Turkey Broth Recipe
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An Easy Turkey Broth Recipe made from the scraps of a turkey carcass and water! Make homemade turkey stock in the crockpot or instant pot!
If you’ve got a leftover turkey carcass, don’t throw it out! This Easy Turkey Broth is EXTREMELY simple to make and results in a rich, tasty stock that is seriously delicious.
Don’t worry – if you’re new to making broth, this recipe is effortless and so worth it! You can make it in the slow cooker (my favorite method!), Instant Pot, or on the stove.
Made from a leftover turkey carcass (bones, scraps, all of it!), this stock is SO flavorful and packed with nutrients. When the bones are cooked low and slow, they release their naturally occurring collagen and gelatin, which are believed to support gut health, skin, and nails!
Perfect for sipping on or cooking with in any recipe calling for broth. You’ll never throw out a turkey carcass again!
Liz’s tips for turkey broth
- Double Strain for Smooth Broth: After cooking, first strain the broth using a fine mesh strainer to remove the bones and large vegetable pieces. Then, we always strain it again using a nut milk bag or cheesecloth to catch any smaller fragments for clear broth!
- Extra nutrients: If you want to get all the nutrients you can out of the broth, I like to take any veggies I cooked the broth with (onions, carrots, celery, etc) and blend them up with the broth for added flavor and nutrients.
If you’re planning your Thanksgiving menu – check out these Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes!
Ingredients
To make turkey bone broth, you really only need:
- turkey bones (leftover Thanksgiving turkey comes in handy)
- water (filtered water is great, but tap water works fine too)
- optional: I also like to throw in some extra veggies and herbs for flavor.
Kitchen tools we used in this recipe: crockpot, strainer, ZipTop bags (for storing)
Substitutions and Variations
Bones – We love using the bones from our Herb Butter Turkey. You can use any bones.. chicken, beef, or turkey will all work. I’ve found that bones that come from an all natural turkey produce a much more flavorful broth. We also have a Homemade Beef Bone Broth and How to Make Chicken Broth recipe.
Veggies – Carrots, onion, and garlic add flavor to the broth, but are not necessary.
Seasonings – You can add salt, pepper, peppercorns, or whatever other herbs you’d like to the broth. We love to throw fresh sage, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary into our broth! You can really add any spices and herbs you like, they will add some great depth of flavor to the stock.
Apple cider vinegar – Some people add apple cider vinegar to their broth to help coax the nutrients out of the bones. This is not necessary, but if you’d like to add it, feel free!
The best turkey for making Turkey Broth
My favorite way to make bone broth is with leftover bones from a roasted turkey. Our favorite turkeys are from ButcherBox.
I love making the most out of our food and avoiding food waste wherever possible – so when we cook a turkey, nothing goes to waste. After I’ve cooked the turkey, everything goes in the slow cooker and gets turned into broth!
Do you need to roast the bones for bone broth? No – you don’t. Roasting the bones can give the broth extra flavor, but it’s totally not necessary! All you need to do is boil the turkey carcass in a large stockpot or slow-cooker for 12-18 hours, it’s really that simple!
How to make Turkey Broth
You can make turkey broth in the crockpot, instant pot, or on the stove. I’m showing how to make it in the crockpot below.
- Add all turkey bones + scraps to the crockpot (veggies are optional).
- Cover with water and cook for 10-18 hours (16-18 hours preferred). We don’t recommend going longer than 18 hours, or your broth might wind up turning out bitter or getting a weird flavor.
- Strain the broth with a fine mesh strainer to get the bones/any big pieces of veggies out.
- Using a nut milk bag or a cheese cloth, I will strain the broth again to remove any random fragments or pieces that may have escaped.
Can you reuse the turkey bones in bone broth? Yes, you can! Usually, beef/chicken bones do not work as well when you use them a second time, but turkey bones work very well! The second batch of broth definitely is not as rich in color or flavor, but will still be tasty.
Here’s the difference between crockpot and instant pot broth (crockpot on the left, instant pot on the right). The crockpot broth is much richer in color and flavor!
How to Make Turkey Broth in the Instant Pot
I prefer to cook my turkey broth in the slow cooker, but you can cook this in your instant pot for 120 minutes on high pressure, and let it naturally release.
You can see our instant pot bone broth recipe, or see below for instructions.
Depending on the size of your instant pot, you may need more or less water. Make sure you DO NOT fill above the max fill line! Leave about an inch and a half before the max fill line.
Storing homemade broth
Turkey broth will last 6-7 days in your refrigerator. You can store turkey broth in several ways:
- Souper Cubes are my favorite way to store turkey broth! You can read this Souper Cubes Review for more details on them!
- Mason Jars
- Plastic Containers
- Silicone standing bags
Freezing Homemade Turkey Broth
You can freeze bone broth, and you probably will have to because this makes a lot! If frozen, broth can last up to a year – but I’d recommend using it within 6 months for freshness! For all my freezing tips, check out my post on How To Freeze Soup.
