This Instant Pot whole chicken and broth is a simple and easy recipe that will change your life. It takes only a few minutes to throw together, and you will get a whole chicken and almost a half gallon of broth in just 45 minutes.

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Every week I make a whole chicken in the Instant Pot to use for meals throughout the week. And every week, I have good intentions to make chicken broth with the bones. But guess what? Rarely does it actually happen. I forget, and then it’s too close to dinner time, so I give up and tell myself tomorrow. Until tomorrow has come and gone, and I still don’t make the darn chicken broth. Surely there must be an easier way.

Whenever you cook a whole chicken in the Instant Pot, you have to add water and the chicken also releases juices, so you are left with a couple of cups of chicken broth. This is pretty good chicken broth, too, and mine usually gels. One day, I thought to myself, “why don’t I just make everything at one time?” Killing two birds with one stone. (Birds. Hahaha. Pun intended.) Make delicious chicken broth while I’m already cooking the chicken.

This chicken broth is not as rich as one you would keep all day simmering on the stove. But for soups and stews and general cooking, it works, it is easy, and I’m sticking to it. You just add extra water, seasonings, an onion, celery and carrots. You can add leftover veggie stems or herbs you have around, as well. I love to make simple soups for dinner, and this works great.

My two-year-old’s favorite food is soup – really, I think it’s just the broth. She asks for soup multiple times a week. If you give her an option and say, “Hey August, what do you want for lunch?”, 9 out of 10 times she will answer soup. Yesterday, before I went grocery shopping, I asked her what would she like me to get her from the store. Now  most kids would probably answer with cookies, candy or some sort of treat. Mine…asked for soup, broccoli, and biscuits.

If we don’t have leftover soup from another meal, I whip up a super quick soup with broth, leftover chicken, some frozen mixed vegetables, seasonings and salt, and if I have frozen rice available, I throw that in there, too. It works perfectly and is ready in minutes.

How To Make A Whole Chicken And Broth In 45 Minutes

1. Add your whole chicken to the Instant Pot – take out the bag of scraps.

2. Add in a carrot, sliced onion, garlic cloves, celery stalks, herbs, etc.

3. Top with salt, pepper, and a few bay leaves.

4. Add in 4-6 cups of water. The Instant Pot should be about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full.

5. Place lid on top, set it to not venting, and set it to manual high pressure for 21-22 minutes.

6. Once the chicken is done cooking and the timer goes off, leave it for 10 minutes to naturally release.

7. Flip it to venting if it hasn’t released all the way.  Pull out the chicken and let it rest for a few minutes before pulling all the meat off. It will be hot and might burn your fingers.

8. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a glass container (I like to use a half gallon mason jar) and store in the fridge up to a week.

I then use the meat as I would a rotisserie chicken or something. BBQ chicken sandwiches, salads, quick soups, tacos, pretty much anything you can think of.

What is your favorite way to use a rotisserie chicken?