Homemade Turkey Stock (From a Turkey Carcass)
This Homemade Turkey Stock recipe is made with the carcass of your holiday turkey, a few aromatics, and lots of water. That’s it! I’ve provided stovetop and slow cooker options so you can make your stock whichever way you prefer.
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Don’t Throw Out That Turkey Carcass!
You’ve planned and executed your Thanksgiving dinner, and now all that’s left is a bunch of dishes and a massive turkey carcass that’s been picked clean of the meat.
Please do not throw away that carcass! You can make homemade turkey stock with it, then freeze it for months of cooking to come.
Here’s why making stock from a turkey carcass is always worth the extra effort:
✔ Super Simple: Just fill up a big stock pot with water, aromatics, and the turkey carcass and let it simmer away while you’re cleaning up after the meal. That’s it!
✔ Flexible Ingredients: You can use whole veggies like carrots, onion, and celery to flavor the stock, or you can chuck in the leftover vegetable scraps you saved up while preparing your feast.
✔ Rich and Flavorful: All of that collagen from the bones, scraps of fat from the skin, and residual turkey brine will create the most flavorful turkey stock of your life.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Katie
Tools You’ll Need
You’ll need a few different tools to prepare this flavorful turkey carcass stock. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:
- Stock Pot – to make the turkey stock in.
- Fine-Mesh Sieve or Strainer – to strain the turkey parts and other scraps out after cooking.
- Freezer-Safe Storage Containers – airtight containers are ideal for storing the stock for a later use if you don’t intend to use it all right away.
Ingredients for Making Turkey Stock
One of the reasons I love making homemade turkey stock is because it uses up so many of my Thanksgiving leftovers! A full list of ingredients with their measurements can be found in the recipe card below, but here’s an overview.
- Turkey Carcass — Use the bones from a stuffed turkey, beer brined turkey, herb and citrus turkey, apple cider turkey, or smoked turkey.
- Aromatics — Carrots, onion, and celery flavor the stock without masking the rich turkey flavor.
- Fresh Herbs — I’m partial to parsley, sage, and thyme, but pretty much any herbs you’ve got left from your dinner prep should work.
- Spices — I kept this turkey stock recipe super simple by using just whole black peppercorns and some bay leaves.
- Water — You’ll need about 1 gallon if you’re making turkey stock from a whole carcass, but use less if you’ve only got the bones from a turkey breast or two.
A note about adding salt: If you brined your turkey before cooking, there should be plenty of residual salt leftover from the brining process. Therefore, there’s no need to add extra! If at the end of preparation your stock tastes saltier than you’d like, simply add more water to compensate.
How to Make Turkey Stock with a Leftover Turkey Carcass
I typically use a large stockpot to make turkey stock on the stove, but I’ve also listed slow cooker directions in the recipe card below.
- Place the turkey carcass in the pot. If necessary, you can disassemble the bones, breaking them into smaller pieces, so fit the bones nicely in your pot. Using a meat mallet or kitchen shears is a great way to break the turkey carcass apart.
- Add the herbs and aromatics to the pot. Then, cover with water (about 1 gallon should do it).
- Simmer for at least 6 hours. I let mine simmer all day to really soften the bones and release their flavor. I’ll top up the water in the pot as it evaporates on an as-needed basis.
- Strain before storing. I do this by setting a fine mesh strainer over another large pot and then slowly pour the stock mixture over the strainer. The strainer will catch any debris that you don’t want in the final product.
Katie’s Tip: You can also follow this tutorial using chicken carcasses. When roasting a whole chicken, or purchasing pre-roasted whole chickens, keep the leftover bones in a Ziploc freezer bag in the freezer. When you’ve collected 2-3, use them to make homemade chicken broth. For more details, check out this recipe for homemade chicken stock.
Want to Skim Excess Fat From the Top of Your Stock? Here’s My Method
After straining the finished stock, return it to the stock pot and cool it to room temperature. Then, transfer it to the refrigerator and chill.
The fat rises as the stock cools. Once cool, you can use a wooden spoon to remove and discard the solidified fat.
Storage and Freezing Instructions
Divide the homemade stock into individual portions that suit your family’s needs. Make sure you use freezer-safe containers and leave about a 1/2 inch of head space in the container to allow for expansion in the freezer. Then, store the stock in the freezer.
Turkey stock will store for at least 6 months. Use your homemade turkey broth anytime you need broth for soup recipes. Check out these 35 Soup Recipes for Fall to see some of our favorites!
Try These Recipes Using Turkey Stock
You can use your homemade turkey stock in any recipe that calls for chicken or vegetable stock. Try it in one of the following recipes to get started:
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Easy Homemade Turkey Stock
Making homemade turkey stock is relatively simple after your Thanksgiving feast, even if it does feel like one more thing to worry about.
Ingredients
- Turkey Carcass
- 2 large onions, quartered
- 4 large Carrots
- 4 Celery Ribs
- 3 cloves Garlic, smashed
- 1 sprig Sage
- 4 sprigs Thyme
- 3 sprigs Parsley
- 1 teaspoon Peppercorn
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 gallon Water, plus more to account for evaporation as it cooks
Instructions
Stovetop Option
- Add the turkey carcass to the pot along with the neck piece and any leftover skin or scraps of meat that are lingering on the bones. If necessary to fit the bones nicely in your pot, you can disassemble the bones so to speak. Use a meat mallet or kitchen shears to help break them apart.
- Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, and fresh herbs to the pot.
- Fill the pot with water and bring the turkey carcass mixture to a boil, then simmer it for at least 6 hours for a rich tasting stock. If you need to add more water to account for evaporation, do so as needed.
- Taste your delicious stock after a few hours and adjust flavors to your personal preference.
- After simmering, strain the mixture. I set a fine mesh strainer over another large pot and slowly pour the turkey broth mixture over the strainer. The strainer will catch and debris that you don’t want in the final product. Discard that debris.
- If the turkey broth seems fatty, chill the strained broth in the refrigerator overnight and skim the fat solids off the top the next morning.
Slow Cooker Option
- In an extra large slow cooker or counter top roaster, combine all of the ingredients and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours, then on low for 6 hours (or more if you’d like).
Notes
A note about the aromatics: Vegetable scraps also work great here. The ends of carrots that you cut off and don’t consume, celery ends and leaves, even onion skins. As you are preparing your Thanksgiving Feast, save any of these scraps in a large gallon sized zip top bag in your refrigerator.
A note about the salt content: If you brined your turkey before roasting, there should be plenty of residual salt leftover from the brining process and no need to add extra. If at the end of preparation your broth tastes saltier than you’d like, simply add more water.
If you've got leftover meat to use up, remember that you can freeze turkey very easily. Otherwise here are my favorite ways to repurpose leftover turkey!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 56Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 66mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 5g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
Try Making Turkey Stock with a Turkey Carcass!
Next time you’re wondering what to do with a turkey carcass after your Thanksgiving dinner, give this how to make turkey stock tutorial a try!
Did You Try This Recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and a review below—your feedback helps others and makes my day.
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Haley says
Hi!
It’s so yummy. I like Turkish foods. I can’t wait to try these.
Your ideas is awsome and this encourage me too much and also you write fantastic.
Thanks, for sharing.
Dawn R says
This looks SO darn good!! And your photos are lovely and bring everything to life. And speaking of life, I need that pot in mine! 🙂
Carolyn Perez says
This was a great recipe! we tend to forget to take advantage of our leftovers! I will be making my Turkey Stock! Great add-on to my meals! Happy Thanks Giving!