Homemade Turkey Stock Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Don’t waste your turkey carcass! Learn how to make flavorful Homemade Turkey Stock for delicious soups and sauces.
When a turkey holiday meal is complete, don’t throw away the carcass. Instead, make a flavorful Homemade Turkey Stock that will keep in the freezer all winter long.
Perfect for soups, my personal favorite and Friday after Thanksgiving tradition is Turkey Noodle Soup. It can be made with chicken stock but is elevated to a whole new level with homemade turkey stock.
It’s easy to do, but the rewards after a couple of hours of cooking time are priceless.
5 Uses for Stock Besides Making Soup
1. Sauce Starters
Whether you are making sauce from scratch or simply adding flavor to your favorite jarred variety, a great way to increase the flavor without adding a lot of spices is to add a cup of stock.
2. Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are a great side with just about any meal, but often, they fall flat and leave you feeling like you're eating paste. Proper seasoning is important, and nothing works better than substituting stock for water in any mashed potatoes recipe.
3. Braising Liquid
One of the essential elements when creating a mouthwatering roast is to prepare the meat to cook to perfect tenderness. Most braising recipes call for a liquid base that helps to tenderize the meat as it cooks.
4. Rice and Grains
When it comes to grains and different types of rice, there is only so much you can do to these sides to make them flavorful. Transform you sides by using stock instead of water to cook with a complete flavor boost.
5. Steamed Vegetables
Vegetables are often the last thing to be prepared for any meal because they can break down in the cooking process quickly. Steaming vegetables is a great way to prepare almost any dish, and keeps a good nutritional balance stored in the food. As water is typically used in the steamer, adding vegetable or chicken stock to a steamer can infuse flavors into the vegetables, completely transforming the dish into an exciting medley.
3 Ways to Freeze Homemade Stock
1. Ice Cubes Trays: Perfect for de-glazing or small batch soups. Store in zip-top baggies.
2. Muffin Tins: Freezing unused stock or a homemade batch in 1-cup muffin tins makes it easy to store in small amounts. Pop frozen portions out of tin; store them in resealable plastic bags labeled with the date (frozen stock keeps for about two months).
3. Zip-top bags: Fill quart or gallon size bags with stock. Freeze them laying flat on a baking sheet or another idea — freeze the bag inside of a bowl for easy stacking after it’s frozen.
4. Plastic Free Food Containers that can go from freezer to the dishwasher. (Amazon — affiliate link)
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email, and we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get delicious new recipes from us every Friday!
Homemade Turkey Stock Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass cut into manageable pieces
- 1 onion unpeeled, cut in half
- 2 celery stalks with leaves
- 2 carrots
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 4 whole peppercorns
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 8-10 cups cold water
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large soup pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Cover soup pot and allow to simmer for 2 hours. Remove all bones and vegetables and strain liquid. Chill broth until the fat rises to the top. I always remove the layer of fat.
- Add the onion, celery, and carrots to a large pot or Dutch oven. Then add the turkey carcass, bones, skin, and any reserved gelatin or drippings. Add enough water to cover most of the turkey parts, about 8-10 cups. Then add the thyme, marjoram, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, and salt.
- Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot slightly askew to vent the steam. Cook at a higher simmer for 2 hours.
- Place a large strainer over a large bowl, remove the larger turkey pieces, and strain the liquid into the bowl. Using the back of a spoon, press the remaining solids so they release any remaining juices or broth, and then discard the solids.
Instant Pot
- In a pressure cooker, add the carrots, celery, and onion. Then add the turkey carcass and add enough water to reach the Max fill line on the Instant Pot insert.
- Add the salt, thyme, marjoram, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf. Seal the pressure cooker and bring to high pressure. Cook for 25 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally
Slow Cooker
- Add the carrots, celery and onion to the slow cooker. Add the turkey carcass and fill with enough water to cover most of the turkey parts, about 8-10 cups. Add the salt, thyme, marjoram, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf.
- Place the lid on the pot and turn the slow cooker to "Low". Cook for 6-8 hours or cook at "High" for 4 hours. Remove the large turkey pieces and strain the liquid into a large bowl. Press the solids with the back of a spoon to release their juices and discard the solids.
Storing
- Refrigerate in a sealed container for a week to 10 days or freeze in 2 to 4 cup measurements in freezer bags or airtight freezer containers to about 3/4 full, leaving room for expansion. If freezing in freezer bags, lay them on a baking sheet in the freezer so they freeze flat to maximize space in the freezer. They will keep in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.