming off the foam periodically to help with the smell. How do you do that with the IP? Thanks!
Ann Fabrizio
You use any bone of choice. The smell is contained inside the pot, so you dont have to worry about that until the very end. At which time, I don't think is a real issue.
Karyn
I followed all directions and used an 8 quart IP. It hissed loudly for most of the 4 hours and in the end I had cooked veggies and bones and literally no broth. Any idea what went wrong? I will try adding water and recooking for less time.
Instant Pot Eats
Hey Karyn,
It sounds like your sealing ring wasn't on properly on the lid so the pressure cooker never properly came to pressure and the steam was escaping. Hence most of the liquid evaporated. It happens to people sometimes after they wash the Instant Pot lid the ring comes off a little. Certainly has happened to me a few times. It's not the fault of the recipe, so sadly it doesn't deserve the two stars you gave it.
Karyn
I appreciate your reply and now understand what went wrong. I’ll
try again and rate it next time.
Karyn
Tried it again in my 6 Q instapot this time and it wirked out perfectly (and quietly)
Shawn
I agree it sounds like the sealing ring. Sometimes giving your hissing pot lid a firm tap on top with your fist is enough to fix it in the moment. If that doesn't work, then you have to remove the lid and make sure the sealing ring is situated correctly.
Margaret
I JUST MADE THE BONE BROTH. It tastes delicious . It just did not got jelly like.
Instant Pot Eats
It should get jelly-like once it's cold.
Corrie
This looks so great! Thank you for sharing.
If you happen to see my comment, I have a question for you.
I make (and love!) chicken bone broth in my Instant Pot all the time. But the one time I tried cooking beef bone broth in our Instant Pot, it stunk. We actually had to throw the batch out. Interestingly, my neighbor said a similar thing happened to her when she tried to make beef bone broth in her IP.
Do you have any idea what might have happened? Thank you!
Instant Pot Eats
Hey Corrie, this could be impacted by the bones and their freshness. Beef bone broth is definitely much stronger in terms of smell. Making sure you wash the bones well before cooking will help. Some people blanch the bones in boiling hot water for a few minutes (on the stove or in the Instant Pot on Saute setting), then strain and rinse. Then proceed with the recipe as instructed. Blanching them first can help remove some blood/impurities, which might be causing the smell. I find that if I get really good quality bones and they are fresh, the smell is much milder. If you buy fresh bones but you don't want to use them right away, freeze them as soon as possible. You can then just add frozen bones to the pot (without searing) and make the broth that way. I hope that helps!
Dana
So funny you say that about the smell, it’s cooking right now and man the entire house is thick with that smell. Bleh. I’m sure it’ll taste good though. I put chunks of the steak fatty trimmings in w the bones and I’m hoping that doesn’t ruin it having fat in there. I plan to scoop it out later.