I freeze my turkey broth in SouperCubes. These silicone molds for soup are also the best way to freeze bone broth.
Freezing in glass: We do not recommend freezing in glass ever! Freezing in glass is difficult, and I rarely do it because containers are likely to crack. To freeze in glass, fill the bottle, leaving about 1-2 inches of room – do not fill to the top because the liquid will expand as it freezes. Put them in the fridge and allow them to completely cool. Once they have been in the fridge for at least 5 hours and are cold, you can transfer them to the freezer. I leave the lids off and allow the jars to freeze completely, then add the lids on.
Ice cube trays: I also like to freeze bone broth in ice cube trays. This is perfect for when you’re making a dish and only need a little bit, but don’t want to defrost a whole jar.
FAQs
Yes, you can buy turkey broth. This is our favorite store bought turkey broth. However, once you make it.. you’re never going to want the store bought broth again! Homemade is so much better (especially when it’s homemade from the best turkey!)
Yes, turkey stock and turkey broth are the same thing. Some people argue that they’re different, but they’re made the same way and can be used interchangeably. Often, broth is richer than stock… but at the end of the day, bone broth, stock, and broth all mean the same thing: liquid made from leftover bones/scraps. The bones and water cook low and slow, creating an extremely nutrient dense, delicious broth.
Using homemade broth
You can use turkey stock in so many different ways. Here are some of my favorites:
- Turkey broth soup is the best way to use turkey stock! We love this Leftover Turkey Soup, Healthy Turkey Pot Pie Soup, Turkey Noodle Soup, and Turkey Wild Rice Soup!
- Pour it into a mug and drink it up! It’s packed with protein + veggies and so cozy.
- Add to sauces or stir fries for flavor
- Use in place of water or regular cooking stock
- Freeze it to have for a quick dinner or meal (or for when a cold comes on!)
We hope you love this as much as we do! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how easy + delicious it is!
Turkey Broth Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb bones/scraps from cooked turkey use all your scraps from a whole roasted turkey
- 16 cups water approximately, fill to the top of your pot
- 2 cups celery stalks halved, optional
- 1 cup carrots halved halved, optional
- 1 cup onion quartered – optional halved, optional
- sprigs fresh thyme + rosemary optional
- salt/pepper to taste optional
Instructions
Crockpot Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a crockpot*, cover with filtered water and cook on low for 18-20 hours (12 at minimum). You may need to adjust the amount of water depending on the size of your crockpot. You can fill to the top of the crockpot.
- Once cooked, allow the broth to cool slightly, and run through a fine mesh strainer into a large pot or container. (This will just be easier to do if it is not scalding hot).
- Optional, but recommended: I often strain my bone broth through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth a second time to catch any miscellaneous small bones or fragments.
- Turkey broth often has a lot of fat that comes on top of it. Once you have strained the broth, we recommend chilling it for 2-4 hours until the fat hardens and skimming the solidified fat off the top. This step is optional but highly recommended.
- You can discard vegetables, or blend them with broth to make a vegetable broth.
- Store in airtight containers for up to 4 days, or put in the freezer until ready to use!
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your instant pot. (You can use any size instant pot!) Cover with filtered water to one inch under the max fill line. Set your instant pot to sealing, High Pressure for 120 minutes. It will take at least 30 minutes to come to pressure.
- Allow the pressure to naturally release from the broth for 1 hour when it’s done cooking, then manually release the remaining pressure. You do not want to manually release the pressure any sooner as you will lose a lot of liquid.
- Allow broth to cool slightly (about 1 hour), and run through a fine mesh strainer into a large pot or container. (This will just be easier to do if it is not scalding hot).
- Optional, but recommended: I often strain my bone broth through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth a second time to catch any miscellaneous small bones or fragments.
- Turkey broth often has a lot of fat that comes on top of it. Once you have strained the broth, we recommend chilling it for 2-4 hours until the fat hardens and skimming the solidified fat off the top. This step is optional but highly recommended.
- You can discard vegetables, or blend them with broth to make a vegetable broth.
- Store in airtight containers for up to 4 days, or put in the freezer until ready to use!
Stovetop Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large stockpot. Cover with filtered water and cook at a low simmer for at least 12 hours (16-18 is best). You may need to adjust the amount of water depending on the size of your pot. You can fill to about 1 inch under the top of the pot.
- Allow broth to cool slightly (about 1 hour), and run through a fine mesh strainer into a large pot or container. (This will just be easier to do if it is not scalding hot).
- Optional, but recommended: I often strain my bone broth through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth a second time to catch any miscellaneous small bones or fragments.
- Turkey broth often has a lot of fat that comes on top of it. Once you have strained the broth, we recommend chilling it for 2-4 hours until the fat hardens and skimming the solidified fat off the top. This step is optional but highly recommended.
- You can discard vegetables, or blend them with broth to make a vegetable broth.
- Store in airtight containers for up to 4 days, or put in the freezer until ready to use!
