How to Make Turkey Stock From Leftover Turkey

Turkey gravy is the unsung hero of any holiday meal, transforming a delicious turkey into a showstopper. Whether preparing a Thanksgiving feast or a Sunday roast, a rich and flavorful turkey gravy adds warmth and depth to every bite.

While some may be intimidated by the process, making turkey gravy from scratch is easier than it seems and is a perfect way to use the natural drippings from your roasted bird.

In this blog post, I’ll explore the essential steps to crafting a velvety, mouth-watering gravy that enhances your meal. Each stage is crucial in developing that deep, savory flavor, from selecting the right pan to deglaze to creating the perfect roux. We’ll also cover tips for making a gravy that suits various dietary needs, including gluten-free or low-sodium options.

Whether you prefer your gravy silky smooth or filled with bits of crispy turkey skin, this recipe will provide you with the tools to create a custom version that complements your meal. With just a few simple ingredients, you can elevate your turkey dinner and leave your guests asking for seconds.

Turkey Stock

Turkey stock is a flavorful liquid made by simmering turkey bones, vegetables, and herbs in water for an extended period. The process extracts the turkey’s rich, savory essence and nutrients from the bones and vegetables, resulting in an intensely flavorful base.

Turkey stock is incredibly useful in the kitchen for several reasons:

Enhances Flavor: It is a foundation for soups, stews, gravies, and sauces, adding depth and richness that plain water or store-bought broth can't provide.
Minimizes Waste: Using the bones and scraps from a turkey dinner allows you to make the most of the bird, reducing food waste and extending its value beyond the meal.
Versatile Ingredient: Turkey stock can be used in various recipes, such as risotto, casseroles, or braising liquids, adding a flavor boost without overpowering other ingredients.
Healthy Option: Homemade turkey stock is free of preservatives and additives often found in store-bought versions. It’s also naturally rich in collagen and nutrients from the bones and vegetables, making it a wholesome addition to many dishes.

Preparing Turkey Stock

Making stock is an extraction process. As such, you have a fair amount of latitude in choosing the vegetables and seasonings you put in, but some vegetables are common to many stocks that you should undoubtedly add to your stock pot. So first, let’s look at the process of making a stock, and then we can consider additions.

Turkey stock is incredibly useful in the kitchen for several reasons:

Enhances Flavor: It is a foundation for soups, stews, gravies, and sauces, adding depth and richness that plain water or store-bought broth can't provide.
Minimizes Waste: Using the bones and scraps from a turkey dinner allows you to make the most of the bird, reducing food waste and extending its value beyond the meal.
Versatile Ingredient: Turkey stock can be used in various recipes, such as risotto, casseroles, or braising liquids, adding a flavor boost without overpowering other ingredients.
Healthy Option: Homemade turkey stock is free of preservatives and additives often found in store-bought versions. It’s also naturally rich in Collagen and nutrients from the bones and vegetables, making it a wholesome addition to many dishes.

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Turkey Stock Recipe

How to make great turkey stock

Prep Time15

Cook Time2 30

Total Time2 45

Course: Sauces

Cuisine: American

Keyword: turkey stock

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

Standard Turkey Stock

1 turkey carcass
1 yellow onions skin on, cleaned and cut in half
2 large carrots scrubbed and cut in half
2 ribs celery leaves included, cut in half
3 stems parsley
3 bay leaves
10 whole peppercorns
cold water to cover by 1 inch

Other additions or substitutions

1 leek well washed, instead of onions
1 head garlic cut in half (or just a couple of whole cloves)

Chinese-Style Turkey Stock - in addition to the standard ingredients add:

½ inch fresh ginger
2 whole star anise pods

Italian-Style Turkey Stock - in addition to the standard ingredients add:

white wine about ⅛ of the amount of water
2 tomatoes quartered and seeded
2 sprigs tarragon

Instructions

The Process

Pick as much meat off the turkey carcass as possible, and reserve it for soup or turkey salad.
Place the whole turkey carcass in a large stockpot. Add large chunks of vegetables, a few whole spices, and herbs.
Fill the stock pot with cold water to cover the ingredients by about an inch.
Place the pot on the stove over medium heat. Once the water reaches a fairly active simmer, adjust the heat so the liquid bubbles gently. You do not want the stock to boil, which will lead to too much evaporation.
Also, the proteins and fats being released from the bones can emulsify and make the stock cloudy. This will not affect the final flavor of the dish, but if you want a pretty and clear stock, make sure the stock does not boil.
As the stock simmers, a layer of grayish protein foam will rise to the surface. Carefully skim this off with a large spoon or a ladle.
Let the stock simmer for several hours, adding as much water as necessary to maintain the volume. However, you should not have too much evaporation if you have maintained a slow simmer.
You will know when the vegetables and bones have given up all of their flavors when you can snap a small turkey bone in half with minimal effort.
Strain the stock through a fine strainer, pressing down on the solids. Discard the solids, and strain the stock again.
If you use the stock immediately, carefully skim off the fat that rises to the top. If not, leave the fat on, as it can be more easily removed when solidified.
You will want to chill the stock very quickly. You can carefully pour the stock into a metal bowl inside a larger metal bowl that has ice in it (an ice bath) and stir until the stock has cooled.

Notes

You can leave out the celery; some people say it makes stock bitter although I haven’t found this to be the case.

Another way to chill the stock quickly is to freeze plastic bottles of water and place them in the stock to cool it.

What Can I Make with Turkey Stock?

Turkey stock is just as flavorful as chicken stock. However, since most people are unfamiliar with turkey stock, if you serve them soup made with it, they will most likely wonder why the chicken soup tastes so good! So, here are some other ideas.