Recipes

No-Waste Turkey Bone Broth

November 11, 2022

Used as a healing soup for thousands of years, bone broth is an easy way to savor the flavors of your Thanksgiving table while promoting a healthy immune system during the height of cold and flu season.

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No-Waste Turkey Bone Broth

A Thanksgiving Tradition to Savor

Used as a healing soup for thousands of years, bone broth is an easy way to savor the flavors of your Thanksgiving table while promoting a healthy immune system during the height of cold and flu season. Rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and other trace minerals, regularly consuming bone broth has been linked to improved gut health, immune system functioning, and joint pain relief.  It’s also something you can easily make at home by converting otherwise wasted food scraps into nutrient rich flavorful broth you can keep for a long time in your freezer.

The difference between stock and bone broth:

Bone broth is simmered for an extended time so as to extract the collagen from the bones and joints. When cooled, bone broth will thicken and gel whereas stock will remain liquid and thin in consistency. The benefits of bone broth go beyond its flavor. It is full of collagen and gelatin which are great for hair, nail and skin health as well as healthy joints. It’s also full of nutrients that can contribute to improved gut and immune system health.

Ingredients

Leftover Turkey Carcass ~ use it all including the skin and cartilage (bones from chicken or beef also work well, adapt and use what you have).
Vegetable scraps ~ celery leaves, carrot shavings, onion skins, stalks of greens, herbs, anything you’ve got! (Think ahead and save your veggie scraps when prepping for your Thanksgiving meal or pop your scraps in the freezer weeks in advance to use when you’re ready).
Water ~ enough to cover everything in the pot but be sure it wont boil over or exceed your pressure cooker limits.
1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar for every 8 cups of water. Another option is to squeeze-in the juice of a lemon and throw in the peel, or pour the last sip of wine in from the bottle. The acidity helps break down the bones releasing nutrients like collagen and minerals into the broth.

Directions

Combine all the ingredients into a large stockpot, slow cooker or pressure cooker

Cook:

  • Pressure Cooker: high pressure for 2 hours or 120 minutes. Allow pressure to naturally release
  • Slow Cooker: simmer on low for 24 hours
  • Stove Top: cover and simmer on low heat for 24 hours * keep adding water to keep the ingredients covered

Strain: Pour the stock through a colander into a large bowl to cool. Toss the solids in the compost.

Store:

  • Refrigerator: Store in airtight jars for up to 5 days in the fridge
  • Freezer: Allow the broth to fully cool before freezing. Freeze in airtight jars or freezer bags for up to 3 months (Note: leave 1/4 of the jar empty to allow room for the liquid to expand in the freezer. If using bags, squeeze out as much air as possible and freeze flat for optimal storage).

Flavor Notes: Potato skins will make a stock cloudy, but if it’s going into a stew or a risotto then cloudy can work. Tomatoes will make it bitter, asparagus can make it sharp, but these may be flavors you like. Experiment, and use what scraps you can. Food goes farther when you turn those kitchen scraps into delicious, nutritious stock.

“Food is one of the few things that we universally have in common. It produces life-long memories for all of us, no matter our culture.” — Chef Deborah VanTrece