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How to make turkey stock or bone broth from the holiday bird leftovers for a nutritious and delicious base for soups and sauces.
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 Broth
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.
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
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Remove all cooked meat from the turkey. Â It does not need to be picked clean.Â
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Place turkey bones into a large 12+ quart stockpot and cover with filtered water.
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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.
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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!
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Turn the heat down to low, cover and let simmer for 24 hours.Â
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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.
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More Information on Broth and Stock
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
I can’t believe this was your first vlog, Sarah. You were a natural from the get-go!
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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!
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
Yes, you were right. It just needed some water. Ahhh. Thanks!
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.