Instant Pot "Kitchen Scrap" Chicken Stock


I don't remember where I first picked up this trick, but somewhere on the Internet, I came across the kitchen tip of saving all your veggie scraps in a plastic bag in the freezer and using them for chicken stock when you have a chicken carcass. I thought this was brilliant, as I hate using perfectly good veggies for stock and then throwing them out later. In addition, this gives you a use for parts of your veggies you'd normally discard, such as the ends of onions, carrots, and celery.

It ends up looking something like this in your Instant Pot.


I shared this image on Instagram, and my friend messaged me in alarm, saying, "Kat, you're making trash stock!" I found this endlessly amusing as he's not wrong. Instead of calling it "trash stock" though, I decided to name this "kitchen scrap chicken stock". Call it whatever you want, but I think it makes some pretty damn good chicken stock.

Instant Pot Kitchen Scrap Chicken Stock
(Recipe from A Mindful Mom)


  • 1 chicken carcass or bones from a roasted chicken (you can throw these in frozen)
  • 2-3 cups vegetable scraps from carrots, onions, celery, etc. (you can throw these in frozen)
  • A few sprigs of thyme
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 10 cups water

  1. Place all ingredients in Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker). Set valve to sealed, and cook at high pressure for 45 minutes. 
  2. Let natural release for at least 30 minutes. 
  3. Strain stock, let cool, and store or use immediately. 


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