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Be sure to keep those turkey bones from Thanksgiving because you can make a gallon or two of delicious turkey stock with them! Bone broth is one of the healthiest traditional foods you can make in your kitchen, and using a leftover turkey carcass from a holiday meal is a great way to get started.
Below is the easy recipe for turkey broth as well as a short video demonstration.
How to Make Turkey Stock
Check out the 5-minute video in the recipe below where I show you how to use leftover turkey bones to make a couple of gallons of turkey stock (aka turkey broth). You can then use it to make healthy soups and sauces through the New Year’s holiday and into January!
If you are wondering what the difference between turkey stock and turkey broth is, this article on broth vs stock explains.
Alternatively, season the stock and use it for sipping out of a mug like hot tea.
Turkey Stock Recipe
The recipe below is simple and straightforward. It is the perfect way to make bone broth for the first time for those of you who haven’t tried it before.
Enjoy!
Turkey Stock Recipe
Recipe for turkey broth using a leftover Thanksgiving bird that is the perfect base for homemade soups and sauces.
Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass any size, preferably free range
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- filtered water
Instructions
Remove all cooked meat from the turkey. It does not need to be picked clean.
Place turkey bones into a large 12+ quart stockpot and cover with filtered water.
Add a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar, stir and cover. Leave on the counter for 30 minutes as suggested by French cooking texts to allow the vinegar to start working on the bones to ensure optimal mineral release into the turkey broth.
Place pot on the stove burner and bring to a boil. Just before a boil is reached, foam may come to the surface (organic turkeys tend to not have much if any foam). The foam is impurities and off flavors. Skim this foam off as best you can with a slotted spoon. Your turkey broth will taste a lot better for doing this!
Turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for 24 hours.
Strain, cool and refrigerate. Freeze what you will not use within 3-4 days. This turkey broth may be used as a base for soups and sauces or enjoyed on its own with a bit of sea salt added.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Homemade apple cider vinegar is wonderful to use in this turkey broth recipe. If you choose to purchase your ACV, be sure that it is raw and packed in glass. Vinegar is acidic and will leech toxins from plastic containers.
More Information on Making Stock and Broth
My Youtube playlist of videos on all aspects of making bone broth
Best Bone Broth
How to Make Duck Stock
MSG in Bone Broth
Minerals in Bone Broth
Bonito Broth Recipe
How to Make Chicken Stock
How to Make Shrimp Stock
5 Reasons Why Your Stock Won’t Gel
Confused about Stock versus Bone Broth?
The Perfect Simmer on Your Bone Broth
Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe (+ VIDEO)
Just taking the stock off the stove now after simmering for 48 hours. It tastes fantastic by itself with just a pinch of Celtic sea salt. Amazing flavor!
Sarah,
Do you still sell your raw cow's milk? I live locally and would love to purchase some from you. How do I go about this?
Hi Kelli, and I can send you ordering/pickup information.
Sarah
The Healthy Home Economist
Hi Sarah! I just love your videos. They are so informative and helpful!! I've been making chicken stock this way for a couple of years now with one minor difference. When preparing carrots, celery and onion for other meals I take the ends of the veggies that I would normally dispose of or compost and save them up in a plastic bag in the freezer. When stock making day comes, I dump all the veggie scraps into my stock pot. Free veggies! Great stock! Just tought I'd share my tip. 🙂
Hi Sarah! Thanks for the video – two questions: I have some chicken bones that I bought at the health food store to make stock – do you always roast the bones first before making stock? Also, is a pressure cooker not a good thing to use for stock (or anything else)? We have one my huband's grandma gave us, and since we both work during the day, I'm a little nervous about leaving the stove on while we're gone. So I thought about using the pressure cooker instead. Thoughts? Also – this is about fish stock – but my father-in-law just gave me a bunch of fish heads to make stock with, but I don't have the carcasses or anything. Can you make decent fish stock with just the heads, or do I need the carcasses too?
Hi Kelsey,
You do not need to roast the chicken bones before making chicken stock as the chicken was already cooked. I do not know about a pressure cooker. You will find that leaving the stockpot on the stove to gurgle requires very low heat so not a problem when you go out. Yes – you can make fantastic fish stock with just the heads. I do this all the time.
I've been making my own chicken and turkey broths for over 20 years and there is certainly no comparison. I prefer to use the leftovers from roasted birds rather than dedicating a whole bird to the stock (as I have seen some do). I think the flavor is better and it seems like a huge waste to put all that meat in there when it can be better used in a meal. I have never brought my stock to a boil because I don't like it to be cloudy. I have never noticed any off-flavors, whether I buy a store chicken or an organic one. One thing you did not mention, which I always do, is strain my broth through cheesecloth before storing it in the freezer. Perhaps that does the same thing as the skimming process that you mentioned (which I've never done). I would also like to point out that once your stock is finished and strained, it is important to boil it for 2 minutes before you use it. Home-made broth/stock is very nutrient-rich and a very attractive home to bacteria. Plus, it is very difficult to cool such a large quantity of stock quickly, which is also attractive to bacteria.
