Unlike Western chicken stocks and broths, which use a mix of vegetables and herbs, this is a clear, pure-tasting Chinese chicken broth, flavored just with ginger and scallions.
It’s the perfect canvas for all the recipes on the blog that call for chicken stock, from soups to wontons and noodles. It will also up your game for stir-fries and braises!
While we have posted a Chinese chicken broth recipe you can make on the stove, this version is even faster with an Instant Pot! Making a big batch means you always have some on hand, and it couldn’t be easier.
3-Ingredient Chicken Broth
All you need for an incredible stock or broth is chicken, scallions, and ginger. This is technically a broth, which includes meat, whereas a stock is made primarily from bones. You’ll need a total of 3 pounds of meat and bones.
Because you’re making it in an Instant Pot, you don’t have to heat up your kitchen with the stove on for hours.
Note on Instant Pot Size!
We made this recipe in a large 8 qt. Instant Pot. If your pot is smaller, you’ll have to scale down the recipe accordingly. You can do that by clicking/tapping the number of servings in the recipe card at the bottom of the recipe card, and using the slider to scale it down.
The result is a surprisingly clear chicken broth with great flavor. Check out our other tips for making clear broths!
What cuts of chicken should you use for broth?
We like to use chicken drumsticks, which are inexpensive and can stand up to long cooking times. We used 2½ pounds of meat, and ½ pound of chicken thigh bones (which we had leftover from deboning chicken thighs).
Other recipes also suggest chicken wings, but wings are actually quite expensive these days, and why would you use wings for broth or stock when you could make Baked White Pepper Chicken Wings, Three Cup Chicken, or Takeout Chicken Wings?!
What do I do with the leftover meat?
Depending on your tastes, there is a chance that the chicken meat can be salvaged, shredded for noodles, a Kou Shui Ji, or Poached Chicken with Ginger Scallion Sauce.
If you let the soup cook for longer (see instructions), the chicken meat will most likely end up too overcooked.
But don’t throw it away! With some of this shredded meat, finicky Barley joins the clean plate club every time!
Alliums are poisonous to dogs at levels more than 0.5% of a dog’s body weight, and we avoid giving them to Barley when treating her to leftovers. For example, this would equate to a 30 lb dog ingesting about 2.5 ounces of allium. As a large dog, we consider the 2 scallions in this entire pot of stock safe for her, especially if it means that the chicken meat won’t go to waste.
Instant Pot Chinese Chicken Broth: Recipe Instructions
Add the raw chicken drumsticks and bones, ginger, and scallions to your Instant Pot. Add 12 cups of water.
(We have an 8 qt. Instant Pot. If yours is smaller, scale down the recipe accordingly. Make sure your liquid levels do not exceed the max-fill line.)
Seal the lid of your Instant Pot. Set it to manual high pressure for 45 minutes. Once it beeps, it’s on, but it will take about 15-20 minutes to come up to high pressure, in addition to the 45 minutes of cooking time.
When it’s done, allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally for at least 30 minutes and carefully turn the venting knob to “venting” to finish releasing pressure. Alternatively, just let the pressure release gradually until the float valve/pressure indicator drops.
When it’s safe to do so, carefully remove the lid. If you’re using the stock right away, carefully ladle the broth out to ensure it’s clear. If you’re planning on storing it, remove the chicken, let the broth cool, and let the sediment settle. Then transfer it to reusable freezer containers for later use.
The broth will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Freeze for up to 6 months, though it tastes best when used within 3 months.
Instant Pot Chinese Chicken Broth
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks
- 8 ounces chicken bones (such as trimmed thigh bones, chicken necks, backs, breast bones, etc.)
- 3 large slices ginger (1/8 inch thick)
- 2 large scallions (or 3 small scallions, washed and halved)
- 12 cups water
Instructions
- Add the raw chicken drumsticks and bones, ginger, and scallions to your Instant Pot. Add 12 cups of water. (We have an 8 qt. Instant Pot. If yours is smaller, scale down the recipe accordingly. Make sure your liquid levels do not exceed the max-fill line.)
- Seal the lid of your Instant Pot. Set it to manual high pressure for 45 minutes. Once it beeps, it’s on, but it will take about 15-20 minutes to come up to high pressure, in addition to the 45 minutes of cooking time.
