Homemade Turkey Stock
Turkey Stock is an essential staple to keep on hand now for soup season, bringing rich, savory flavor to your favorite fall dishes. It’s super easy to make, and once you’ve got this flavorful base, you can refrigerate or freeze it to use in all sorts of recipes– think rice, sauces, leftovers, or a hearty soup with dumplings.
It's a great way to use up your leftover turkey carcass! And, trust me, once you’ve tasted homemade stock, you’ll never go back to store-bought.
Why This Turkey Stock Recipe Rocks!
Use this turkey stock recipe to make my creamy bean soup or this chicken minestrone soup. If you need a homemade vegetarian stock option, try my vegetable broth in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Leftover Turkey Carcass and Turkey Bones: Use all the leftovers, including the bones, wings, and any extra turkey pieces. Feel free to include the turkey skin if you want a richer broth, but keep in mind it will add extra fat, which you may need to skim off after cooling. If you're aiming for a lighter broth, you can skip the skin like I do, which reduces the fat and makes skimming easier.
- Onion, Celery, and Carrot: These classic aromatics bring great depth of flavor to your broth. Don’t have all three on hand? You can swap in other veggies like leeks, shallots, or even a bit of garlic for a twist.
- Parsley, Thyme, Bay Leaves, Peppercorns, and Salt: These herbs and spices add a savory, aromatic quality to the broth. Fresh herbs are ideal, but dried herbs work just fine. No parsley or thyme? Substitute with rosemary, sage, or even a dash of Italian seasoning. Adjust the salt to taste, keeping in mind that if you’re adding it to other dishes later, you can always season more as needed.
Check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and quantities of each one.
How to Make Turkey Stock
The great thing about this turkey carcass stock recipe is how straightforward it is – basically, you dump everything in the pot and let it do its thing! Cook it for 2-3 hours if you’re short on time, but I find the broth is more flavorful when cooked for 4-5 hours.
Step 1: Place in the pot. Add the turkey bones to a large stockpot with the onion, celery, carrot, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, and salt, making sure they’re evenly distributed over the carcass.
Step 2: Pour in the cold water. There should be enough to completely cover the turkey and vegetables, about 10-12 cups. Simmer the broth, keeping it covered, for a minimum of 4-5 hours.
Step 3: Strain the broth. Use a fine mesh sieve to remove the bones, vegetables, and herbs.
Step 4: Allow the broth to cool. After it’s fully cooled in the fridge, you can then skim off any extra fat on the broth surface if you want. You can refrigerate it for later or freeze it for future meals, or use it immediately as a base for soups or other recipes. Enjoy!
Handy Tip: Only Simmer
Simmer, don’t boil! If there is too much evaporation while making turkey stock, you can add more water as it cooks. More intense flavor occurs when some of the water evaporates. You can keep it like this if you prefer. I often lose about 3-4 cups of liquid when cooking and add two cups of water at the end of cooking for 10 cups of broth.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- For Richer Flavor: You can add pan drippings if you want a richer flavor and have some left from your cooked turkey. Just note that any seasonings in your pan drippings will now be in your broth. Watch out especially for adding more salt if you use the drippings.
- Low-Sodium: Skip the salt and use fresh herbs or salt-free seasoning to keep the broth flavorful without the extra sodium.
- Broth Only: If you prefer a simple turkey broth instead you can skip the seasoning and just cook the turkey bones with the aromatics and veggies, or completely on their own.
Soup-er Toppings & Serving Suggestions
- Upgrade Soups & Stews: Add the rich, homemade turkey stock to hearty soups like chicken noodle or beef stew for a deeper, more savory flavor.
- Enhance Rice Dishes: Use the turkey stock as a base for cooking rice or risotto to infuse extra flavor without needing heavy seasoning.
- Perfect for Gravy: Whip up a rich, flavorful gravy by combining turkey stock with pan drippings—ideal for holiday meals or roasted turkey or chicken dinners.
- Boost Casseroles: Pour the stock into baked casseroles, like green bean or stuffing dishes, for added moisture and a delicious, savory twist.
- Health-Boosting Sipper: If someone’s feeling under the weather, heat up a cup of turkey stock as a nourishing, comforting drink.
Expert Tips
- Cut the Carcass. If necessary, use kitchen shears to cut the carcass into pieces that will fit in your pot.
- Start with Cold Water. This will help keep the broth clear instead of cloudy.
- Keep the lid on. Keep the pot covered while simmering avoid splatters and prevents evaporation.
- Skim off extra fat. The consistency of this broth is quite gelatinous when cold due the large amount of cartilage and cooking time. Any fat will still rise to the top so you can easily skim it off.
- Storage: Store in the fridge for up to four days or freeze it in an airtight container for 4-6 months. I like to freeze it in small portions using Souper Cubes so I can pull out just what I need for a recipe.
Recipe FAQs
Since this recipe doesn’t use vinegar to help extract the minerals from the bones, it’s more of a traditional stock than a true bone broth. Bone broth typically requires a longer cooking time and that vinegar to pull out all the collagen and nutrients. If you ever want to make a bone broth version, just add a tablespoon or two of vinegar (like apple cider vinegar) while simmering, and let it cook for a longer period—usually 12-24 hours. That’s what helps break down the bones and gives you all those extra health benefits!
It could be because the stock came to a boil, which means some of the fat will emulsify into the liquid, making it cloudy.
When you open your refrigerated stock, it should be gelatinous. If it is, then you nailed it! If it's still watery, it might have been cooked at too high of a temperature or there was too much water and not enough turkey parts.
Cool it down as quickly as possible before refrigerating or freezing. An easy way is to put your pot in the sink and surround it with ice and ice water.
Try leeks, parsnips, mushrooms, fennel, or zucchini for added flavor and depth from the veggies. For seasoning you could add parsley stems, garlic, or even a pinch of turmeric. Avoid vegetables with a strong flavor such as broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower which may overpower the flavor of the stock.
Use to Make These Soup Recipes
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Homemade Turkey Stock
Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass from a 16-18 pound turkey about 3 pounds but will depend on size of your turkey.
- 12 cups cold water
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 rib celery sliced
- 1 large carrot sliced
- 4-6 sprigs parsley
- 2-3 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 8-10 peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- Place carcass in large pot with onion, celery, carrot, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt. Add water.
- Cook over low heat covered with a lid for 4-5 hours. Transfer large pieces of carcass from pot to a sheet pan or large plate to cool. Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve to remove all the vegetable solids and seasonings. When cooled, discard the turkey carcass. I don’t recommend using the meat as it will be quite tough and dry after cooking for so long.
- Transfer the broth to containers for storage. Allow the broth to cool in the fridge and then skim off any extra fat on the broth surface if you want.. Store in the fridge for up to four days or the freezer for 4-6 months.
Recipe Tips
Nutrition
