Instant Pot Vegetable Stock

Instant Pot vegetable stock made in just 45 minutes! Say goodbye to store-bought stocks, and start making your own!

Instant Pot Stock Recipe

So many stock recipes call for cooking the stock on the stovetop for 6-8 hours, but in the pressure cooker, you can make your own homemade healthy and delicious stock in just 45 minutes from start to finish!

The reason why I like to make my own stock in at home is that it’s healthier as it’s not packed with preservatives, chemicals and things that I can’t even pronounce, I can add any flavorings that I like, and it saves me a lot of money.

Making homemade vegetable or chicken stock is so easy, and does not require much effort. This means that you don’t need to watch the pot or worry about it as it cooks. It’s also a great way to save kitchen scraps from going in the bin, and you can actually make use of them.

The Ingredients

You will need:

• Water
• Onion cut in halves, skin left on
• Carrots – peeled and chopped in halves
• Celery stalks – cut in halves
• Dried bay leaves
• Fresh parsley stems
• Fennel bulb or dried fennel seeds
• Whole black peppercorns
• You will also need some mason jars to store the stock, or ice trays to freeze it.

How to Make Vegetable Stock in the Instant Pot

• Add water to the bottom of the stainless steel pot.
• Put all of the ingredients.
• Cover with the lid, make sure that the valve is in sealing position.
• Click on manual or pressure cooking, high pressure and cook for 5 minutes.
• When the cooking ends, let the steam release naturally for 25 minutes.
• Carefully open the lid, and strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve and discard vegetables.
• Let it cool completely and store in the fridge or freeze.

Instant Pot Chicken Stock

You can make Instant Pot chicken stock by adding a few pieces of chicken to the stock. You can add chicken wings for example and let it cook with the vegetables for the same amount of time as the vegetable stock.

Expert Tips

You should know that there are some vegetables that should not be added to the stock as they can ruin the taste and turn the stock into a bitter-tasting one.

Do use:

• Onions
• Garlic
• Leeks
• Celery
• Fennel
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Thyme
• Bay leaf
• Parsley
• Peppercorns

Do not use:

• Potatoes
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Peppers
• Kale
• If adding herbs like dill, coriander, oregano or rosemary – make sure that you add just a little bit.
• Also, make sure that you never add salt to your stock. I always add salt to taste to the dishes that I make when I cook them and adding salty stock can result in a dish that’s over-salted. 

Why Leave the Skin on Onions

I always leave the skin on onions when making homemade vegetable stock. I actually use kitchen scraps most of the time and use the outer skin of the onion when I peek it to add to my stocks. It gives a rich color to the stock, and great for making gravies. However, adding too much onion with skin on can change the taste of the stock to bitter so be careful with it.

Uses

A good homemade stock can give your dishes so much depth of flavor. Once you start making it at home, you’ll never store-bought stock again! It can be added to soups, stews, and sauces.

Here are a few Instant Pot recipes that I add this stock to:

• Instant Pot scalloped potatoes
• Instant Pot steak fajitas
• Instant Pot chicken fajitas
• Instant Pot mac and cheese
• Instant Pot chicken alfredo pasta
• Instant Pot chicken noodle soup

Storing

• Fridge: Store in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container, or freeze for up to 3 months.
• Freezer: The best way to freeze stock is to use an ice tray. Freeze to ice cubes for up to 3 months, and use whenever you need it. I usually thaw the frozen stock and then boil it for 1-2 minutes before using it.

*Note that every 6 cubes are equal to half a cup of stock.