Instant Pot Bone Broth with Beef Neck Bones

Want a quick and easy bone broth recipe that’s perfect for your homemade soups and stews? This one uses beef neck bones which have a very high concentration of collagen and give a silky body and mouth feel to this luxurious broth. Though you can make this on the stovetop or in a slow cooker, I find that the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker) makes a clearer broth. This Beef Neck Instant Pot Bone Broth is the BEST.

Benefits of bone broth

Bone broth is a big thing these days, known for its nutritional benefits (high in iron, fatty acids, selenium, manganese etc. it’s also attributed to protecting joints, fighting osteoarthritis and reducing inflammation. Read more about bone broth benefits here.

Best bones for broth

You can use any mix of beef bones for this broth, but I’m particular to beef neck bones. Why? They have a great concentration of cartilage and connective tissue (they’re beef neck bones, after all) and the more cartilage, the more collagen. Collagen is what gives a good beef bone broth that satiny, coat-your-tongue feeling and is often described as adding “body” to a broth. You can tell a real bone broth from wannabes by refrigerating it. Broth made from bones will turn gelatinous when chilled.

How to make instant pot bone broth

1. Set the Instant Pot to sauté and add a bit of olive oil.
2. Season the beef neck bones with salt and pepper.
3. Working in batches, brown the bones on all sides. Turning every few minutes with a pair of tongs to flip them around.
4. Transfer the bones to a separate tray.
5. Add the roughly chopped vegetables to the Instant Pot and sauté until fragrant and slightly softened.
6. Add the neck bones back to the Instant Pot and cover with water and add a bay leaf.
7. Cook on high pressure for 1 1/2 hours.
8. Release the pressure naturally.

Strain the liquid

1. Use a pair of tongs to remove the bones and larger beef chunks. Transfer to a pan or dish. (Note: you can separate the meat from the bones and cartilage for use in soups, tacos, casseroles etc.)
2. Set a mesh strainer over a large bowl (large enough to fit all of the broth) and pour the remaining vegetables through the strainer. This will filter out the larger detritus from the bone broth.
3. Press on the vegetables with the back of a wooden spoon to squeeze out the last of the broth and get all of the flavor from the veg.

You’ll find that natural beef bone broth is fairly light in color, to give it that traditional darker appearance, you can add a bit of browning sauce to the broth. A teaspoon or so should be enough to deepen the look of the bone broth.

Strain bone broth again

This may seem superfluous, because most of the vegetables, scum and protein solids will have been removed in the initial strain, but if you’re a perfectionist, a second strain with a very fine mesh strainer will capture anything that remains.

Removing fat from Instant Pot bone broth

Transfer the broth to a storage container and watch as the fat rendered from the beef neck bones naturally rises to the surface (you can see it in the picture below). You can use a spoon to skim the fat off, but I’ve found the most complete and efficient way to discard the excess is by refrigerating the bone broth for several hours until the fat solidifies.

The image below shows you what it looks like when the fat has solidified after being refrigerated

The easy way to remove fat from stock

Spoon away the solids and discard (but don’t put them down your drain — I just spent $200 on a plumber to clear a clog, and he warned me not to put anything down the drain that doesn’t dissolve in water. Heed his advice.) This will leave you with a rich-tasting bone broth without the excess calories.

This is my go-to beef bone broth recipe because it’s so easy to make and the flavor is pure and unadulterated. Plus, this homemade broth is lower in sodium than most store-bought version, better for your health, but also better for your cooking…

Why is lower sodium broth better for cooking?

Look, I get it. Salt is flavor — and in the absence of in-your-face flavors, companies load up on salt, which is the case with many store-bought broths, stocks and consommés. A lower sodium broth is better for those recipes because the liquid evaporates with a long, slow simmer or braise, and seasoning is intensified. So if you’re starting with a highly seasoned (salted) stock, it can quickly become overdone. Start with a lower sodium broth like this one and season as you go through the recipe.

Recipes using Instant Pot bone broth

• Instant Pot Beef Ragu
• Traditional Shepherd’s Pie
• French Onion Soup
• Extra Stout Beef Carbonnade
• Healthy Vegetable Beef Soup
• Irish Lamb Stew

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