If you’ve invested in a high quality, pasture-raised Thanksgiving Turkey, you’ll want to enjoy every ounce of goodness that bird can provide!
After the Thanksgiving feast, once all the leftovers are picked from the bones, there’s one more way that turkey can nourish your family - bone broth.
Bone broth is as simple as taking the bones from your turkey (or chicken, beef, pork, etc) and simmering them in water to allow the nutrients and flavor to leach from the bones into the broth.
Our family then uses the broth as a base for our soups, instead of water when we make rice or quinoa, and while it’s not always my favorite way to use it, I’ve been known to sip a mug of warmed broth if I’m recovering from any kind of sickness.
Lots of recipes overcomplicate this process, but it doesn’t have to be this way!
I typically make bone broth in a large turkey roaster so I can simmer once and create around 10 quarts of broth for the fridge and freezer, but the crockpot, Instapot, or just a regular pot on the stove also works great.
I don’t usually follow any exact recipe or measurements - this is one of those things you can’t mess up!
To make the broth you’ll want to add the turkey bones (you may need to break them up a bit) to whatever vessel you’re cooking in and cover with water. I typically add a quartered onion, a few stalks of celery, a few carrots and cloves of garlic, along with a splash of apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Depending on how fancy I’m feeling, sometimes I’ll also toss in some thyme, rosemary, turmeric, and even a hint of ginger.
I bring the batch of broth to a strong boil, then lower the heat so it’s just quietly simmering.
The trick to making amazing broth is letting it simmer long enough to get a deep, rich flavor. It takes awhile!
If you’re cooking on the stove it can be done in as little as a few hours, but if you’re using the crockpot or turkey roaster, I like to let it simmer 24+ hours. Sometimes you’ll need to add a bit more water during the process, so keep an eye on it!
After your broth is finished, you’ll strain through a fine mesh strainer or through a regular strainer lined with cheesecloth. Once it cools a bit, ladle into your storage containers.
I typically leave a couple quarts in the fridge, but the rest I’ll package into plastic quart containers and freeze until I need them. I have frozen in glass jars before too and it’s been fine, just leave plenty of head space!
Note - if you’re worn out from cooking the Thanksgiving feast and not ready to immediately take on broth making, you can also toss the bones into a freezer bag and hang onto them for a bit!
I hope you have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with your family and that your turkey provides many delicious meals and leftovers in the weeks to come!