Instant Pot or Crock Pot Chicken Soup for the Soul… and Immune System

As the cold Minnesota weather hit this month, I developed a cough that I just couldn’t get rid of for the life of me. I didn’t feel too terribly ill for the most part but I just couldn’t stop coughing which inevitably wore me out and made me feel yucky. This also put a damper on my workout routine. Any cardio would get me coughing and no one wants to be on the elliptical next to the girl hacking up a lung…or two. So, I banished myself to my basement most days where I used my free weights and took a light stroll on my treadmill in order to remain at least slightly active. I go a bit insane if I can’t do something athletic most days. I do enjoy a day of rest or two each week but by the third day I start to become borderline crazy.

So, in an attempt to rid myself of my never ending cough, I made some bone broth which I used to make turkey soup. It just so happened that I was feeling crummy over Thanksgiving so this was perfect timing. I make chicken broth almost weekly with the remains of the whole chicken I cook. You can use chicken or turkey for this recipe. While any turkey or chicken bones will do, I prefer to use high quality bones since I am extracting the minerals in concentrated form I like to make sure the animal I got them from is as healthy as possible.

Bone broth is great for:

• your immune system: bone provides the nutrients needed to repair a overactive immune system: it’s high in calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
• enhancing digestion: the gelatin in bone broth is great for your digestive system.
• your ligaments and joints: it’s high in the amino acids proline and glycine which improve the health of your connective tissue.
• your hair, skin and nails: think j-e-l-l-o. The gelatin in broth helps your hair, skin and nails look their best.
• helping rid your body of toxins: the amino acid glycine in bone broth helps your liver to properly detox

If you would like some more sciency sounding info about how great bone broth is check out this article by Dr.Mercola.

Here is how I make my easy instat pot bone broth. I used to use the a slow cooker but found that sometimes the ceramic containers can leach heavy metals. I’ve since switched to an instand pot for the stainless steel pot and the east of the pressure cooker. I love it and don’t miss my slow cooker at all. The instant pot has a slow cooker function.

Ingredients:

• bones from a whole chicken or turkey (preferably free range)
• chopped veggies (optional): I like to use onion, celery, and carrots
• 6 cups of filtered water
• 1 TBS basil (optional)
• 1 TBS of organic apple cider vinegar:  optional but helps pull the nurtients from the bones

Directions:

1. After I have cooked and deboned my whole chicken for our family’s meal, I throw all the bones into my instant pot. You could also use a crock pot or the slow cooker setting on your instant pot. I also pour any “juice” left over from the cooked chicken into the crockpot as well.

2. Add 6 cups of filtered water to the crock pot.

3. Chop veggies (carrots, onions, celery) and add them to the water.

4. Add 1 TBS basil. I just throw in a handful (this doesn’t have to be exact).

5. Add 1 TBS of organic apple cider vinegar. I also just add a splash of this. It doesn’t have to be exact either, but the vinegar draws out the nutrients.

6. Stir the ingredients and try and make sure all the bones are below the water.

7. Set your crockpot to low and leave on overnight (or for at least 8 hrs). Or set your instant pot to 120 min on high pressure. The longer the you slow cook your bones, the more nutrients there will be in the broth.

8. After at least 8 hours of slow cooking (or after the pressure cooker has finished and slow released the pressure on it’s own), strain all the bones, and veggies from the broth and place in an air tight container to go in the fridge or in the freezer for future use.

Here is a double batch of bone broth ready to be strained after simmering all night in the crock pot.

To make my turkey soup, I then added some chopped carrots and celery and simmered it on the stove for a bit. Then I added leftover turkey from thanksgiving and let it cook till the turkey was warm. If you add the turkey later it wont be overcooked. You could also add chicken if you had it leftover from the bones of your whole chicken.

I also use bone broth in the spicy bean soup I make for my hubby. He loves taking it to work each day as part of his lunch. It’s great to have bone broth in the freezer as well for whenever a recipe calls for it.

Feel free to add other spices to your soup if you like it spicy. I often add some tumeric and black pepper for fighting inflamation, or cayenne pepper or smoked paprika for a kick of spice. Yum!

If you have any comments or questions feel free to write in the comment section below.

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