Video
I made this recipe as we were cleaning up. By the next afternoon, I had delicious turkey broth. Super easy to throw together. I used the broth to make leftover turkey noodle soup too.
Love this bone broth recipe! So easy and my place smelled like turkey for the past 48 hours because I cooked my turkey overnight at 275° for 8–12 hours first (under a tin foil tent) and then I was making my bone broth for 12 hours the day after. Love that SMELL!! Thanks for this easy recipe. Question: what do I freeze this broth in?
There’s an entire section on storage above 🙂 I highly recommend these molds for freezing.
Would love to make this and add it to my white chicken chili.
Would love to make this and add it to my white chicken chili.
This is a great tutorial. I have been making bone broth stock for 20+ years and my grown kids still phone and ask me to make them soup when they are not feeling well. They call it Mommy’s magic soup. It is so healing to drink and I freeze containers of it to use when needed. I learned from my Mom to use the “potato” pot to make the soup, don’t wash it after making your mashed potatoes, just take out the leftovers and use the pot to cook your soup (Also helps with washing it after as all the potato boils off into the soup. I love the idea of using a crock pot but it wouldn’t make as much as I need for my family. I fill a very large pot full of veg and onions and bones as well as the neck from the turkey.
Outstanding.Make sure you use enough thyme and rosemary sprigs for flavor. I used a dry rub with salt&pepper so I didn’t any more in the stock. I air fried/roasted my turkey in Char Broil The Big Easy and made broth in crock pot..1hr on high then 8hrs on low. I did not puree the veggies. Next time I’ll try it.
Used stove top method. Was very good.. Used all of the suggested ingredients. Also added star anise and fresh minced garlic.. Made home made noodles as well. Thank you.
So happy you enjoyed it!
I stumbled across this a few years ago and have been making this every year. I do it for Thanksgiving and I do it whenever I cook a full chicken. It’s so easy and so flavorful!! I love doing the crock pot overnight. Set it and forget it!! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you like it! Thanks for giving it a try!
Decided to make turkey bone broth for the first time and used this recipe! First off, it smells amazing when you are making it and it was so easy. It tastes amazing! My daughter, who was skeptical about me making it, tried it and commented how good it was. I will definitely use this again when I have leftover turkey. Delicious!!!
Love to hear that, Mirza! Thank you so much!
I love this recipe. It’s super simple and makes the best soup. I got in there and took enough meat off out turkey to use that for the soup.I put every in the crockpot and covered with water. I set a timer for 16 hours and my house smelled like I had just made turkey dinner all day. I strained it twice and put it in zip lock bags. We ended up making turkey soup with it the next day as we were so excited to try it. I can’t wait to try more recipes on this blog as they all looks so yummy! Thank you!
So happy you liked it, Christina! Thank you so much!
I’ve been wanting to try to make bone broth for several years, but always felt overwhelmed by the recipes. This year, I decided the Thanksgiving turkey was going to become my first bone broth trial, and I stumbled upon this recipe. Thank goodness I did! SO easy to throw together, and SO delicious. Full of so much flavor, a balanced mixture of celery, onion, carrot, herbs and turkey. I ended up not having to strain it, I just poured it through a nutbag into jars and it came out great. I then used the leftover vegetables, 3 cups of the broth, added some turkey, and egg noodles and made turkey noodle soup. I am absolutely going to make this again!
So happy you liked it, Nikki! Isn’t it so easy to do?!
Super easy to make this broth in the crockpot. And so delicious!! 👌🏻
Love to hear that, Cassonda! Thank you so much!
I am looking so forward to making this! But I was always of the understanding that the veggies cooked and cooked for stock, would be so cooked to death there would be no flavor nor nutrition left and should just be discarded. Pureeing them to add back to the stock sounds great but do they really retain flavor and nutrients?
Thank you!
Hi Paula – They absolutely add flavor. Even if you don’t puree them, you can eat them and taste that they have flavor. As for nutrients, I would think the vegetables lose some nutrients as they cook (all vegetables do) but I don’t believe they lose all nutrients. Certain vitamins deegrade quicker/more than others when heated.
I’ve always just mashed my veggies in my hands while deboning the broth for a more rich broth/soup. Even if the nutrients aren’t therebthe flavoris bursting. This is when I make turkey soup, which is usually the only thing I make with my turkey carcasses because it is my all time fave. We do 5+ turkeys a year so we have a steady rotation of soup in our freezer for easy meals. This year however I did broth to can and I did remove the veggies from the broth because I wasn’t sure if I’d have to add extra canning time having them in.
Such a wonderful idea. Always great to have on hand . The flavor is amazing. Thanks for convincing me to make.
So glad you liked it, Jessica!
Excellent recipe with lots of different ways to make it. This is my first time making broth and the instructions couldn’t have made it easier. I pureed the veggies and added it to the broth as suggested and it’s delicious. Can’t wait to make soup with this today.
Thank you so much, Jenny! So happy you enjoyed it! Hope you love the soup!