Never made your own turkey broth? I’ve been doing it for decades, and I’m excited to show you how to create the best turkey broth. It’s the secret to fantastic Thanksgiving gravy and delicious soups afterward. Homemade broth is not only healthier but also superior in taste to store bought. It requires a bit of effort, but the results are well worth it. And that rich brown color? There’s a trick most recipes don’t include—let me share it with you.
Is turkey stock the same as turkey broth? Basically, yes. Technically broth is made with meaty pieces and stock with bones. Sometimes it's referred to turkey bone broth or stock. These days the descriptions get blended. Is homemade turkey broth good for you? Absolutely! And it tastes terrific.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- Homemade turkey broth is fantastic, for sipping, soups (like this French Onion Soup), gluten-free Thanksgiving stuffing and more.
- It's easy and mostly hands-off.
- It produces a superior result compared to store bought broths and stocks.
To make a terrific turkey soup, use this recipe for chicken vegetable soup and swap leftover turkey and turkey broth.
Recipe Ingredients
Instead of using a roasted whole turkey carcass to make turkey broth, this recipe uses fresh turkey like you would for chicken stock. For 3-4 quarts of rich broth, start with 7 pounds of turkey pieces. See the recipe card for measurements.
- Turkey: Use what parts are available at the butcher or store. Remove as much skin as possible. This helps degrease the broth from the start. Buy legs, thighs, backs or necks.
- Onions: Brown, yellow or sweet all work. Don't use red because of the color. Onions add a rich savory depth of flavor and are a basic part of all broth, soups, stews and many recipes.
- Carrots: For the sweetness. Carrots, onions and celery are the classic triangle to good flavor. It's the French mire-poix mix or the Italian soffritto.
- Celery ribs: For great base vegetable flavor and part of the critical three veggie components.
- Garlic: Use a nice whole fresh head of garlic, no need to peel or break into cloves.
- White wine: Wine or dry vermouth adds wonderful flavor. Don't buy a big bottle to cook with. The mini airline sized bottles are perfect and easy to keep in the pantry.
- Bay leaves: add another layer of complex and subtle flavor to many dishes. Use dried, and if you want to do something fun, plant a small tree (more of a shrub) in your yard for fresh leaves. I love mine.
- Parsley: Go fresh, not dried. Choose the Italian or flat leaf variety; curly is a bit more bitter.
- Thyme: Go with fresh sprigs, another essential herb and easy to grow. One of my top most used fresh herbs. Toss in whole sprigs. No need to strip the leaves.
- Pepper: Use whole black peppercorns for a full bodied taste. Cracked or ground will taste spicy and overpowering. The world's most traded spice. A must for all broths.
Chef's tip: How much salt? None. Never add salt to your broth. Add salt to the dish you're cooking with the broth. This gives you more control over the salt levels in a dish.
Recipe Instructions
Roasting is the secret step to insure rich, flavorful stock. Roasting the turkey meat, bones and and fresh veggies produces that amazing flavor and color.
Because I make a big batch for multiple uses, my preferred method uses a big stockpot (for bigger quantity) versus a pressure cooker, slow cooker, or crock pot (smaller quantity).
Distribute the turkey parts in a large roasting pan, then top with chopped carrots, celery, onion, a split head of garlic (unpeeled) and herbs. Roast the turkey and vegetables for 1 hour at 375°F, then add 1 cup of white wine or dry white vermouth and roast for another 30 minutes.
Chef's note: The wine is a great addition adding nice flavor, and deglazing the pan. If you don't use wine in cooking just skip it or use water or chicken broth.
While the turkey and vegetables are roasting, get out a large pot, 10-12 quart size.
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When the turkey and vegetables are finished roasting, place everything in the stock pot and fill to cover with 5 quarts of cold water to start. Add bay leaves, fresh thyme, parsley, and black peppercorns to the pot.
Turn up the heat to get the pot to a simmer, then turn down to low for a gentle bubble for 8-12 hours.
As the broth cooks down and the water level drops, add boiling water from a tea kettle. Over a 12 hour period I will add from 1-3 quarts to keep the water level up.
Cooking long and slow ensures extracting the most flavor and nutrition for fantastic turkey broth. The house will smell like roasting turkey and you will have a rich, golden brown broth, full of flavor.
Chef's Tip: Slowly simmer broth, don't boil, or the broth will be cloudy.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a large clean pot or large bowl (stainless steel). Don’t use plastic as it will slow cooling. Discard the leftover bones, meat and vegetables.
Quickly chill the strained broth by placing the container in ice water (ice bath). Fill a sink half full with with cold water and ice. To speed cooling, place something under the pot like a trivet so cold water circulates underneath.
Stir broth occasionally for faster cooling. You want the broth cooling as quickly as possible for food safety. Cool to 70°F before refrigerating.
Chef's tip: If you want to skip the roasting process you can still make great turkey broth, the flavors will not be as rich but it;s still delicious, more like
Refrigerate and Degrease
Place the cooled pot, covered, in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, remove any fat that has solidified on top. Divide broth into containers, label and freeze for Thanksgiving and after. Homemade turkey broth will add big flavors to your Thanksgiving recipes.
