Thank you to Sallie Godwin, Fall Line Farms & Local Roots customer and creator of Real Fat Life, for sharing this post with all the details on making turkey stock.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, meaning that TURKEYS are in season! Yay! I love turkey stock. It is more robust in flavor than chicken stock, but not quite as intense as beef stock. It is perfect for drinking! Any time. Any meal. Any weather. 🙂 This recipe can easily be adapted for any kind of poultry stock – chicken, duck, or turkey – or a combination. All of it would be delicious! You really cant go wrong.
So be sure to save your turkey carcass from your Thanksgiving meal! I may just have a panic attack if anyone puts their turkey carcass in the trash… 😉
Turkey stock is one of the most versatile ingredients in any home cook’s pantry. Made from simmering the turkey carcass bones, and scraps leftover after a holiday meal or roast turkey dinner, stock packs a powerful punch of savory umami flavor.
I love making turkey stock after Thanksgiving or Christmas when I have a leftover carcass handy. It helps reduce food waste by using up every last bit of the bird. Plus, stock freezes beautifully so I have quarts of the good stuff to last me all winter long in soups, stews, gravies, and more.
But you may be wondering – what can you actually make with turkey stock besides soup? Turns out. the uses are endless! Here are my top 10 favorite ways to use up leftover homemade turkey stock
1. Make Classic Turkey Noodle Soup
This is the obvious one, but it’s a classic for a reason. Homemade turkey noodle soup lets the stock shine, barely needing anything more than egg noodles, vegetables, and leftover turkey meat. It’s the perfect way to use up scraps after the holiday meal. I love adding frozen peas, carrots, onions, and celery.
2. Prepare Flavorful Risottos
In place of plain water or chicken stock, use turkey stock as the simmering liquid when making risottos. The extra meaty flavor pairs perfectly with heartier whole grains like farro or barley. You can even skip the rice altogether for a wheat berry or quinoa risotto.
3. Cook Aromatic Rice or Grains
Speaking of grains, turkey stock makes a fantastic cooking liquid for rice, farro, quinoa, and more. Use it in place of plain water to infuse your grains with rich, savory flavor.
4. Make Gravy from Scratch
Say goodbye to canned gravy and hello to gourmet, scratch-made gravy using your homemade turkey stock. After roasting meat or poultry, deglaze the pan with a bit of stock. Then use more stock to thin out your gravy as it simmers.
5. Braise Meats and Vegetables
Braising is a cooking technique that involves browning meat or vegetables first, then slowly simmering them in liquid until tender. Turkey stock is an ideal braising liquid that imparts tons of flavor. Braise pork chops, beef stew meat, chicken thighs, or root vegetables like carrots and potatoes.
6. Give Soups and Stews a Boost
Use turkey stock in place of water or plain broth when making any soup or stew recipe. The extra meaty flavor will make recipes like vegetable stew, minestrone, tortilla soup, chicken noodle soup, and more taste so much richer.
7. Make Sauce Bases and Reductions
Simmer stock until reduced by half or more to concentrate the flavors. Use as a base for pan sauces, gravy, or reductions to drizzle over chicken, steak, pork chops and more.
8. Cook Grains and Beans from Scratch
Bring out the best in neutral ingredients like rice, barley, farro, beans, lentils and more by cooking them in flavorful turkey stock instead of plain water.
9. Sauté Vegetables
For extra flavorful sautéed veggies, use a splash of turkey stock to deglaze the pan after cooking. Let it simmer until slightly reduced before tossing the vegetables.
10. Bake Savory Dishes and Casseroles
When baking casseroles, whole chickens, meatloaf, stuffed peppers, or other savory dishes, replace some or all of the water with turkey stock for amplified flavor.
As you can see, homemade turkey stock is endlessly versatile in the kitchen. I like to freeze stock in ice cube trays for easy use in small batches. Then I have tasty turkey flavor on hand for recipes all winter long.
The next time you roast a turkey or pick up a rotisserie bird from the store, be sure to reserve the carcass and bones to make this liquid gold. Your future soups, stews, grains, gravies and more will thank you!
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Stock for flavor?
Stock is the foundation and a staple of every healthy ancestral kitchen. It is a true superfood. Cooking with stock that has been made from scratch is the secret ingredient of every ancestral chef. The bones and meat are simmered for a long time to draw every bit of flavor from them, along with the collagen and nutrients. All the famous French culinary chefs carefully prepare their rich beef stock for the base of their world-renowned french onion soup. It is delicious and incredibly nutritious! Turkey stock offers another delectable option for soup-making.
Step 8: Seal It!
My favorite way to store the stock is in the refrigerator – “sealed” in Mason Jars. Its so much less hassle than freezing it and having to thaw it every time you need it. Pour the hot, strained stock into quart-sized wide-mouth mason jars.
Pro Tip: the trick is to pour the strained stock into the jars while it is still very warm (even hot-ish) and put the lids and bands on very tightly. I have found that this “seals” and preserves the stock in the refrigerator for up to a month!! If there is a delicious layer of fat on the top, it will even keep for longer!! If it was sealed correctly then the jar should “pop” when you open it. Just like when you open something that has been “canned.”
Make sure you use real Ball Mason jars – which are made for canning and can withstand high temperatures. 🙂 After you jar up the stock, let them sit on the counter a minute before you put them in the refrigerator. If they cool too fast they could break.
To freeze: Pour the stock into plastic quart-sized “ziplock” containers and put in the freezer. (Glass tends to break when you freeze it, so after a few mishaps and wasted stock, I just recommend using plastic now.)
Get The Most Out Of Your Turkey: How To Make Turkey Stock
FAQ
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