I didn't know about the vinegar either. I'd heard it before, but never knew the reason. I'll have to try it.
Hi Sarah,
Does the same recipe apply for making stock from yak, elk and buffalo?
Thanks,
Ranjani
Not exactly, Ranjani. Bones from an animal such as a buffalo etc should be roasted for 20 minutes on each side (assuming they are raw soup bones) and then made into stock. I haven’t done a video on this yet, but I really need to.
Wonder if Kombucha Vinegar would work just as well.
Thanks for this video. I’m actually going to be cooking a turkey here soon. Have it thawing slowly. Do you brine your turkeys?
Thanks.
Velma
Hi Sarah,
I am getting my supplies ready to make the hypoallergenic formula for my baby and need help makin beef broth. Should I follow the same protocol from this video, I have never made broth from scratch before and I am bit worried I will mess this up. Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks.
HI Nolvia, beef broth is different. You have to brown the meat on both sides (20 min each side) before putting in the pot with water and vinegar. Be sure to include the beef juices that come out from the browning in the stock pot.
Hi Sarah,
I cooked my chicken stock for 39 hours. At 27 hours it tasted good so I thought it would be even better to leave it on until the morning. Unfortunately, at 39 hours it tastes strong and no longer good. What happened? Did it burn? Can I salvage it? Help, please.
Kind regards,
Andrea
Add some water .. it should be fine. Perhaps it just got boiled down to a very concentrated level. I’ve frequently simmered my chicken stock for even 48 hours with great results.
Yes, you were right. It just needed some water. Ahhh. Thanks!
When you remove stock from the freezer, do you skim off the top portion – or use the entire stock as is?
I assume you have to dilute this w/ water.
Thanks much,
R
Nolvia,
Did you ever make the homemade formula for your baby? I’m currently trialing raw goat milk for my baby in hopes to go this route – but – I’m suspecting she isn’t tolerating it and may need to move to Sarah’s hypoallergenic version. I’m more nervous about it just b/c I want to make sure I make the stock correctly – just making sure all the necessary minerals/vitamins are extracted from the bones – if that makes sense.
How did it go if you indeed made it?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
Does oxtail soup require roasting and vinegar as well? Is it considered a muscle meat? My daughter has been on the Hypoallergenic formula for the past 2 months but on chicken. I wanted to give her a little change with making the formula on oxtail soup. I am starting her out on the GAPS diet as well since she is allergic to lactose and whey as well. The GAPS diet calls for broth in almost very meal. Wanted to add variety and see what my options were. Thanks.
I don’t understand the vinegar. I made a beef stock following Sally Fallon’s recipe in Nourishing Traditions. 30 hours later, my stock tastes like vinegar. I understand the explanation about the vinegar drawing out the nutrients, but I don’t understand having vinegar-tasting stock. Does the vinegar flavor lessen with longer cooking time?
I only started using vinegar in the last few years after many years of making homemade stocks without it. (Because of childhood science fair projects I believe that it draws out minerals. lol)
I rarely taste the stock in the first few hours; so I cannot comment on whether I would taste it early on. Generally once the stock has cooked for the entire time required the vinegar taste is gone and I don’t really have an explanation as to why that would be.
Out of all the times making stock regularly throughout the year, I have just once, ended up with a vinegary tasting stock and I believe it was a stock that I had accidentally put too much vinegar into.
Hi Sarah,
I am using this method for my chicken carcass leftover from dinner tonight. I started with a free range, organic chicken. It has been boiling now for about 30 minutes and I have had little to NO foam at the top. Is this normal? did I do something wrong? I did add some veggies and herbs, does that change things? Any feedback would be appreciated 🙂 Thanks for all your wonderful information! I am thankful for all your hard work.
Is that true that we have to boil the stock before use it? Thank you, Sarah, for all your great posts!!!
In watching my mom making stock throughout my childhood and now making my own stock throughout 20 years of adult life, I have never made a point of doing that, seen any else do so, or heard it said, except in that one comment. On the other hand, if I use my stock to make a soup the soup gets cooked as I make it. If I reduce some for a glaze it gets boiled in order to reduce it. Even if I just use a bit in a caserole, it at least gets brought up to temp for a few minutes. So generally, I guess stock does often get cooked again. I will just go on as I did before and not worry about it.
I can’t afford a free range turkey, but thank goodness my husband is a hunter and he brings home wild turkeys during the season. They are truly free range with antibiotics or steroids. They look funny with their tall breast bones and they are much skinnier, but they are tasty and practically free.
I can’t believe this was your first vlog, Sarah. You were a natural from the get-go!