Any-Ingredient Broth (Instant Pot)
I’ll be honest, I was embarrassingly late to the Instant Pot game. For a long time, I wrote it off as a “nice-to-have,” stubbornly insisting that I could make any Instant Pot recipe just as easily in my dutch oven.
There are some things I’ll always prefer to slow-cook on the stove - say, braised short ribs, ragu, or a hearty stew. But it wasn’t until my brothers-in-law gifted me with an Instant Pot a few holidays ago that I realized just how much time I had been wasting without it.
The Instant Pot saves me so much time and stove babysitting, especially on tasks like cooking rice and grains, and making homemade broth.
Every year on the first chilly day of fall, I always make a big batch of homemade broth in the Instant Pot. It’s easy, cozy, and a great insurance policy. It’s likely that any day now, someone in the house will catch a between-season cold, and when that day comes I want to be ready with broth on deck.
One of the things I love about broth is that you can make it your way, with different ingredients every time.
You can make bone broth or veggie broth, use veggie scraps or whole vegetables, and change your additions depending on the flavor profile you want or what you have around. It’s a great way to salvage food scraps, and to save money (and packaging) on boxed or canned broth.
In fact, one of my favorite kitchen hacks is to keep a huge tupperware in your freezer of scraps - veggie ends and peels, herb stems, chicken bones, etc. - and add to it every time you cook. When you’re ready to make some broth, throw it in a pot with some water and you’re ready to go!
Here is a (totally non-exhaustive) list of ingredients
I love to use on rotation in my broth:
Aromatic Vegetables (Include 3+):
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Garlic
Shallot
Leek
Other Additions:
Chicken or Beef Bones (freeze that used up rotisserie chicken!)
Mushroom
Woodsy Herbs (i.e. Rosemary & Thyme
Tender Herbs (i.e. Parsley, Cilantro)
Parmigiano Reggiano Rind
Whole Peppercorns
Bay Leaves
TIP: When choosing your base, stay away from cruciferous veggies (i.e. broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts). These can give your broth an unpleasant flavor.
Any Ingredient Broth (Instant Pot)