- When it’s done, allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally for at least 30 minutes and carefully turn the venting knob to “venting” to finish releasing pressure. Alternatively, just let the pressure release gradually until the float valve/pressure indicator drops.
- When it’s safe to do so, carefully remove the lid. If you’re using the stock right away, carefully ladle the broth out to ensure it’s clear. If you’re planning on storing it, remove the chicken, let the broth cool, and let the sediment settle. Then transfer it to reusable freezer containers for later use.
- The broth will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Freeze for up to 6 months, though it tastes best when used within 3 months.
I use a pressure cooker , similar recipe. well washed and drained chocken carcass bonus including wings. one kettle of boiled water , bring to boild , skil, smash 3 disks of ginger , one garlic clove adn 3 or so leftover spring onions, lid on , up to temp, cook one hour, , cool fast , pour into big bowl , through sieve, chill in sink of cold water. done . Can reduce by half to save space in freezer
Hi Peter, this sounds great! Thanks for providing the instructions. :)
My chicken broth – which is made the same way my mom and grandma made it , only includes chicken meat/bones, star anise, peppercorns, and water. I’ll use carcasses and wings or drumsticks. It gets served over homemade noodles.
Sounds delicious! Like the idea of anise and peppercorns.
On advice from a butcher I cook the chicken first then use the bones and skin to make stock. I also slow cook it without anything else for 24 hours. Strain it and put in fridge. Once it’s cold the fat solidifies at the top and you can remove it from the jellified chicken stock. The result is liquid gold. Your version works beautifully especially when you don’t have 24 hours plus original cooking time plus chilling time before you want to use it. Thank you.
Hi Frances, that is a good tip, though for Chinese stock raw chicken yields the most clear broth which is typical of Chinese cooking. Slow cooking for 24 hours sounds delicious though!
Kaitlin, you referred to a recipe for chicken broth made on the stove top (I have no instant pot), but I couldn’t find it in your search function. Can you give a link?
It’s at the top in the third paragraph
Can’t thank you enough
Hi Deborah, here it is, the stove top version.
Great taste, easy. I haven’t bought an Instant Pot because I have a really good pressure cooker. Kind of the same but without the electronic timing stuff. For a pressure cooker, bring everything to a boil on the stove, put the lid on and bring to high pressure. 45 minutes on high pressure. After 45 min turn off the stove and let the pressure come down gradually, about 30 minutes. (Instant Pot recipes can be adapted for pressure cooker with a little less time).
Hi David, sounds awesome! Thanks for these detailed instructions :)
The leg meat, even overcooked, makes the best tacos imaginable, seasonings adjusted, of course.
Hi Karan, yumm that’s a great idea!
Been doing something similar for years, though I tend to eschew the more asian focused gingerscallion combination for a more classic mirepoix of onion/carrot/celery.
Once I’m done, I leave it in the fridge overnight, the next day skim off the fat/scum/whatever’s on
the surface, portion the broth out into 1 cup reusable containers, and put them all in the freezer.
That way, whenever I need a cup of broth, I can grab what I need and leave the rest to stay frozen.
Thanks, Nick! Yes, this is a Chinese stock :)
I learned from my mum to give the stock a bit of a boil for 5 to 10 minutes after making it in the pressure cooker. There is a bit of a steamed taste otherwise.
Hi Pence, that’s interesting! For this Chinese stock, would recommend removing all the solids before doing that.
When I make this the long way I have to skim a lot of scum from the surface. Does this not happen under pressure or is this the sediment you mention?
Scum is denatured proteins – removal is aesthetic. You can put just the bones/chicken in the pot, bring just to a boil and discard the water along with those denatured proteins. Put the chicken and the other ingredients back into the pot and start the process proper.
Skimming vs 2 times waiting for boil, both work, both have the downsides.
Very true, Rowland. We prefer the skimming approach, or letting the sediment / scum settle so no flavor is wasted!
Hi Alan, that would be the sediment. Though it’s a lot easier to ladle out the clear broth with less periodic skimming required.
Alliums, including spring onions, are toxic to dogs with a cumulative effect so feeding them things cooked with onion is best avoided.
Thanks, Stuart, others are concerned about this as well. We don’t give her alliums with the exception of very tiny amounts of scallion in stocks like this to avoid wasting all that chicken. She gets regular check ups and is very healthy :)