Making turkey or chicken stock at home is simple, saves money, and adds so much flavor to your home cooking! Follow this simple step-by-step process to create your quite own homemade turkey stock.
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. The feast is over. The turkey has been gobbled up (did you make a spatchcock turkey like we usually do?).
You saved the turkey bones and other leftover turkey parts, right? It makes the best homemade turkey stock!
Making stock is so simple. In simply one afternoon, you can have enough stock to use fresh within four days or to freeze and use for the next three months!
We make turkey stock the same way We make chicken stock. This year, because we unexpectedly ended up with a 25-pound turkey (read about our Instacart story over on Instagram), We made a LOT of turkey stock.
And We simply realized that We have never shared the homemade stock recipe here on the blog. So here it is, friends!
[feast_advanced_jump_to]What's the difference between stock and broth?
It's quite common for people to use the terms "stock" and "broth" interchangeably. But, there are differences between the two. The most important difference between stock and broth is that they are each made from different ingredients.
Stock is made with turkey or chicken bones and vegetables. Because the bones impart collagen and gelatin into the liquid, the result is usually a thicker liquid compared to broth.
Broth is typically made with vegetables and meat. It's thinner than stock, but in general, more flavorful. Have you seen any broth bars popping up in your city? It's a thing. People sipping on broth. Personally? We use it to cook with.
Tools and Equipment
To make Homemade Turkey Stock, you'll need:
- Large stockpot – We use the DaTerra Cucina 8-quart Dutch Oven to make the stock. It's the perfect size!
- Gallon size freezer bag – to collect vegetable scraps and bones.
- Strainer – to strain the stock and separate the vegetable scraps.
Ingredients
- Vegetable scraps – onion, garlic, and carrot peels; celery ends. Keep these when you're preparing food.
- Turkey bones – saved from your Thanksgiving turkey (or anytime you make a whole turkey!)
- Herbs – we like to add thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf.
How do We make turkey stock from scratch?
It's super duper simple to make turkey stock (or chicken stock!) from scratch! Here are step-by-step photos to help you out. The full list of ingredients and detailed instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Start saving your vegetable scraps. And your chicken bones while you're at it. We keep mine in a freezer bag and simply add scraps to it as We cook each day. Everytime We chop onions and garlic, the peels go into the bag. When We chop carrots and celery, the chopped off ends and the carrot peels go in the bag.
- Once you have a decent amount of scraps and bones, make the stock. We usually wait until We have a gallon size freezer bag full.
- Place scraps into the biggest stockpot that you have. We simply recently received the DaTerra Cucina 8-quart Dutch Oven and it is PERFECT for making stock! Before that, We used a 6-quart stockpot. You can even use a 4-quart stockpot to make a small amount of homemade stock if you want!
- Pour enough water to cover the vegetable scraps and bones. Sure, you can measure, but this isn't rocket science or baking, folks. No need for exact measurements here. As long as you use enough water to cover and submerge the bones and scraps, you'll have flavorful stock!
- Add a handful of your favorite herbs plus a bay leaf or two, depending on how much stock you are making. We always find that the combo of thyme and rosemary makes a delightful stock. You can also use basil, sage, oregano.
- Bring the contents of the stockpot to a boil. Then cover, and reduce the heat and simmer for at least one hour, and up to three hours. The more you are making, the longer you want allow the flavors to infuse into the stock.
- Turn off the heat, and remove the turkey or chicken parts.
- Allow the rest of the stock and vegetable scraps to cool down for at least one hour.
- Over a large bowl, strain the stock and discard the vegetable scraps. You can use a cheesecloth, but We find a fine mesh strainer (<– like this one) to be super effective and stronger to hold heavy scraps.
- Pour the beautiful golden stock into whatever containers you are using to refrigerate and/or freeze the stock.
- Enjoy your amazing homemade turkey stock for up to four days in the refrigerator. Or freeze and enjoy for up to three months!
Recipe FAQs
–Use stock as a base in soups, stews, and chilis. We love it as a base for Wonton Soup, Pressure-cooker Chicken Noodle Soup, or Pressure-cooker Lentil Soup.
-Make gravy with your homemade stock.
-If you're cooking with an electric pressure cooker, use your tasty homemade stock as the liquid instead of water.
– Enhance the flavor of rice when you use stock instead of water to cook the rice. You can even use it in place of water to boost the already flavorful
Pressure-cooker Mushroom Risotto.
-Add even more flavor to this tasty Seafood Paella.
-Use it make this Simple Homemade Ramen recipe.
-Freeze in an ice cube tray and then place frozen cubes into a freezer bag. You'll have access to portioned stock, ready to go for suaces, braises, soups, stews, and roasts!
Yes! Absolutely! Keep stock in a freezer-safe container for up to three months.
Two ways to freeze:
1. Pour stock into clean ice cube trays (as shown in the photo above), freeze, then place frozen cubes into a freezer bag.
2. Add the stock to freezer-safe storage bags or food storage containers. This can be any freezer-safe container, including popsicle bags like the ones We used in the photo below (hey – use what you've got, right?).
Don't forget to label your turkey stock
Be sure to properly label and date your turkey stock or chicken stock. We love to use inexpensive, colorful washi tape in fun patterns to label the food. This makes it simple to remember what's in each container, and helps you use up stock in the order in which you made it.
We also like to include the measurement on each container. This makes it simple to simply grab what you need when you're ready to cook with it!
More recipes to try
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin BreadDid you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you truly loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Homemade Turkey Stock
By Marlynn Schotland Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs Cooling Time: 1 hr Total Time: 3 hrs 5 mins Servings: 1 jar Homemade turkey stock is simple to make and perfect to use in soups, stews, rice dishes, risotto, and more!Equipment
- 1 stockpot
Ingredients
- 2 cups turkey bones, or one small turkey carcass
- 2 cups any vegetable scraps , (*see NOTES for what to use if you don't have any scraps saved up)
- ¼ cup herbs, such as basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, bay leaf.
- 8 – 10 cups water
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, place all of the bones, vegetable scraps, and herbs. Pour enough water to fully submerge the scraps and bones, and bring to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer for 2 hours.
- Turn off heat. Discard the turkey bones, then let the rest of the stock and scraps cool in the stockpot for one hour.
- Over a large bowl, use a strainer or cheese cloth to catch vegetable pieces and strain liquid into the bowl. Discard vegetable pieces. Pour stock into mason jars or other containers, seal, and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
Makes approximately 8-10 cups Note that measurements are estimates. Keep a gallon ziplock bag in your freezer and throw in turkey bones and veggie scraps as you use them in your kitchen. Make stock with you the gallon bag is full. What to use if you don't have saved vegetable scraps: for a full turkey carcass, you'll want to chop up and use 3 carrots, 3 celery stalks, one medium onion, a couple cloves of garlic, and then add a handful of herbs and bay leaf. Storage tips: You can refrigerate homemade stock in an airtight container for up to four days. You can freeze stock and store in freezer-safe containers or bags for up to three months. Be sure to cool stock to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing.Nutrition
Calories: 15 kcal, Carbohydrates: 1 g, Protein: 2 g, Fat: 1 g, Saturated Fat: 0.03 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04 g, Cholesterol: 5 mg, Sodium: 919 mg, Potassium: 48 mg, Fiber: 0.03 g, Sugar: 1 g, Vitamin A: 110 IU, Vitamin C: 0.4 mg, Calcium: 41 mg, Iron: 0.2 mgNutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.