Chef's Tip: Make the broth Monday of Thanksgiving week and it will be good until Thursday. For longer use, freeze it. You can also make it a week ahead and freeze.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, it freezes perfectly. If you don't use all of the broth within 4 days, portion, label and freeze. Use within 3 months.
To thaw broth, place containers from the freezer into the refrigerator for 24 hours and thaw slowly. Alternatively, place frozen containers in a sink with cold water to start the thaw, then place semi-frozen broth into a pot and heat over low until liquid. Do not leave broth out on the counter to thaw at room temperature as this is not food safe. It's called food temperature danger zone.
You can use glass mason jars, square glass containers like these, or Souper Cubes are a terrific new option. I use the ½ cup, 1 cup, 2 cup sizes.
Use turkey broth in place of chicken broth for soups, stews, risotto and just about any where you need broth, being sure the flavor is complimentary.
More Broth and Soups Recipes
For more broth recipes, try my long-simmered chicken bone broth, Instant Pot chicken broth, or vegetable broth. And here's my terrific Thanksgiving stuffing recipe where you can use this turkey broth.
⭐️Did you Make This?
If you make this turkey broth, please comment and let me know. I appreciate hearing from you. If you loved it, please give it a 5 star rating! They really help other readers. And if you have any questions, comment or email me.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Turkey Broth
Equipment
- OR a large heavy duty disposable aluminum pan works You may need to double them up for strength or place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet pan for support. Dispose of after use.
Ingredients
- 7 pounds turkey pieces thighs, necks, legs
- 1 large onion brown, yellow, sweet, white
- 3-4 large carrots
- 3-4 celery ribs
- 1 whole head garlic
- 1 cup white wine, dry vermouth, or water
- 3 bay leaves fresh or dry
- ½ bunch Italian parsley
- ½ bunch fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
- 5 quarts cold water
- Boiling hot water to fill pot as needed
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Instructions
Heat oven, prep turkey
- Pre-heat oven to 375° (190 c) and get out a large roasting pan. Remove as much skin and any extra fat that you can from turkey pieces. Place pieces into the roasting pan in a single layer.
Prep veggies and roast
- Roughly chop onions, carrots and celery. Split garlic head horizontally through the center (no need to peel). Add vegetables and garlic to the roasting pan with the turkey. Place pan in the oven and roast for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, add the wine and roast another 30 minutes.
Make the broth
- Place roasted turkey and vegetables into a large stock pot (10-12 quarts). Add bay leaves, parsley, thyme, peppercorns and cold water. Bring the pot to just under a boil, turn down to low and barely simmer for 10-12 hours. You want the pot to be at a slow, gentle bubble to extract as much flavor as possible. When the water level drops about 2", add a little boiling water from a tea kettle, keeping the ingredients just under water.
- At the end of 10-12 hours, remove all meat, vegetables, herbs and discard, as they will be spent. Drain broth through a fine sieve into a clean large pot or bowl. Place in a sink filled with ice and cold water to cool quickly. Place pot on a trivet or small rack to help water circulation under the pot for faster cooling. Stir occasionally. You want the broth to cool as quickly as possible for food safety.
- When stock is cool, below 70°, cover and place in the refrigerator. The next morning, remove any fat solidified on top, place into containers, label and freeze.
Tracey says
Love that I found this recipe. It is a great soup base and makes the best gravy! Thanks for sharing!
Sally Cameron says
I'm glad you found it to! Thanks for commenting!
Vinny says
Excellent recipe and nicely presented. I use a very similar recipe the weekend before Thanksgiving Day and it lasts just fine in the refrigerator. I make another batch with the carcus of the Thanksgivings Day bird, we freeze that batch. It yields about a gallon and a half.
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Vinny. I still have some in my freezer. Used it for black bean pumpkin soup yesterday. Great way not to waste those turkey bones.
Paula says
Are you telling me to roast the turey, I got legs then simmer them after they are roasted. They are n the oven and are not making much broth.
Sally says
Hi Paula. Yes, you roast the turkey parts and veggies, then use that to simmer with the water to make the broth. The roasting adds richness and flavor. Let me know if you have any ore questions. It's really good when it is done and your house will smell like roast turkey while it is cooking. Read through the recipe one more time.
Bonnie says
After the roasting is done can the next step be done in a slow cooker?
Sally says
Hi Bonnie. Honestly I have never tried that because I am not a big slow cooker person. I usually go the other direction with tools, and that would be pressure cooking for speed. Because broth cooks a long time at a low simmer, and you have to add water as the level drops, I personally would stick with the stovetop method. I would also think that a slow cooker would limit how much broth you could make at once. When I do broth or stock, I use a 12 quart pot and make a big quantity, then strain, chill and freeze in small containers.
marcia says
Fabulous recipe! I will never boil the heck out of a chicken to make broth again!
Christine (CookTheStory) says
I agree with you. Homemade broth rocks and if it's to much for your family, it freezes well for a later use. Excellent tutorial.
Sally says
Thanks Christine! I wanted to add the shot we took of the broth cooling in an ice bath for a quick visual, but it was not a pretty pic. Checked out your blog. Nice! Thanks again for commenting.