Leftover Turkey Bone Broth Recipe (Instant Pot or Stove Top)

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​Make your own homemade turkey stock or bone broth from your Thanksgiving leftovers! Homemade broth can be made in the Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Stove Top and even an electric Roaster. Turkey broth is perfect for making cozy soups, stews and adding to all of your favorite recipes! 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

Turkey bone broth can be made from a whole turkey or leftover bones and any other part of the bird you have leftover from your Thanksgiving dinner. Many of your kitchen scraps and leftovers can be saved and put to later use in making delicious turkey bone broth! 

This same recipe can be made several different ways including using chicken for chicken stock, beef bones for beef bone broth, pork, wild game and even plain vegetable stock. 

Once you’ve mastered the basics of making this homemade turkey broth you can create any kind of flavorful broth! 

Homemade broths make the best soup and add essential nutrients and added flavor into your favorite recipes. Add broth in place of water when boiling rice and noodles for a flavor (and health) boost!

What is In Turkey Bone Broth?

All bone broth (beef, pork or poultry) is made from either poultry, beef or pork bones. Vegetable scraps, apple cider vinegar, and seasonings can be added to make a nutritious and delicious broth to use in cooking, soup making or even drinking.

Leftover turkey bone broth specifically is made from turkey bones and meat scraps. For maximum flavor and richness I add vegetable scraps, apple cider vinegar, bay leaf, whole pepper corns, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and thyme. 

Vegetable scraps that can be added to bone broth include: all parts of carrots, celery, onions (including the peels) and whole garlic. Other vegetables may be added, but these are the most desirable. 

How to Make a Gelatinous Bone Broth (and Why You Should):

Roasting your broth low and slow with a splash of apple cider vinegar will help the bones to release collagen, making your bone broth gel up or jiggle when refrigerated. 

The key to good bone broth is time. The longer the broth cooks, the more protein, collagen and nutrients that are extracted from the bones and vegetables. 

I like to aim for around 24 hours, but anywhere from 12-48 hours will work. The longer the broth simmers, the deeper the flavor becomes.

A gelatinous bone broth ensures you have been successful in getting the collagen out of the bones so that you can enjoy the benefits. 

Can You Save Money Making Bone Broth?

Absolutely. Homemade bone broth can be completely made from kitchen waste–leftover bones from turkey, chicken, beef or pork, onion peels, carrot tops, odd ends of celery and water. 

So the upfront could be less than $1 and the end product will be the best broth you have ever tasted.This is a great way to save money on groceries and extend your holiday meal leftovers. 

Grocery store broths are not only more expensive but they are also not as tasty or healthy as homemade turkey bone broth. 

What You Will Need:

• Stock pot, Slow Cooker, Instant Pot or Electric Roaster
• Slotted spoon, colander or fine mesh strainer
• Knife
• Mason jars or freezer-safe containers

​

INGREDIENTS

• 1-2 Chicken or Turkey Carcasses, or 2-3 lbs of pork or beef bones
• 1-2 Onions whole or chopped (leave skin on)
• 4-5 Carrots whole or chopped
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider vinegar
• Water (one gallon per turkey carcass)
• 2-3 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

Optional:

• 1-2 tablespoons Garlic powder or 1-2 Garlic cloves
• 1-2 tablespoons Onion powder
• 1-2 tablespoons of Thyme

A NOTE ABOUT BROTH INGREDIENTS:

When selecting vegetables, you want to be careful not to add any vegetables that will cause an off flavor in your broth. Brassicas such as broccoli or cauliflower will give the broth a bitter flavor. 

When adding onions, be sure to leave the skin on as they add a rich color to your broth. You can save vegetable scraps in the freezer when cooking to use later in broth making. I like to save carrot and celery scraps in addition to onion peels in a bag in the freezer to add to turkey, pork, beef or chicken broth. 

Apple Cider is added to the broth to help break down the protein and extract collagen from the bones. This will also help your bone broth to become more gelatinous- a sure sign that it is high in collagen. Collagen is great for your gut health and immune system so be sure to simmer your broth low and slow with some apple cider vinegar for added health benefits. 

You should be cautious when adding a lot of additional seasonings. Aromatics like garlic can easily become overpowering, so add to taste.

Salt is crucial for a good tasting broth. Using a high quality mineral salt such as Redmond’s Real Salt will also add beneficial minerals to your broth.

How To Make Bone Broth on the Stove Top, Slow Cooker or Electric Roaster:

To make bone broth, you will need one leftover turkey carcass (chicken, turkey, or wild game will also work) per gallon of water in a large pot, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Roaster pan. 

To the stock pot with the turkey bones and water; add apple cider vinegar, vegetable scraps (such as onion peels or whole onions, carrots either whole or chopped, celery stalks) and seasonings. I like to use garlic seasoning, onion powder, salt, black peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme. 

If you are making broth on the stove top, slow cooker or electric roaster bring the broth to a simmer and continue to cook slowly at around 200 degrees for 12-48 hours.

The next day, or once you have simmered your broth around 200 degrees for 12-48 hours, strain broth into storage containers using a fine-mesh sieve or strainer and allow to cool. Discard leftover turkey bones and save leftover meat in a freezer bag for another meal. No bite of Thanksgiving turkey goes to waste using this method. 

Once cooled, the fat will rise to the top. Discard the fat or remove and store in the fridge for cooking later. Store broth in the fridge for 3-4 days, or prepare for long term storage.

To Make Turkey Bone Broth in the Instant Pot:

If you are making this turkey bone broth recipe in a pressure cooker like the Instant Pot you will only need 2 hours to make bone broth because the Instant Pot uses high pressure to speed up the process. 

Follow the directions above for assembling the ingredients being sure not to fill the bowl above the max fill line. Then set your Instant Pot on Soup Mode for 2 hours. Set the vent to sealing and make sure you have the “keep warm” setting on. 

This setting will keep the broth warm for up to 18 hours in my model. Be sure to check that you have that feature on the model you are using if you let your broth sit in the Instant Pot after it is initially done cooking. 

When the broth is done cooking or you have let it simmer for up to 18 hours in the Instant Pot, strain broth into storage containers using a fine-mesh sieve or strainer and allow to cool. Discard leftover turkey bones and save leftover meat in a freezer bag for another meal.

Once cooled, the fat will rise to the top. Discard the fat or remove and store in the fridge for cooking later. Store broth in the fridge for 3-4 days, or prepare for long term storage.

Step by Step Video Tutorial of How to Make Homemade Turkey Bone Broth:

LONG TERM STORAGE FOR BROTH:

Once you have strained your broth and removed the excess fat you can choose to either pressure can your bone broth or freeze your broth in a freezer safe ziplock bag, ice cube trays, or silicone freezer safe containers like Souper cubes for long term storage.

​If you choose to freeze your broth, I recommend portioning your broth into one or two cup portions. Souper cubes are a great tool for quickly freezing liquids in 1 or two cup portions. This is my preferred method of storing frozen broth because the pre-portioned soup cubes can be taken out of the Souper cubes when frozen and placed in a freezer safe ziplock bag. 

If you pressure can your broth be sure to follow the NCFHP’s guidelines for canning broth. Pressure canning turkey bone broth in mason jars is a great way to preserve bone broth and create delicious grab and go meals like leftover Thanksgiving turkey soup with the leftover meat. 

To learn more about how I can convenience meals, check out my video here:

How Much Broth Will an 18 Quart Roaster Make?

One 18 quart electric roaster full of turkey broth can create about two gallons of nutritious bone broth.

In addition to that you can expect about 7-8 cups of shredded meat picked from the bones, and several gallons of cheap chicken feed or compost from the scraps. 

Other Recipes You May Like:

Thanksgiving Better than Stove Top Dressing Muffins: perfect opportunity to use up the last bit of leftover bone broth stock! Serve alongside a delicious turkey dinner for a wonderful holiday meal. 

Printable Recipe:

Leftover Turkey Bone Broth Recipe (Instant Pot or Stove Top)

Make your own homemade turkey stock or bone broth from your Thanksgiving leftovers. Homemade broth can be made in the Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Stove Top and even an electric Roaster. This same recipe can be made several different ways including using chicken for chicken stock, beef bones for beef bone broth, pork, wild game and even plain vegetable stock. 

Print

Rate

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 day day

Total Time 1 day day 15 minutes minutes

Serving Size 2 Gallons

Ingredients

• 1-2 Turkey Carcasses
• 1-2 Onions whole or chopped leave skin on
• 4-5 Carrots whole or chopped
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider vinegar
• Water one gallon per carcass
• 2-3 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon whole black pepper corns
• Optional:
• 1-2 tablespoons Garlic powder or 1-2 Garlic cloves
• 1-2 tablespoons Onion powder
• 1-2 tablespoons of Thyme
• 1 bay leaf

Instructions

• To make bone broth, you will need one leftover turkey carcass (chicken, turkey, or wild game will also work) per gallon of water in a large pot, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Roaster pan. 
• To the stock pot with the turkey bones and water; add apple cider vinegar, vegetable scraps (such as onion peels or whole onions, carrots either whole or chopped, celery stalks) and seasonings. I like to use garlic seasoning, onion powder, salt, black peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme. 
• If you are making broth on the stove top, slow cooker or electric roaster bring the broth to a simmer and continue to cook slowly at around 200 degrees for 12-48 hours.
• The next day, or once you have simmered your broth around 200 degrees for 12-48 hours, strain broth into storage containers using a fine-mesh sieve or strainer and allow to cool. Discard leftover turkey bones and save leftover meat in a freezer bag for another meal. No bite of Thanksgiving turkey goes to waste using this method. 
• Once cooled, the fat will rise to the top. Discard the fat or remove and store in the fridge for cooking later. Store broth in the fridge for 3-4 days, or prepare for long term storage.

To Make Turkey Bone Broth in the Instant Pot:

• If you are making this turkey bone broth recipe in a pressure cooker like the Instant Pot you will only need 2 hours to make bone broth because the Instant Pot uses high pressure to speed up the process. 
• Follow the directions above for assembling the ingredients being sure not to fill the bowl above the max fill line. Then set your Instant Pot on Soup Mode for 2 hours. Set the vent to sealing and make sure you have the "keep warm" setting on. 
• This setting will keep the broth warm for up to 18 hours in my model. Be sure to check that you have that feature on the model you are using if you let your broth sit in the Instant Pot after it is initially done cooking. 
• Continue with the above instructions for straining and storing the broth.

Video

Notes

• Once you have strained your broth and removed the excess fat you can choose to either pressure can your bone broth or freeze your broth in a freezer safe ziplock bag, ice cube trays, or silicone freezer safe containers like Souper cubes for long term storage.

• If you choose to freeze your broth, I recommend portioning your broth into one or two cup portions. Souper cubes are a great tool for quickly freezing liquids in 1 or two cup portions. This is my preferred method of storing frozen broth because the pre-portioned soup cubes can be taken out of the Souper cubes when frozen and placed in a freezer safe ziplock bag. 

• If you pressure can your broth be sure to follow the NCFHP’s guidelines for canning broth. Pressure canning turkey bone broth in mason jars is a great way to preserve bone broth and create delicious grab and go meals like leftover Thanksgiving turkey soup with the leftover meat. 

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